St. Francis' Joe Haigh has his women thinking about a return trip to the NCAA Tournament




… currently first in the NEC 

Joe Haigh is Notre Dame through and through, but he now also bleeds red and white. For the past eight years, Haigh has been a coach of the St. Francis women's basketball team, the past four as head coach.

As an assistant to Susan Robinson Fruchtl, Haigh saw the Red Flash women return to the NCAA tournament twice, in 2010 and 2011, their 10th and 11th trips to the big dance.

Then, in his first two seasons as head coach, Haigh's teams advanced to the Northeast Conference (NEC) title game, only to come up empty.

Jessica Kovatch

While enduring a sub-par NEC season in 2014-15 with a 5-13 record, Haigh discovered a real gem in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Her name is Jessica Kovatch, and after a sensational season as a freshman last year, Kovatch is currently the 13th leading scorer in the country with 21 points per game. She has tallied 90 3-point field goals thus far this year. In addition, the Red Flash are 18th in the country in scoring right now among Div. I schools with 77.8 ppg.

So, the Flash appear to be on the verge of making another run for an NCAA title.

How did he find Kovatch? In a conversation at an Ebensburg restaurant last summer, Haigh said, "No one down there [in New Jersey] seemed to be too interested in her."

Kovatch came in last year and set a new scoring record for both the Red Flash women and for the NEC as she scored 649 points (20.9 ppg). She was the Rookie of the Year and earned Rookie of the Week honors 13 times, also a record.

Finding players the conventional and non-conventional way

However, Haigh has recruited beyond the conventional means. He found Ace Henderson, a 6-2 forward who had played at the University of Maryland and had two seasons of eligibility left. She is third on the team in scoring with 12.6 ppg but more important, averages 8.8 rebounds a game.

His second leading scorer, Katie Reese [13.4 ppt. 3.2 apg], is a transfer from Manhattan. He also found a 6-4 center from Plum High School in Courtney Zezza.

So, Haigh has discovered players through conventional and non-conventional means, but he is molding this team into one that could become that 12th St. Francis team to reach the NCAA tournament.

NEC battles

The road to the NCAA tournament will not be an easy one for Haigh's Red Flash. They are only a game ahead of Robert Morris and Sacred Heart, who have given them their only two losses in the league.

Nevertheless, at this stage, their chances look pretty good.

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