Women's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker, 69-66 in Overtime, to St. Francis (PA)

(boxscore)

1/6/05 -- Long Island could not protect an eight-point lead late in regulation and was dealt a heartbreaking 69-66 overtime setback by St. Francis (PA) in Northeast Conference action at Schwartz Center.

Sophomore Sara Oblak (Skofja Loka, Slovenia) played solidly in the post for LIU (5-6, 1-1 NEC), closing with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and a season-high nine rebounds to just miss her first double-double. Junior Amber Wirth (Hastings, Minn.) poured in 14 points with four 3-pointers, senior Ravin Chase (Baltimore, Md.) scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and sophomore Kelli Sawyer (Philadelphia, Pa.) had eight points, tied a career-best with eight assists and added seven rebounds.

The Red Flash (4-7, 2-0 NEC) rattled off 14 straight points spanning the second half and overtime with Beth Swink netting six in that span. She closed with 19 points overall as did Christin Black, who shot 7-of-9 from the floor.

LIU held a 58-50 edge with 3:20 left in regulation, but Amber Hein hit two free throws with 2:05 to go for the Red Flash and Regina Schlichter added a layup with 1:58 remaining for a four-point game. Swink nailed two free throws with 65 seconds left for a 58-56 contest and Sara Bolten hit the tying jumper from the left side with 38 seconds remaining.

Swink made 6-of-6 from the line in the extra session, helping St. Francis (PA) shoot 9-of-13 in that span. Her two free throws 16 seconds into overtime gave the Red Flash their first lead since 27-26 with 4:36 left in the opening half.

Sawyer’s layup with 10 seconds left moved the Blackbirds within 68-66 before April Jackson made 1-of-2 from the line with seven seconds remaining to put the Red Flash up three. LIU, which led 54-44 with 7:40 left, could not get off a final shot amid a swarming St. Francis (PA) defense.

The Blackbirds shot 58 percent (15-of-26) from the field in the opening half and finished hitting 54 percent (28-of-52). The Red Flash hit for 57 percent (12-of-21) in the first half, closing with 46 percent (22-of-48) overall.

LIU looks to rebound Saturday against Robert Morris. Tip-off is at 2:00 pm.