Ward, also tabbed the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, logged a game-high 22 points on the afternoon. The senior guard went 11-of-18 from the field, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range. Swink, who garnered also Northeast Conference Player of the Year and second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors this season, registered 18 points and seven rebounds.

"For us it’s a great game to get our seniors up and on the run," St. Francis head coach Jill Poe said. "We didn’t want to have won 18 and go home. We didn’t pack at the hotel. We plan to be hear for awhile. Today was one of the best defensive efforts we’ve had against a very good penetrating team."

Holding a precarious three-point edge at halftime, St. Francis scored the first nine points of the second stanza to stake claim to a 12-point lead, 34-22, with 16:30 left in the contest. The spurt was induced by Swink who hit a pair of free throws and a layup and was capped by Ward who hit a mid-range jumper and added a 3-point field goal. The Red Flash’s double-digit cushion would only be pierced three times down the stretch as the Mountaineers cut the lead to eight points on three different occasions, but could not draw closer. After the third time the Mount closed the margin to eight points at 51-43 with 3:55 on the clock, St. Francis went on a 10-1 tear to close out the game as Ward scored on a pair of layups and a jumper and Swink hit a jumper from the key.

Mount St. Mary’s (9-19) took control of the contest early on, building an 11-2 advantage mark at the 13:38 mark. The surge was keyed by a pair of LaToya Butler (Upper Marlboro, MD/Suitland) layups sandwiched around a 3-point field goal by Samira Rashid (Richmond, VA/Thomas Jefferson). The Mountaineers took the nine-point lead, its biggest of the game when Adrienne Harris (Richmond, VA/Largo (MD)) picked Christin Black (Fairmont, WV) clean and went coast-to-coast for a layup giving Mount the 11-2 edge. The Blue and White’s menacing defense caused seven St. Francis turnovers during the game-opening swell with the Mount pulling off five heists, including three steals by Harris and two by first-team All-NEC selection Myriam Baccouche (Fairfax, VA/Robinson).

Sparked by back-to-back buckets by Swink, St. Francis (23-5) erased the deficit and took a five-point lead with a 23-9 run. Swink made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 48 seconds remaining in the half to inflate the Red Flash cushion to 25-20. A layup by Rashid with 24 seconds on the clock coagulated the bleeding for the Mount and the Red Flash carried a 25-22 advantage into the locker room, paced by eight points and five rebounds by Swink and seven points from Ward.

"I knew that St. Francis was not going to lay down." Mount’s Harris said. "They are champions and they know how to fight through things."

Rashid led Mount St. Mary’s with 13 points. Baccouche posted 12 points and added three steals. Beth Thomas (Elm City, NC/Fike) posted her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Red Flash defense stymied the Mountaineers’ offense, holding the Blue and White to just 30.9 percent shooting from the field (17-of-55), including 29.6 percent (8-of-27) in the second half and 20.0 percent (2-of-10) from 3-point range. St. Francis’ offensive engine, which sputtered in the first half as it made 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from the field while committing nine turnovers, hit on all cylinders in the second half, making 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the floor and turning the ball over only three times.

"There were some jitters early on," St. Francis guard Karen Hewitt (Cincinnati, OH/Cincinnati Hills) said. "Fortunately, we got them out in the first five minutes of the game."

St. Francis won the Northeast Conference Tournament in 2002 and 2003 and has been triumphant in seven of the last eight league tourneys.

St. Francis, who went unscathed in NEC regular-season action with an 18-0 mark, advances to the first semifinal contest on Sunday vs. the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between No. 4 seed Quinnipiac and No. 5 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. Tip-off is slated for 12 p.m. and the contest will be aired live on Cablevision systems.