TEANECK, NJ- Saint Francis completely erased a 23-point second half deficit but two late FDU free throws thwarted the comeback in a 73-72 setback at Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday night. 

The Flash held a brief 72-71 lead with six seconds left, but a Erika Livermore steal and clutch free throws sent the Flash to 6-4 in the Northeast Conference.

"This was a real tough one tonight," coach Joe Haigh said. "I love the way we battled back, but we made too many mistakes, dug ourselves too big of a hole."

Saint Francis led 18-15 at the end of the first quarter, paced by Halee Adams (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) who had seven points in the frame. But SFU would go ice cold in the second, going 1-19 from the field. The Knights mounted a 14-0 run, to take a 33-19 lead midway through the quarter. A Cydney Smith (Port Tobacco, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) free throw broke the run but the Knights' lead would grow to as many as 20 in the half. A Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md./Western (Hampton U)) lay-in came with seven seconds left in the quarter, it was SFU's lone field goal as they trailed 43-25 at intermission.

The lead would grow to 23 at the 8:28 mark of the quarter at 48-25. The Flash would slowly chip at the lead, a lay-in by Samiah Bethel (Jacksonville, Fla./Potter's House Christian Academy) and a three from Jessica Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) cut it to 13 at 50-37. Madison Johnson (Knox, Pa./Keystone) banked in a three on the next possession as SFU would cut the lead to 11 at 58-47 at the end of the third.

SFU could not get it within eight for the opening minutes of the quarter, trading baskets with the Knights. Livermore feasted on the low block, scoring several putbacks en route to a 26 point, 18 rebound effort. A Kovatch jumper got the Flash within five at 65-60, but her fifth foul took her out of the game, and two free throws stretched the Knights' lead to nine at 69-60. Kovatch finished with 16 points on 6-23 shooting, the freshman also had six rebounds and two steals.

A three by Katie Reese (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) cut it to six and and a pair of Ward free throws cut it to four at 69-65. A Brianna Thomas jumper staked FDU to a 71-65 lead before Aisha Brock (Jacksonville, Fla./Potter's House Christian Academy) hit her only three of the game to make it 71-68 with 50 seconds left. The Flash would get a stop and two more Ward free throws to cut the lead to one. Two missed FDU free throws set up Katie Reese (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) for a driving lay-up, giving SFU their only lead of the second half at 72-71. The Flash defense rose up and drew a charge on Kelsey Cruz, giving SFU the ball with six seconds left.

But a Livermore steal and a foul on Ward put the senior on the line. She sank both free throws and SFU could not get a shot off in response.

"We showed a lot of fight tonight, but games like this always come down to a possession or two," Haigh said. "We will look at the tape and find out those possessions where things went wrong, and hopefully correct them going forward."

Katie Reese (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) led the Flash with 18 points while Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md./Western (Hampton U)) grabbed an SFU-best 15 rebounds on Monday night. Livermore's 26 led four Knights in double figures.

The loss drops SFU to 8-13 overall and 6-4 in the NEC. They will host Central Connecticut on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside DeGol Arena.