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After winning its fourth-straight game on Thursday afternoon at Howard, the Red Flash continue their season-long eight-game road trip with a visit to West Virginia on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Currently, the Mountaineers (no. 7 AP, no. 8 USA Today/ESPN) are the only ranked opponent on Saint Francis' schedule this season.  Upcoming opponent Syracuse is on the doorstep of being ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Poll.

Saint Francis is 0-3 against the Big East school, with its closest game – a 74-68 setback – coming in 2004-05.  Saint Francis last played the Mountaineers in 2007-08 (L, 81-29) in Susan Robinson Fruchtl's first season on the bench for the Flash.

The Flash are 1-0 against the Big East this season, having defeated Pittsburgh, 85-71, on Dec. 1 in Loretto.  The Mountaineers defeated upcoming Saint Francis opponent Duquesne, 69-58, on Nov. 17.  SFU fell to the Dukes last year by three (67-64).

Robinson Fruchtl – the 1992 Wade Trophy winner out of Penn State – is a native of Center Point, W.Va. which is located about an hour southwest of Morgantown.


Next up: DUQUESNE
Saint Francis makes the third stop of its eight-game road swing when it visits regional rival Duquesne on Wednesday.  The Dukes – who are SFU's most-played interleague opponent – hold a 23-10 advantage in the all-time series.  Since the series resumed on an annual basis in 2006-07, the Dukes have won three of the four meetings.  Two of those Duquesne wins were by three points or fewer.  Duquesne (8-1) has won seven straight since a, 69-58, setback at West Virginia on Nov. 17.


Lilley ranks among national leaders
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park)'s 15 assists against Kent State tied for the most in an NCAA?DI game so far this season.  Her 6.9 helpers per contest also rank fourth in the country.


Robinson Fruchtl notches 40th win
Saint Francis head coach Susan Robison Fruchtl earned her 40th career win with Nov. 28th's victory, 77-67, victory over Coppin State.  Looking ahead, Robison Fruchtl needs 14 wins to pass her predecessor Jill Poe (2003-07) in career wins.  Poe went 57-62 in her four seasons at the helm.


LEACH, WILLIAMS?EARN?NEC?WEEKLY?AWARDS
After posting a pair of big wins over Pittsburgh and Kent State, SFU student-athletes swept the Northeast Conference's two awards it was announced on Dec. 6. Senior guard Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) earned Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week accolades for the first time in her career, while freshman Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) was named Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week.

Leach became the first NEC player to eclipse the 25-point mark in back-to-back games this season, pouring in a combined 55 points during victories.  The two-time All-NEC guard averaged 27.5 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per win.

Williams provided punch off the bench during the Flash's offensive explosion that resulted in Kent State's first loss of the season.  Three days after Leach scored 29 points to set the NEC's single-game season high against Pittsburgh, Williams matched the feat by pouring in 29 during a 101-92 overtime victory over the Golden Flashes.


ROOKIE?WILLIAMS?HEATING?UP
In a two-game span, freshman Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) improved from Saint Francis' seventh-leading scorer to its fourth, improving her points per game from 3.4 to 8.3.  Williams was averaging only 15.7 minutes per contest following Dec. 1's win over Pittsburgh and has averaged 31.5 minutes in the two games since.  Williams kicked off her current tear with 29 points vs. Kent State and 22 points on Thursday at Howard.


Leach fills 'closer' role
Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) enters today's contest as the NEC's leading scorer, averaging 17.3 points per contest.  The majority of her work, however, comes in the second period when she averages 10.9 points and shoots 12-for-24 (50.0%) from long range.  Leach is SFU's third-leading scorer in the first half, averaging 6.2 points and shooting only 31.8 percent from beyond the arc.  On average, Leach scores 6.0 points in the final 10 minutes of a game.


Daly gunning for 1,000
Senior Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) is a strong candidate to become Saint Francis' 20th 1,000-point scorer.  The 5-11 guard enters today's game with 913 career points.  After scoring only 75 points as a freshman in 2007-08, Daly averaged just over 360 points per season as a sophomore and junior.