FORT WAYNE, Ind. - After pulling upsets on the road in each of the first two rounds of the 2010 Mid-Central College Conference Tournament, the fifth-seeded Marian University women's basketball team simply ran out of gas in their third road game in six days as the second-seeded University of Saint Francis (Ind.) denied the Knights their first-ever MCC Tournament title, 78-62, Monday night at the Hutzell Athletic Center in Fort Wayne, Ind.

"This was 36 minutes and 36 seconds of dead-even basketball," said head coach Todd Bacon of the back-and-forth affair at the Hutzell Athletic Center. "We were making their better players take tough shots and we defended well. We were scrappy, getting loose balls, and hitting the floor, but we did not hit enough shots late in the game to knock them off on the road."

Senior Megan Egenolf (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) led three Knights in double figures with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Sophomore Emily Smithson (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) tallied 12 points, while freshman Rachel Turk (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) hit for 11 points to lead the Knights.

"Megan has played two games in a row at the level I always expected her to play at," Bacon said of seniors. "Kristin really boarded the basketball well during this tournament and the 33 boards she gave us in the three tournament games really gave us a lift. Rachel really gave us a lift and I believe this will give her the confidence to know that she played well against three top-25 teams in the MCC Tournament. These ladies really turned it on in this tournament."

After going toe-to-toe with the Cougars in the first half, the Knights trailed by just four points at 36-32 heading into the locker room. The Knights shot 41 percent (13-of-32) in the first half, and they held the Cougars to just 31 percent (11-of-36). They also out-rebounded USF by a 30-20 margin, but the difference came at the free throw line as the Knights went just 3-of-7 while the Cougars were 12-of-16 in the first frame.

The Knights had trailed at the half in their last MCC Tournament game, a 76-55 win over No. 1-seeded Indiana Wesleyan, so coming from behind was nothing new.

The two teams traded blows out of the locker room, but USF was able to maintain its four-point lead at 38-34 just 1:08 into the second stanza. Egenolf knocked down a three-pointer with 18:03 to go to cut the lead back to one, but USF was able to push it back to four at 43-39 with 14:31 to go. Egenolf then nailed back-to-back shots, including a three-pointer, to stake the Knights a one-point lead, 44-43, with 12:51 remaining.

The teams traded buckets again before USF was able to tie the score, 51-51, with 9:29 to go. The Cougars then embarked on a 10-run over the next 4:47 to take a 10-point lead, 61-51, with 4:42 remaining.

The Knights were able to cut it back to five, 61-56, with 3:24 remaining before a key turnover cost the Knights a three-point play and allowed USF to go back up by 10, 66-56, with 3:05 to go. It was at that point that the Knights just ran out of gas.

USF out-scored MU 12-6 over the final three minutes to secure its ninth MCC Tournament title by a 78-62 count.

The Knights held a potent USF offense to just 33 percent (21-of-63) from the field, but could not overcome the 33-of-40 performance from the free throw line for the Cougars. MU shot 36 percent (22-of-62) from the field and out-rebounded the Cougars by a 48-42 margin. MU also could not overcome a turnover differential of 12 as the Knights turned the ball over 19 times to USF's seven.

Senior Kristin Houck (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while Smithson dished out a game high six assists.

The Knights close the 2009-10 campaign with a 19-14 overall record, an 8-8 mark in MCC play, and their first trip to the MCC Tournament title game in 34 seasons of Marian University women's basketball.