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SFU’s momentum zapped

Robert Morris takes tourney title from Flash

The Associated Press Saint Francis coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl crouches next to Haley Thomas as time runs out.

MOON TOWNSHIP — A media timeout can be a good thing for a team or a bad thing.

Unfortunately, for Saint Francis, it was in the midst of a big comeback in the fourth quarter, and the stoppage in play stole its momentum.

After SFU stormed all the way back to within two, Robert Morris was able to compose itself and come up with a plan.

The Colonials buried two 3-pointers after the timeout that ultimately proved to be too much as SFU suffered a 65-54 setback in the Northeast Conference championship game on Sunday at the North Athletic Complex.

“Our kids have a never-say-die attitude,” Saint Francis coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl said. “We knew they weren’t going to quit for sure … We have a talented group and they’re gutsy. It’s a rivalry game too.”

The loss ended Saint Francis’ season at 16-17, while Robert Morris improved to 22-10.

Trailing 49-38 at the start of the fourth quarter, SFU immediately gave up a shot in the paint to Natalie Villaflor to stretch the lead to 13 — the largest of the afternoon for the Colonials.

“I’ve never been prouder — we’re a young team. Seventy percent of this team is freshmen and sophomores. We definitely didn’t play like it today,” Robert Morris coach Charlie Buscaglia said. “… (Saint Francis) gave us everything we could handle. But, the most proud I am about this young team is that when the moments got tough, we responded.”

Two free throws from Haley Thomas at 8:40 was just the spark the Red Flash were looking for as they went on a 13-2 run to climb back within two.

Karson Swogger got the lead under double digits for Saint Francis with a jumper before Villaflor hit a jumper at 7:27 to stretch it back to 11 (53-42).

SFU’s Courtney Zezza, who finished her career with 12 points and six rebounds, knocked down a pair of free throws before Jess Kovatch got fouled while converting a driving layup.

“It was good, I had a lot of family here,” said Zezza, who is from Plum. “I think just the fans overall coming out from Saint Francis, we really loved that.”

Kovatch, who ended her career with 18 points and six rebounds, completed the and-1 opportunity and then hit a stepback with 6:00 showing before Swogger hit a stepback of her own from 8 feet out with the shot clock winding down to make the score 53-51 with 4:16 to play.

Robert Morris’ Nia Adams turned the ball over on the ensuing possession before the media timeout hit at the 4:00 mark.

“It’s (timeout) only perfect for us if we make the best of it,” Buscaglia said. “A lot of teams could come back into that huddle and hang their heads and start thinking about how we blew a lead … But that wasn’t the huddle. The timing of the timeout was great.”

The Red Flash had a chance to tie or take the lead out of the timeout, but Leah Morrow missed two shots in the paint, Swogger missed a layup and Kovatch missed inside before Villaflor grabbed the rebound.

Nina Augustin came down the floor buried a 25-foot 3-pointer with 3:02 left to play to make the score 56-51.

“When you knock them down, it’s a big moment,” Robinson Fruchtl said. “Hats off to them for knocking those shots down. It really benefited them well.”

The Colonials Nneka Ezeigbo, who was the named the tournament MVP, missed a pair of free throws in between two Red Flash turnovers.

Esther Castedo pushed the RMU lead to 59-51 with a 3-pointer from the right corner with just 1:02 remaining.

“They hit some key 3-pointers,” Kovatch said. “… They were getting rebounds and getting extra possessions, and that was running the clock. We just ran out of time.”

Morrow went 1-for-4 from foul line on the next two Saint Francis possessions, while Augustin, who was named to the all-tournament team, hit both of hers at 37.9.

SFU’s last points came when Kovatch, who was picked to the all-tournament team, made a driving layup with 11.8 ticks to go before being subbed out of the game with 10.1 left.

The Colonials closed out the game by going 4-of-6 from the charity stripe with Adams’ second shot setting the final with 10.1 left.

“When they (Saint Francis) made that big run and their energy was real high, I had 100 percent faith that this team (Robert Morris) would continue to pull through and continue to do what we needed to do to overcome the run that they made,” Buscaglia said.

The title marked the sixth in Robert Morris’ history as it will await tonight’s selection of whom it will play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Saint Francis began the contest by scoring on its first three chances to take a 7-3 lead as Swogger converted a driving layup, Thomas got a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup and Kovatch buried a trey at 8:03.

“We really put in a few new wrinkles to start the game. Particularly, to attack with penetration,” Robinson Fruchtl said. “… Our execution early was really nice. We came out with a lot of energy defensively, and we were able to get the looks we wanted.”

The Red Flash were up 12-9 after Kovatch hit a baseline fadeaway with 2:50 to go in the opening quarter before the Colonials closed on an 11-0 run to take a 20-12 lead. Nadege Pluviose’s driving layup with 1:18 on the clock gave her team a lead it didn’t relinquish.

SFU got as close as three points in the second when Sam Sabino hit two free throws with 52.5 left to make the score 29-26. Castedo beat the halftime buzzer to send RMU into the break up 32-26.

“We didn’t start off the game with the exact way we thought the game would be played,” Buscaglia said. “We had to respond and adjust ourselves.”

Sabino canned a 3-pointer from the top and Zezza hit a baseline jumper to pull SFU within one (32-31) with 8:14 to go in the third.

That’s as close as the Red Flash got the rest of the way as Robert Morris scored 17 out of the next 24 points to take a 49-38 at the end of three quarters of play.

The Colonials forced 20 turnovers, which they turned into 22 points.

“(Robert Morris) causing us to have 20 turnovers that really hurt us,” Robinson Fruchtl said. “They may have not gotten layups right out of it, but it gave them more possessions.”

Kovatch, who finished her career with 2,874 points and 472 3-pointers made, was held to just 6-of-23 from the floor and just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.

“They did a good job cutting my left hand and forcing me to drive and forcing me to not do a stepback 3,” Kovatch said. “They forced me to go to do something that I’m not usually used to.”

Zezza did not record a block and finished her career with 299.

“Courtney and Jess, they have had great careers. They have had wonderful careers,” Robinson Fruchtl said. “We thank them for all that they have done for our institution and for this program — bringing it back into prominence and getting another title last year, and getting us back into the championship game this year.”

SAINT FRANCIS (54): Zezza 4-6 2-2 12, Swogger 4-11 0-0 8, Sabino 2-2 2-2 7, Thomas 2-8 2-2 6, Kovatch 6-23 5-6 18, Carroll 0-0 0-0 0, Morrow 1-6 1-4 3, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-57 12-16 54.

ROBERT MORRIS (65): Pluviose 2-4 0-0 4, Ezeigbo 4-17 3-9 11, Adams 0-1 3-4 3, Posset 3-6 3-4 12, Augustin 4-10 2-2 14, Villaflor 3-6 0-0 6, Castedo 3-8 0-0 8, Ikematsu 2-7 0-0 4, Ozzy-Momodu 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 22-61 12-21 65.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Saint Francis 12 14 12 16 — 54

Robert Morris 20 12 17 16 — 65

3-point field goals: Saint Francis 4-19 (Zezza 2-4, Sabino 1-1, Kovatch 1-8, Swogger 0-3, Thomas 0-3); Robert Morris 9-26 (Augustin 4-8, Posset 3-6, Castedo 2-5, Adams 0-1, Villaflor 0-1, Ikematsu 0-5). Rebounds: Saint Francis 40 (Sabino, Thomas 7 each); Robert Morris 42 (Ezeigbo 12). Assists: Saint Francis 8 (Thomas 4); Robert Morris 12 (Posset 6). Blocks: Saint Francis none; Robert Morris 3 (Ezeigbo, Castedo, Ozzy-Momodu 1 each). Steals: Saint Francis 9 (Kovatch 3); Robert Morris 8 (Ezeigbo, Posset, Ikematsu 2 each). Turnovers: Saint Francis 20; Robert Morris 15. Total fouls: Saint Francis 19; Robert Morris 14. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.

Officials: Kevin Pethel, Kathleen Lonergan, Mark Resch.

A: 1,016.

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