#1 Robert Morris 64, #8 Fairleigh Dickinson 38
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Moon Township, PA -- NEC regular season champion Robert Morris used a suffocating defense to post a 64-38 win over eighth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in NEC quarterfinal action in Moon Township on Wednesday. 

RMU (20-10, 16-2 NEC) limited FDU to 27.3 percent (12-44) from the floor and 4-16 on three-pointers, while shooting a season-best 50.0 percent (24-48) clip from the field.

“I’m very proud of the effort tonight,” said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. “The team worked hard for 40 minutes and things weren’t easy. I give a lot of credit to Fairleigh Dickinson, coach (Peter) Cinella did a great job today, and we had to be good in order to win this game. We did a great job in the second half of continuing to fight, and that’s what we have to do this time of the year.”

The Knights hung tough through the opening frame, trailing 12-11 after 10 minutes. They tied it at 13-13 with a Lauren Francillon jumper, but RMU’s defense locked in after that. Natalie Villaflor helped the hosts regain the lead with a layup off a Nneka Ezeigbo feed, followed by a bucket by the junior center. Rachel Niles answered with a jumper, but Honoka Ikematsu canned a baseline three to make it 20-15. Ikematsu struck again with a jumper late in the frame to push the Colonial gap to double-digits, but Madelynn Comly finished in the paint to set the halftime tally at 28-20.

"I was very happy with how we followed the game plan," said FDU head coach Pete Cinella. "I really liked the situation we were in in the first half. We didn’t get a few shots to fall and I thought, I almost feel like it could have been a little closer than 28-20, if a few of our shots fell, a few turnovers there. But I was happy with where we were in that first half."

FDU would trim the difference to seven before RMU used a 15-2 run over the next 3:39 to seal the victory. The rally started with an Isabella Posset trifecta, followed by an Ezeigbo fastbreak layup off a steal. Natalie Zamora briefly halted the run with two free throws, but Augustin responded with back-to-back treys to force a Knights timeout. Villaflor added one at the foul line after the break and Esther Castedo buried a three-pointer to turn a single-digit game into a 44-24 one.

Ikematsu finished the contest off in style with a three, floater, and mid-range jumper, while Laura Carrasco’s layup with 1:32 left gave the Colonials their largest lead.

"It’s just our mentality that defense is our backbone and if we have to continue no matter what’s going on in the offensive end, you gotta get ready to get up there and go to the next play and get that next stop," said Buscaglia. "Be tough enough to handle that adversity on the offensive end and be aggressive and give your best effort. That’s something that we’ve battled every year when it comes to this time of year as far as making sure we keep that first place.”

Augustin and Ezeigbo both scored 13 points to lead the hosts, while Ikematsu provided 12 on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench.  Comly and Francillon tied for FDU high scoring honors with 10 points each.

This is now the 12th season overall and fourth straight that RMU has won 20 games.

The Colonials moved to 14-5 all-time in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals and 22-2 in home postseason contests. RMU has also won their last 30 home games against conference foes.

Robert Morris continues its quest for an eighth NEC Tournament title on Thursday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. against sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary’s. 
 
#2 Sacred Heart 68, #7 Wagner 51
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Fairfield, CT -- A lockdown defensive second quarter was all Sacred Heart needed.

The second-seeded Pioneers held Wagner to just two points in the second period and forced 16 first half turnovers to ease their way to a 68-51 win over seventh-seeded Wagner in the NEC quarterfinals.

The Pioneers won their sixth straight game and advance to the semifinal round for the fourth straight season, where they will take on Saint Francis U on Thursday at 6:00 pm. 

"I am really proud of how the played and how we fought throughout the game," said SHU head coach Jess Mannetti. "I give a ton of credit to Wagner. I thought Wagner brought a lot of good energy so I thought we had to really prepare for them since we haven't faced them since January 21. They have some new players and returners that keep on getting better. I think we executed the game play well and that we were able to shut down their players early in the game. I am really proud of this team while we might have really low numbers in terms of the amount of players on our roster but the team chemistry is great and I could not be prouder of this team and we look forward to playing in the next game."

With Wagner looking to erase a 22-point halftime deficit, SHU shot a blistering 75 percent (12-of-16) overall and hit 3-of-5 from three in the third quarter to put the game away.

Katherine Haines led SHU in scoring for the 15th time this season with a game and new playoff-high 21 points, to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Candice Leatherwood added 17 points and six boards, and Allyson Murphy finished with 10.

Taylah Simmons paced Wagner with 18 points and 12 rebounds in her eighth double-double effort of the season.

SHU capitalized in a big way, turing 22 Wagner turnovers into a 23-6 edge in points-off-turnovers.

#6 Mount St. Mary's 80, #3 St. Francis Brooklyn 74
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Brooklyn Heights, NY -- Five Mount St. Mary's players finished with double-figure points to propel the Mountaineers to an 80-74 victory at St. Francis Brooklyn on Monday night in the NEC quarterfinals. The victory was the first for Mount St. Mary's in the playoffs since the 2013-14 campaign. Mount St. Mary's will face top-seeded Robert Morris in the NEC Semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. on the Colonials' home court.

Mount freshman Michaela Harrison finished with 23 points on 5-of-10 shooting, a 3-of-5 mark from long range, and a perfect 10-of-10 clip at the line to lead all scorers in the contest. The Cleveland, Ohio native came up huge in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 of her 23 points in the period, with 10 of those coming from the charity stripe. Harrison's second three-pointer of the night put her at 80 threes on the season, which set a new Mount St. Mary's single-season three-point record. Myriam Baccouche held the previous record with 79 threes made during the 2003-04 campaign.

Jatarrikah Settle helped fuel the Mountaineers in the win, registering 13 points and 11 rebounds to collect her third double-double of the season and the fourth of her career. Settle also added four assists and four steals in the contest.

Bridget Birkhead knocked down a trio of three-pointers and finished with 14 points, while Juliette Lawless and Alexis Wooden each went 5-of-6 from the field and posted 10 points apiece to round out the double-figure scorers for the Mount.

The Mountaineers shot 46.2 percent overall in the game, including 58.3 percent (7-12) in the fourth quarter. They went just 7-of-24 (.292) from three-point territory, but hit 13-of-15 (.867) free throws on the night, 11 of which came in the final period.

"It was awesome to see so many different people step up for us at different moments tonight," said second-year Head Coach Maria Marchesano. "Tonight was the definition of a team win, and I couldn't be more proud of how our players kept their composure through the ups and downs of the game."

The Mount (15-15) trailed by a pair entering the fourth quarter but quickly tied it up on Birkhead's opening bucket of the period. The teams battled back and forth through much of the fourth quarter, as the first five minutes featured seven lead changes and four ties in the first five minutes.

Harrison hit a long ball as the clock dipped under the five-minute mark, which was her record-breaking three that gave her 80 on the season. The triple pushed the Mount's advantage to 69-65 with 4:49 remaining.

After Jade Johnson hit a pair from the line for the Terriers, Harrison countered with two free throws of her own to make it a four-point lead once again. The Mount forced a pair of misses of SFC's next possession before calling timeout at the 3:10 mark. Coming out of the stoppage, Harrison knocked down a straight-away three off a feed from Alexis Wooden to increase the lead to 74-67 with 2:55 left.

Ally Lassen made 1-of-2 at the line on the Terriers' next possession, but Harrison answered by getting to the line and making both to pad the advantage to eight with under two minutes remaining. Maria Palarino scored four straight for SFC on the team's next two possessions, which cut the deficit to 76-72 with 58 seconds showing on the clock. After a Mount St. Mary's timeout, Settle was fouled but couldn't convert on either attempt at the line, and Amy O'Neill came down with the board for St. Francis. The Terriers brought the ball down the court and Samantha Keltos was fouled in the paint. Keltos got injured on the play, forcing SFC to sub in Mia Ehling for the free throw attempts. Ehling calmy sank both foul shots, bringing the Terriers within a pair, 76-74, with 23 seconds left.

On the next possession, Ebony Horton got a clutch steal for the Terriers and they called timeout with 18 seconds remaining. Coming out of the timeout, Palarino got to the paint and tried to go up for the game-tying bucket, but Harrison stripped her on the way up to come away with the steal. Harrison was fouled and made both clutch foul shots with seven seconds left to pad the Mount's lead to 78-74.

Following a timeout to advance the ball, Johnson's three-point attempt didn't fall and Harrison came down with the board for the Mountaineers. She was sent to the line and made both once again to seal the 80-74 victory for the Mount.

SFBK senior guard Maria Palarino tallied 20 points, grabbed six rebounds, and converted a perfect six-of-six from the free-throw line. She also converted seven-of-10 from the field in 27 minutes of action. Johnson scored 20 points and added three rebounds, and freshman guard Ebony Horton recorded 14 points, snared 10 boards and had three assists. Senior guard Amy O'Neill dished for 10 assists.
 
#4 Saint Francis U 91, #5 Bryant 78
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Loretto, PA --  NEC Player of the Year Jess Kovatch scored a season-high 38 points to help lead the Saint Francis U women's basketball team (15-16, 11-7 NEC) to a 91-78 victory over Bryant (11-19, 9-9 NEC) in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals on Monday at DeGol Arena.

Kovatch had a lethal shooting performance, going 13-of-19 from the field, including 8-of-12 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. She is averaging 35.3 points over her last four NEC Tournament games dating back to last season.

"Jess played with a lot of confidence tonight and I feel she gave a commanding performance as Player of the Year in this conference for the second time and in front of our fans," Interim Head Coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl said. "It was a good team effort. We really shot the ball well. We have obviously been in the gym shooting a lot. We executed tonight and made shots at key times."

Sam Sabino gave Saint Francis a spark to start the game as she scored seven of the Red Flash's first nine points to give SFU a 9-4 lead with 7:34 to play in the opening period. Kovatch then scored seven of the next nine Saint Francis points as the Red Flash opened up an 18-6 lead with 4:40 remaining.

Courtney Zezza's (Plum, PA/Plum) three-pointer with 33 seconds to go put SFU ahead 24-13 at the end of the first stanza

Bryant pulled within 28-18 before Kovatch went on a 7-0 run on her own to extend the Red Flash's lead to 35-18 with 7:07 left in the second period.

Saint Francis continued to push the pace and pile on the points as it held a 50-37 halftime advantage

Bryant used a mini 5-0 run to open the third period and cut the Red Flash's lead to 50-42 with 7:44 remaining

SFU responded with a 10-1 run as back-to-back Kovatch treys put the hosts ahead 60-43 with 3:55 to play.

After a short Bulldogs spurt to cut the margin to 65-54, Leah Morrow scored five straight points as part of a 9-0 run to give Saint Francis a 74-54 advantage at the end of the third frame.

The Bulldogs used a 12-2 run to open the final period and trim SFU's lead to 76-66 with 7:12 remaining in the contest

Phee Allen's three-pointer sparked a 9-3 Red Flash run that was capped off with a Haley Thomas layup as SFU led 89-73 with 3:17 to play.

SFU shot 32-of-64 (50.0%) from the floor, including 14-of-37 (37.8%) from three-point range and 13-of-19 from the charity stripe.

Bryant controlled the battle on the boards with a 46-30 rebounding advantage, including 20 offensive boards

Sabino and Thomas finished with 11 points, and Leah Morrow added 10 for the Red Flash. Karson Swogger had eight of SFU's 17 assists. Zezza added three blocks to give her 298 career rejections.

"I just want to start by congratulating Saint Francis, played a great game, really came out of the gate firing and really shot the ball well, which was an area where I thought we really struggled," said Bryant head coach Mary Burke. "I knew that one of our goals coming into the game was offensive balance, whether that be making outside shots or getting the ball into the paint, but we struggled with balance tonight. I love our fight and the way we competed all game, but it just wasn't our night and we struggled with our opportunities to score. That was a big factor in the game."

Bryant was led by Sydney Holloway, who tallied 27 points and 16 rebounds.

LaFrance Boyce added 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, and Naomi Ashley ended her career with 10 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. Kierra Palmer had a team-high six assists.