Women's Basketball falls to St. Francis (PA), 74-53, in Northeast Conference final

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Mar. 9, 2002

Senior Angelika Stec (Stalowa Vola, Poland) scored a game-high 24 points, but Long Island could not avoid a second-half onslaught and was detitle a 74-53 loss to St. Francis (PA) at the Northeast Conference final in Loretto, PA.

The Blackbirds (18-12) were denied their second straight NEC crown after defeating Mount St. Mary's last season for the school's first title. LIU suffered just its second loss in the last 11 outings and failed to tie the school record for most wins set during the 1976-77 campaign (19-4).

The Red Flash (19-11) scored 23 straight points to open a 57-37 cushion with 8:12 left to clinch their sixth NEC title in seven years. Karen Hewitt scored 12 points in that run, including 10 straight at one point en route to being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player with a team-best 22 points.

St. Francis (PA) shot 9-of-12 from the floor during the deciding run and kept LIU off the scoreboard for almost nine minutes. The Red Flash finished the half shooting 57 percent (16-of-28) and outscored the Blackbirds, 47-20.

LIU, which shot 35 percent (8-of-23) over the final 20 minutes, went 9 1/2 minutes without a basket until junior Tamika Dudley (Woodbridge, VA) hit with 6:52 to play.

Stec played brilliantly in her final game as a Blackbird, netting 20 points in the first half to help LIU open a 33-27 lead. She poured in 13 points during a half-ending 20-9 run.

Dudley, the NEC Player of the Year, closed the tournament with 41 points and 22 rebounds to make the all-tournament team for the second straight season. Last season's NEC Tournament MVP, Dudley became LIU's fifth all-time leading scorer (1,268) after finishing today with eight points and nine rebounds.

Stec finished the tournament with 55 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists to also make the all-tournament team for a second straight year. She averaged 17.8 points in her last 11 games and 16.3 points over her last 14 contests.

Stec shot 10-of-16 from the floor today to help the Blackbirds hit 39 percent (22-of-56), but that could not overcome St. Francis (PA) shooting 48 percent (29-of-60).

Junior Kim Mac Millan (Toms River, NJ) poured in 12 points, sophomore Jessica Brookes (Ocean City, NJ) netted six and junior Nicki Winston (Edison, NJ) buried a 3-pointer to close LIU's scoring.

The Blackbirds had outscored their last 10 opponents in the second half by an average of 13 points, but fell to 11-2 this season when leading at halftime.