Loretto, PA (AP) -- Her team ahead but not comfortably so, Saint Francis star Jessica Kovatch’s left ankle turned awkwardly. The ball slipped out of her hands amid copious amounts of contact.

A minute later, the Northeastern Conference Player of the Year hobbled to the bench nervous that the NCAA Tournament berth the Red Flash have been chasing for months was in jeopardy as Robert Morris swarmed.

So Kovatch spent 129 seconds on the bench next to coach Joe Haigh. Her nerves settled. Saint Francis’ lead remained largely intact. And when she returned, the nation’s second-leading scorer helped seal the Red Flash’s first NCAA trip in seven years.

Kovatch poured in 29 points, including seven over the final 6:10 as top-seeded Saint Francis held off the second-seeded Colonials 66-56 to reach the NCAAs for the 12th time in the program’s history. The Red Flash did it by forcing 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter and relying on Kovatch to fight through the double teams and the contact that seem to follow her wherever she goes.

The junior guard, who scored a record 103 points during Saint Francis’ three-game run through the NEC tournament on her way to being named the Most Valuable player, shrugged off the pain in her ankle. If anything, it was a blessing.

”Had to (regroup) myself,” Kovatch said. ”I’m pretty emotional when I play. I had my teammates calm me down a little.”Kovatch left with Saint Francis (24-9) up 10. When she checked back in, the Red Flash led by eight. She then drilled a couple of free throws, turned a steal into a layup before converting a traditional 3-point play with 1:31 to go that finally put the Colonials away.

“First off congratulations to Robert Morris and the season that they had," said SFU head coach Joe Haigh. "They are a really tough opponent and I thought they played great today. They played really hard so congratulations to them. As for us, I am really excited for our players. The long six-­-month journey seems longer for this group because it has really been a two-­-year journey. I am excited for our players to win a championship this year. It was awesome to be able to do this on our home court. I didn’t think we played our best game today but we did enough. We were so excited in the first half that we made some mistakes that are uncharacteristic for us. We regrouped at halftime, calmed down, and really did a great job in the second half with our defensive effort.”

Caitlyn Kroll added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Saint Francis, which pulled away over the final 15 minutes after Robert Morris (25-7) briefly moved In front.

”Coming into the second half, we talked about just picking it up on defense,” Kovatch said.

The Red Flash did it by pressing whenever the chance arose in the fourth quarter in an effort to slow the Colonials down. It worked. Robert Morris shot just 34 percent (22 for 65) on the game and went 4 of 14 over the final 10 minutes.

”We did a good job containing them for a while,” Colonials coach Charlie Buscaglia said. ”I felt like we were really executing our game plan well (but) it’s really tough for 40 minutes. We had some miscues where they got loose.”

Jocelynne Jones led Robert Morris with a career-high 21 points and Mikalah Mulrain and Megan Smith added 10 points each but the Colonials lost their composure late. Robert Morris forced Saint Francis into 23 turnovers but only converted those mistakes into just eight points. The Red Flash finished with 21 points off turnovers, including 14 in the fourth.

”They started to run and double us and we didn’t handle it very well,” Buscaglia said.

The Red Flash, who blew out the Colonials at DeGol Arena five weeks ago, appeared ready to go it again early. Kovatch drilled a stepback 3-pointer and then added a 28-footer as Saint Francis sprinted to a 13-2 lead. Robert Morris slowly fought its way back into things, tying it up at halftime thanks in large part to freshman guard Nina Augustin.

The 5-foot-6 Augustin hounded the 5-9 Kovatch, picking up the NEC’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made at halfcourt and disrupting the Red Flash’s offensive flow in the process. The harassment allowed Robert Morris to climb back into the game and a pair of 3-pointers by Jones allowed the Colonials to pull in front 40-39 with 5:07 to go in the third.

That was it. Robert Morris managed just two baskets over the next 10 minutes and the Red Flash were ahead to stay.

“I just got done meeting with the team and I told them how proud I am of them," said Buscaglia. "The fight this year, the youth on our team, these senior being such great leaders every day and getting after it at practice. I am honored to coach this group.  It’s about going out and challenging yourself to be the best that you can be everyday. We got off to a slow start but came back and kept fighting. It was a typical loss of ours where we continued to fight and didn’t allow it to get away from us. We played with no fear.” 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Jessica Kovatch, SFU (MVP)
Caitlyn Kroll, SFU
Jocelynne Jones, RMU
Denisha Petty-Evans, LIU
Tykera Carter, SHU

BIG PICTURE

Robert Morris: The Colonials lose four seniors but in freshmen Augustin, Megan Callahan and Honoka Ikematsu won’t lack for options in the backcourt next season.

Saint Francis: Head coach Joe Haigh finished the rebuilding process he started after a 6-23 mark in 2014-15 by staying positive. It paid off with a dominant year.


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