SFU GAME NOTES - NEC FRONT ROW - LIVE STATS

LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 30, 2012) – The Saint Francis University women's basketball team returns home to face Saint Joseph's (Pa.) Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
JUST THE FACTS
Saint Francis Red Flash (4-1, 0-0 NEC) vs.
Saint Joseph's Hawks (3-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Where: DeGol Arena – Loretto, Pa. 
When: Saturday | 1 p.m.
ALL-TIME: Saint Joseph's leads 1-0
LAST TIME: Saint Joseph's 85, SFU 53, Dec. 19, 2011
 
BROADCAST INFO:
Web stream – www.NECFrontRow.com
BROADCASTERS:
Dann Whitmore and Luke McConnell
 
TOYS FOR TOTS
Bring a new or gently used unwrapped toy to Saturday's game and receive half off the cost of admission.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
Saint Francis returns home for its final home game of the calendar year against Saint Joesph's, looking for just the fourth 5-1 start in school history and the first for SFU since the 1975-76 season. Saint Francis opened the season with three-consecutive wins, before falling to nationally ranked Ohio State, but after an eight-day break for Thanksgiving, SFU returned to action on the road Wednesday and knocked off Mid-American Conference rival Kent State. Saint Francis has been shooting the ball well to start the season and enters Saturday's meeting with the Hawks with a 40.4-field goal percentage. Saint Francis owns the second-best scoring offense in the Northeast Conference averaging 68.0-points per game. After a slow start to the season, SFU has stepped up from behind the 3-point arc with 13 makes in its last two games, including nine 3-point baskets against Kent State.
 
The Red Flash have been led through the first five games of the season by junior forward Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle), who averages 21.2 points and 10.4 rebounds a game. Williams was limited to just one rebound against Kent State and just seven against Ohio State, but she started the season with three consecutive double-doubles and has three double-doubles in her last four home games. After being hampered by foul trouble most of the early part of the season, Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) posted 18 points and seven rebounds against Kent State. A senior guard, Gibbs enters Saturday's meeting with Saint Joesph's second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.6 points a game. Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) continues to increase her production and returns to DeGol Arena averaging 9.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a contest. After missing all of last season due to injury, Fleming continues to see her production increase, including posting 13 points and nine rebounds against Akron. The Dayton, Ohio native also posted excellent first half numbers against nationally ranked Ohio State, but could not carry the momentum into the second half.
 
The Saint Joseph's Hawks have started the season with a series of ups and downs and enter Saturday's game with a 3-2 overall record highlighted by a 50-49 home win against then-No. 5 Maryland. The Hawks have not scored more than 71-points in a game this season and have only scored more than 59 once. Saint Joseph's defense has been solid to start the season and has held teams to just 59.6 points a game, while holding three of its five opponents to 55-points or fewer.
 
PROTECTING HOME
The Saint Francis home field/court advantage has been big for the Red Flash this season as SFU holds a home mark of 28-11-2 in Loretto since the start of the 2012-13 athletic season. The home dominance by SFU has been highlighted by an undefeated home schedule by field hockey and one loss home schedules from football (3-1) and women's soccer (8-1-1). The women's basketball team has done its best to protect home in the early season knocking off preseason MEAC favorite Howard and Mid-American Conference foe Akron. Last season, the SFU women's basketball team finished with a 7-5 mark inside DeGol Arena, but did win its final two games to give the Flash an active four game home winning streak. Saturday's meeting with Hawks will be the last chance SFU has to reap the benefits of home court advantage as the Flash start a five-game road trip Dec. 5 at Duquesne to close out the 2012 calendar year.
 
LAST TIME OUT: SFU 81, KENT STATE 67
The Saint Francis University women's basketball team cruised to a non-conference road win Wednesday against Kent State, 81-67.
 
Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) continued to lead the Red Flash (4-1, 0-0) offense as the junior poured in 26 points in 37 minutes to guide SFU past the Golden Flashes (0-6, 0-0) for the second time in three all-time meetings. The Red Flash limited KSU to just one 3-pointer (1-10, 10-percent) in the game and connected on nine of their own. Nikkia Gibbs dropped in 18 points for SFU and did not miss from behind the 3-point arc (2-for-2). Kent State got 16 points off the bench from Amber Dunlap, but the Golden Flashes lost the rebounding battle to SFU 40-38.
 
Saint Francis broke the game open in the second half after Kent State cut the lead to just three on a Melanne Stubbs fast break layup. SFU head coach Joe Haigh followed the made KSU bucket with a timeout and the Red Flash responded with an 18-4 run over the next 4:27. Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) powered the run with six points and with her strong play inside SFU hit three 3-pointers during the run with two from Kelley Doogan (Claymont, Del./Ursuline Academy). The run converted a 3-point advantage for SFU into a 64-47 lead for the Flash with 10:09 remaining. The run changed the game as SFU eventually pushed the lead to as many as 20 before removing a majority of the starters and getting the game to its final margin.
 
GET TO KNOW THE HAWKS
The Saint Joseph's Hawks have also started the season strong with wins coming against Hofstra, No. 10/11 Maryland, and Drexel. Even in its two losing efforts, SJU has played some tough competition. Senior forward Chatilla van Grinsven leads the Hawks in scoring with 11.2 points per contest and in rebounding with 7.6 per game. Junior guard Erin Shields is next on the team in scoring, averaging 10.8 points per game. Veteran coach Cindy Griffin is in her 12th year at Saint Joseph's, she has compiled 203 wins at SJU.
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
1 - The number of times SFU and Saint Joseph's have met previously. The Hawks took the only meeting in history last year. 
 
.211 - SFU ranks tied for first in the NEC in 3-point defense, the Flash have only allowed 16-of-76 3-point shooting this season.
 
5  - SFU will play five consecutive road games to close out the 2012 portion of the season.
 
11 - Rebecca Keegan (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) recorded a season-high in rebounds against Kent State.
 
40.2 - The average rebounds per game SFU records, while holding its opponents to an average of 38.0.
 
2-0 - SFU has posted an undefeated record at home, they will be away from Loretto for the remainder of 2012.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Francis starts its month long road trip as they travel to keystone state rival Duquesne Wednesday at 11 a.m.