Red Flash look to defend crown in NEC Championship at Robert Morris

Loretto, Pa. – Fourth-seeded Saint Francis women's basketball (16-16, 11-7 NEC) heads to top-seeded Robert Morris (21-10, 16-2 NEC) for the NEC Championship game on Sunday, March 17 at 2 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU and can be heard on ESPN 970 AM via the iHeartRadio app.

Scouting Robert Morris
The Colonials are riding high after winning three-straight and seven of its last eight contests. RMU advanced to its sixth consecutive NEC Championship game following a 69-65 semifinal victory over sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary's this past Thursday. The Colonials previously knocked off eighth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson 64-38 in the quarterfinals on Monday. Robert Morris has the league's stingiest defense, allowing only 54.9 points per game. The Colonials also boast the NEC's top scoring margin (+8.0). Known for its size and length, RMU owns the conference's best field goal percentage defense (37.1%) and is averaging a league-high 10.1 steals per game. NEC Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team selection Nneka Ezeigbo is the driving force for the Colonials, averaging a team-high 12.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Isabella Posset was named to the All-Rookie Team after being the team's second-leading scorer (7.7 ppg). Head Coach Charlie Buscaglia captured the Brenda Reilly NEC Coach of the Year accolade for the third season in a row.

Series History
Robert Morris leads the all-time series 45-42, including a 29-14 record when playing on its home floor. The Colonials were the only team to defeat the Red Flash twice this season, including a 66-53 victory in the regular season finale on March 7 in Moon Township.

Championship Game Rematch
Saint Francis and Robert Morris meet in the NEC Championship game for the second-straight year after the Red Flash knocked off the Colonials in last season's title contest on March 11, 2018 in Loretto, 66-56. This is the first NEC Championship Game rematch since 1996, when Saint Francis and Mount St. Mary's clashed for the third consecutive year.

Kovatch's mind-blowing statistics
NEC Player of the Year Jess Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) has been on a scoring spree for the Red Flash and has produced several earth-shattering statistics. The nation's leading scorer, Kovatch has 2,856 career points to her credit and has hit the 20-point mark in 22 of 32 games this season. She has reached the 30-point plateau four times this season, including a season-high 38 points in SFU's quarterfinal win over Bryant this past Monday. Kovatch's 471 career three-pointers is an NEC record and ranks second all-time in NCAA women's basketball history. The Phillipsburg, N.J. native has also been money at the charity stripe. She was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line in Thursday's semifinal win at Sacred Heart and ranks second overall amongst NEC leaders in free throws (130) and free throw percentage (86.1%).

Zezza on verge of another milestone
Senior Courtney Zezza (Plum, PA/Plum) holds the program record with 299 career blocks and needs only one more rejection to reach the 300-block milestone. The Plum, Pa. native returns to just outside her hometown and will be relied on heavily to combat the Colonials' presence in the paint.

Parking availability for Sunday's title contest
Sunday's Championship game will take place at the North Athletic Complex on the campus of Robert Morris. It will be RMU's final game in its temporary home as the UPMC Events Center is set to open prior to the 2019-20 season. A parking map is available below.

Robert Morris Parking Map