Canton’s Benedetti and St. Francis top Robert Morris, earn bid to NCAA tourney

Canton’s Sarah Benedetti, on the right side of the girls holding the trophy, and her St. Francis Brooklyn teammates won the Northeast Conference title Sunday and a bid to play in the NCAA Division I tournament. (Photo courtesy of NEC via Twitter)

Canton’s Sarah Benedetti is going to the NCAA Division I tournament.

The senior forward at St. Francis-Brooklyn had a career-high 29 points and was named the most valuable player of the 2015 Northeast Conference tournament as the Terriers beat Robert Morris, 77-62 Sunday to win the NEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

A year ago, St. Francis won a school-record 19 games. Hopes were high this season for another outstanding season. But the Terriers struggled to win ball games. Even with five wins in the final six games, St. Francis entered the post-season with a 12-18 record (9-9 NEC). 

Canton High graduate Sarah Benedetti has scored more than 1,300 points for St. Francis-Brooklyn. She is the No. 4 scorer in school history.

But St. Francis has been outstanding in the postseason. The No. 5 Terriers erased a 12-point deficit to beat Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals, 77-69. In the semifinals, St. Francis upset top-seeded Central Connecticut State on their home floor in New Britain, 71-63 in double OT.

On Sunday, they beat No. 3 Robert Morris in Moon Township, Pa., 77-62 to secure their first-ever NCAA tournament bid and its first league championship. Benedetti hit 5-of-6 from three-point range, pulled down nine rebounds, had a block and three assists.

“It is a great feeling. I always loved being the underdog and this is the true underdog story,” Benedetti said. “It feels amazing. We have never been in this situation before, but our experience with our four seniors and one junior really builds our team chemistry and that helps us when we had to make big shots to win the game.”

St. Francis’ Eilidh Simpson and Jaymee Veney each had 14 points and five rebounds each. The Terriers led by three at halftime, 32-29. They pulled away by draining three-point shots in the second half, converting on seven of nine attempts.

Simpson said, “Robert Morris played a great game. The first half was a back and forth battle. The second half of the game we were able to pull away after Sarah made some big shots. It was an unreal feeling coming down the stretch. We went to double-overtime with Central Connecticut, so we know it is not over until that final buzzer sounds. To win with these guys is the best feeling in the world.”

The Terriers worked long and hard to beat Central Connecticut. The Terriers took a three-point lead, 54-51, when Simpson sank two free throws with 18 seconds left in regulation. Central inbounded the ball and called a timeout with 5 seconds left to set up a play. Tejahne Malone heaved up a three from the right arch at the buzzer to send it to the first overtime, tying the game at 54.

In the first OT, Benedetti hit a three-pointer to give the Terriers a quick three-point lead. In the second OT, St. Francis’ Leah Fechko hit a pair of free throws and Benedetti followed with a layup to give the Terriers a four-point lead, 63-59.

Bendetti finished with 17 points, three rebounds and two assists. She had three 3-point field goals. “When the last game of your college career is on the line, you dig down for something extra,” Benedetti said. “We didn’t want our season to end. We did whatever it took to keep it going.”

St. Francis (15-18) won all three NEC Tournament games on the road.

Benedetti has started for three years for St. Francis and has scored 1,366 points – fourth best in school history. She came off the bench during her junior season. She averaged 13.5 points per game this season with a team-high 67 three-point shots this season. She is the career leader for three-point shots (277) made at St. Francis.

In the NEC Tournament, Benedetti averaged 21.6 points and sank nine three-point goals, converting on 47.3 percent of her shots beyond the arc.

At Canton, Benedetti graduated in 2011. She was a four-time All-NCCC selection and a three-time All-State pick for the Warriors. She scored 1,653 points in high school and owns the girls single-game scoring record with 44 points in a win over Platt Tech of Milford in March 2010 in a Class S tournament game.