EMMITSBURG, Md. – Saint Francis (Pa.) defeated Mount St. Mary's 68-60 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Saturday.

Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) paced the Mount (11-15, 6-10 NEC) with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Hassanah Oliver (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) added 15 points and Lauren Howell (Quinton, N.J./Sacred Heart) chipped in 13 points in the loss.

Britney Hodges fueled the Red Flash (11-15, 9-6 NEC) with 16 points while Samantha Leach added 14 points, Brittany Lilley posted 11 points and Janie Killian registered 10 points in the winning effort.

Saint Francis (Pa.) used a strong run in the first half and held on after a late Mountaineer surge to end a four-game losing streak against Mount St. Mary's.

After Oliver tied the game at 12 at 11:46 in the first half, the Red Flash rolled off the next 14 points in the next four minutes and 14 seconds to take a lead it would not relinquish.

Quinessa Johnson handed Saint Francis (Pa.) the lead for good on a jumper at 11:18 before Leach drilled a 3-pointer at 10:50 for a 17-12 advantage. Kelsey Caruthers then converted two at the free throw line at 8:49 to give the Red Flash a double-digit lead. Leach and Johnson both hit jumpers to cap the 14-0 run at 7:32 for 26-12 margin. Brianna Gauthier (Severna Park, Md./St. Mary's) ended the surge with a jumper at 7:06, but Allison Daly nailed a 3-pointer at 6:53 to give Saint Francis (Pa.) its largest lead at 29-14.

Mount St. Mary's scored 13 of the final 19 points thanks to seven points from Dunn and six from Howell to cut the deficit to 35-27 going into the locker room.

In the second half after the Red Flash gained a 40-29 lead with 18:16 left, the Mount went on a 9-2 run to trim the difference to 42-38 with 12:14 on the clock. Dunn started the spurt with a jumper at 17:28 before Gauthier hit 1 of 2 at the free throw line at 16:15. After Howell hit a jumper at the 15:47 mark, Leach momentarily halted the run with a layup at 13:34 to restore an eight-point margin. Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) then hit the second of two free throws at 13:23 and then Howell nailed a 3-pointer at 12:14 to cut the deficit to 42-38.

Leach and Dunn traded points, but then Saint Francis (Pa.) rolled off eight of the next 10 points to take a 52-42 lead with 8:11 left.

The Red Flash tried to help the Mountaineers come back and steal the victory. In the final 68 seconds, Saint Francis (Pa.) converted only 5 of 12 free throws and Mount St. Mary's cut the margin to 65-60 with 19 seconds remaining, but could get no closer the rest of the way.

Gauthier moved into 21st place on the program's all-time career points list with 1,057 career points. Howell moved into seventh place in career 3 pointers with 98 made from behind the arc.

Mount St. Mary's heads to Wagner on Monday and can clinch its 20th-straight NEC Tournament berth with a win. Tipoff is 7 p.m.