Thursday, February 21, 2002

BOXSCORE

St. Francis (PA) Defeats Fairleigh Dickinson, 68-59
Knights' rookie Kay Odenwaelder posts fourth double-double of season

LORETTO, PA - The Fairleigh Dickinson University (14-12, 9-8 NEC) rallied to within one point at halftime but were unable to overcome the St. Francis (PA) (15-11, 13-4 NEC) Red Flash. The Knights and the Red Flash have both clinched spots in the Northeast Conference tournament but are competing for high seeds as NEC action winds down.

The Red Flash opened with seven points before the Knights' Jennifer Kozlowski (Linwood, PA) nailed a three-pointer at 16:58 that started a 10-4 run to get within one, 11-10.  A three-point play from Natallia Marchanka (Rechitsa, Belarus) gave the Knights their first lead, 15-13, with 13:00 to go in the first half. The teams traded baskets and the lead until St. Francis (PA) hit four three-pointers to go up 32-25 at 5:59.  The Knights responded by shutting down the Red Flash offense for seven straight points, including four from Marchanka, to knot the game at 32 with 1:57 to go.  FDU would not allow another field goal by St. Francis hit 4-of-4 free throws to go up by four points, 36-32, before Erin Mills (Wilmington, DE) hit a trey with less than a second left in the first session for the one-point halftime deficit for the Knights 35-36.

The Knights missed their first four shots of the second half as the Red Flash scored nine unanswered points to take a 45-35 lead at 15:31.  A 10-4 run by FDU--with points from five different players--got them within four, 45-49 with11:48 remaining.  But the Knights could not get any closer as the Red Flash was able to hold on and slowly move ahead to a final nine-point victory, 68-59.

Odenwaelder led the Knights with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in a career-high 35 minutes.  She leads the team with four double-doubles on the season. Marchanka finished with 15 points and seven assists in her seventh 40 minute game of the year. Kozlowski scored 10 points and added three assists.

Three Red Flash players scored in double-digits led by Karen Hewitt's 20 points.  Carlin Chesick had 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds while Beth Swink had 15 points and 11 boards.

The Knights remain in Pennsylvania to face the Robert Morris Colonials on Saturday, February 23 at 2pm.  The quarterfinals of the NEC Tournament will be on Saturday, March 2nd at Mt. St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

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