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#1 St. Francis (PA) 77, #8 St. Francis (NY) 57)
Box Score
Loretto, PA - Senior Beth Swink (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville) erupted for a career-high 40 points to lead top-seeded Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania to a 77-57 victory over eighth-seeded Saint Francis College of New York in quarterfinal action at the Northeast Conference Tournament on Saturday evening at the Stokes Center.
Swink finished the game 13-for-18 from the field and 14-for-14 from the free throw line. Her 40 points is the second-most in an NEC Tournament game in league history. Saint Francis-PA’s Jess Zinobile scored an NEC Tournament record 46 points against Long Island on March 4, 2000.
Swink’s 14 free throws made tied for the third-most in an NEC playoff game in league history and her 13 field goals tied for fourth all-time in NEC Tournament action.
Saint Francis-PA will host fifth-seeded Quinnipiac in NEC semifinal action on Tuesday, March 8, at 6:00 pm, at the Stokes Center. The Bobcats advanced to Tuesday’s semifinal game against the Red Flash by defeating Monmouth, 75-68.
The victory extended Saint Francis-PA’s winning streak to 12 straight games. Winners of eight of the last nine NEC Tournament titles, the Red Flash have also won a league-record 25 consecutive NEC Tournament games dating back to 1996.
Senior Christin Black (Fairmont, WV/Fairmont) was also in double figures for Saint Francis-PA with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Junior point guard Amber Hein (Hutchinson, KS/Buhler) posted team-highs in rebounds (five) and assists (seven) to go along with five points.
Trailing 11-8, the Red Flash closed the first half on a 33-10 run to grab a 41-21 lead at the intermission. Swink scored 14 points in the SFU rally and netted 18 of her game-high 40 before the intermission.
Saint Francis-PA’s (19-9) lead grew to as many as 31 points, 63-32, in the second half, as the Red Flash extended their winning streak over the Terriers to 18 consecutive games. Saint Francis-NY (10-18) lost despite outrebounding the Flash, 32-25, behind a game-high eight boards from freshman Katja Bavendam (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Osterholz-Scharmbeck). SFC turned the ball over 29 times, however, including 17 give-aways in the first half. Swink record four steals for SFU.
“We got a lot of easy looks tonight because of our ball movement,” said Red Flash head coach Jill Poe. “The players on our team did a nice job getting Beth (Swink) the ball when she was open. We held our turnovers down and forced their offense to make some mistakes, which helped us open the big lead.”
Freshman Tiffany Hill (Orange, NJ/Orange) led Saint Francis-NY with 18 points. Bavendam and senior Kim Bennett (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) both added 12 points. As a team, the Terriers set an NEC Tournament record for free throw percentage, sinking 17-of-17 attempts from the line (100.0).
Saint Francis-PA sank 27-of-58 shots from the field (46.6 percent) and 16-of-17 attempts from the free throw line (94.1 percent). With her 14-for-14 performance at the line, Swink has now sunk 27 of her last 28 free throw attempts.
#2 Sacred Heart 76, #7 Mount St. Mary's 56
Box Score
FAIRFIELD, CT – Sophomore Amanda Pape (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic) scored a game-high 24 points to go along with eight assists and six rebounds to help second-seeded Sacred Heart University defeat number-seven Mount St. Mary’s 76-56 in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon.
Sacred Heart, now 18-10, jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game, taking advantage of five turnovers by the Mountaineers. Pape started the run with a layup, then sophomore point guard Kerri Burke buried a three-pointer to make it 5-0.
Dita Krumberga (Rija, Latvia/Grammer School of Nordic Languages) put The Mount on the board with a layup just over three minutes into the game, but the Pioneers answered with inside buckets by sophomore center Jasmine Walker (Amityville, NY/Copiague) and senior forward Colleen White (Richboro, PA/Council Rock).
A Pape jumper with 14:32 to play in the first half stretched the Pioneer lead to 13-4. The Mountaineers used an 8-0 run over the next three minutes, capped by a Krumberga jumper, to crawl back within one at 11:26 left.
Another Krumberga jumper with 6:40 left had the Mountaineers down 24-21, before the Pioneers exploded on a 18-4 run. White had a pair of jumpers during the spurt and Walker converted a three-point play that have SHU a 34-21 lead with 4:30 left in the half. The Pioneers continued to apply full-court press, forcing the Mountaineers into six turnovers down the stretch of the half, and coasted into the locker room with a 42-25 lead.
Sacred Heart scored the first eight points of the second half on two buckets apiece from White and junior Nicolle Rubino (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) to double up the Mountaineers 50-25. A Walker layup with 12:20 to play in the game put the Pioneers up 63-33.
The Mountaineers scored eight of the next ten points, four of them by NEC Rookie of the Year Tiffany Green (Arlington, VA/Washington-Lee), to trail 65-41 with 8:57 left but time simply ran out on The Mount as the Pioneers.
“This is the best we’ve played in an opening round playoff game since I have been here,” said SHU head coach Ed Swanson. “The team did a good job moving the ball and finding the open player.”
“Amanda did exactly what I expect her to do,” he continued. “I expect her to get us going on defense and on the glass and she did that for us today.”
The Mount was led by Krumberga with 19 points and eight rebounds. Green finished with 17 points, while senior Rebecca Wike (Westminster, MD/Carroll Christian) had a game-high 12 rebounds.
“We came out nervous and the turnovers really hurt us in the first half,” said Mount coach Vanessa Blair Treadwell. “As a young team, it was tough for us to come back against a good team like Sacred Heart.”
White finished the game with 16 points for the Pioneers, along with seven rebounds. Walker also finished in double figures with 14 points to go along with her seven boards. Sacred Heart shot an even 50 percent from the field in the game (34-68), while holding The Mount to just 34 percent shooting (23-68).
Sacred Heart advances to play in the semifinals on Tuesday, March 8. The Pioneers opponent will be determined at the conclusion of the semi-finals. #1 St. Francis (PA) hosts #8 St. Francis (NY), while #3 Robert Morris entertains #6 Central Connecticut, and #4 Monmouth hosts #5 Quinnipiac tonight at 7:00 p.m. The four remaining teams will be re-seeded at the conclusion of the quarterfinals.
#3 Robert Morris 72, #6 Central Connecticut State 39
Box Score
Moon Township, PA - The Robert Morris University women’s basketball team notched its first victory in the Northeast Conference Tournament since 1997 by posting a 72-39 win over No. 6 seed Central Connecticut State University Saturday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center in tourney quarterfinal action. It marks RMU’s first tournament win since an 82-79 victory over Marist Feb. 12, 1997, and also marks the largest margin of victory for the Colonials in postseason play. With the win, Robert Morris improved to 19-9 on the 2004-05 campaign, while the Blue Devils finish at 9-19. RMU will now move on to face No. 2 seed Sacred Heart Tuesday, March 8, in Fairfield, Conn, for a 7:00 p.m. semifinal contest.
The Colonials never trailed in the contest after opening the game with 11 unanswered points as junior guard DeSheyna Perry (Beloit, Wisc. / Jefferson-Mo. C.C.) scored eight of those points, including a pair of three-pointers, to spark RMU. After an 8-4 Central Connecticut State run closed its deficit to 15-8, Robert Morris used an 18-11 run over the final 12:24 of the first half to take a 33-14 lead into halftime. NEC Player of the Year junior forward Sugiery Monsac (Villa Maria, Dominican Republic / Arizona Western J.C.) scored six points during the surge for the Colonials, while junior forward Tess Cooley (Memphis, Tenn. / Coffeyville C.C.) added five points. Robert Morris was able to open its big halftime lead thanks to a shooting percentage of 42.4 percent (14-for-33) in the first half while forcing Central Connecticut State into 15 turnovers.
In the second half, RMU pushed its lead to 54-21 in the first eight and-a-half minutes as Monsac scored 10 points during the spurt to pace the Colonials. The Blue Devils were able to their deficit to 58-34 thanks to an 11-2 run as senior guard Aisha Williams (Washington, D.C. / Northeastern University) scored four points and sophomore guard Brittney Dixon (Detroit, Mich. / Detroit County Day School) added a three-pointer. Robert Morris was able to score the next eight points of the game as Monsac scored a layup, Perry hit a three-pointer and sophomore guard Jenna Burkett (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona) hit a three-pointer to give RMU a 66-34 advantage.
Robert Morris was led by Monsac, who scored 26 points on 12-for-19 shooting from the floor while adding eight rebounds. Perry chipped in with 15 points for RMU, including a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the three-point arc, while Cooley added her fifth double-double of the season by scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Williams and Dixon paced Central Connecticut State with 11 points each. Williams added four rebounds and four assists for the Blue Devils.
Notes: The 39 points is the fewest points scored in any women’s NEC Tournament game … The Colonials shot 47.5 percent (29-for-61) from the field while holding the Blue Devils to a shooting percentage of 29.2 percent (14-for-48) … RMU held a 40-34 edge on the backboard and finished with 16 assists to go along with 17 turnovers.
#5 Quinnipiac 75, #4 Monmouth 68
Box Score
West Long Branch, NJ - Sophomore guard Krystal Pressley (New Haven, Conn./Career) scored a game-high 25 points and freshman forward Monique Lee (Lynn, Mass./Lynn Classical) wrangled an league-high 25 rebounds to go along with 16 points in fifth-seeded Quinnipiac’s 75-68 upset of fourth-seeded Monmouth Saturday night in the Northeast Conference Quarterfinals at Boylan Gymnasium.
The victory sends Quinnipiac (16-12) to Loretto, Pa., where it will take on No. 1 seed St. Francis (Pa.) on Tuesday, March 8th. Monmouth had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped and closes its season at 17-11.
The Hawks were paced by senior guard Erin Winston (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton), who had 15 points and five rebounds, freshman forward Veronica Randolph (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach), with 13 points an eight rebounds, and senior forward Courtney Lumpkin (Newark, N.J./West Side), who kicked in 13 points and eight boards.
Quinnipiac, which trailed 31-24 at halftime, overcame Monmouth by out rebounding the Hawks, 35-13 in the second half alone. The Bobcats held a 46-40 rebounding edge for the game, including 21-16 on the offensive end.
Lee’s 25 rebounds were the most in the NEC this season and third-most in Division I school history. Only former Bobcat Ashlee Kelly, who turned in 28- and 26-rebound performances last season, has logged more.
It was Pressley that would spark the Bobcats on a decisive run midway through the second half, knocking down a 3-pointer at 7:51 to pull Quinnipiac to within 62-58. The Bobcats would run off a 15-4 spurt in all, including another Pressley layup at 4:45 that gave the Connecticut school its first lead, 61-59, since the 12-minute mark of the first half.
Monmouth junior guard Niamh Dwyer (Thurles, Ireland/Presentation Convent) quickly responded with a 3-pointer to give the Hawks a brief, 62-61 edge. However, Lee, who amassed 10 offensive rebounds in the game, put back her own miss on Quinnipiac’s next trip to hand the Bobcats the lead for good at 63-62 at 3:54.
Jumpers by QU senior guard Helen Ridley (Lynn, Mass./Lynn Classical) and junior forward Jackie Harris (New Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) extended the margin to 67-62 at 2:35.
Moments later, Winston scored four straight points to get MU to within one point, 69-68, with 35 seconds showing on the clock, but Quinnipiac answered again.
Pressley knocked down two free throws, then, after Lumpkin missed a pull-up jumper, senior guard Shrita Smith (Hillside, N.J./Union Catholic) hit another pair at the charity stripe to make it 73-68 with 27 seconds remaining.
Prior to Quinnipiac’s game-turning run, Randolph scored five points and Lumpkin and Wintston added four each during a 13-7 spurt as Monmouth its largest lead at 44-31 with 16:25 left.