GAME NOTES - SFU AUDIO BROADCAST - LIVE STATS

LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 13, 2013) – The Saint Francis University women's basketball team wraps up a two-game Northeast Conference road trip Monday with a meeting against Monmouth at noon.
 
JUST THE FACTS
Saint Francis Red Flash (8-6, 3-0 NEC) vs.
Monmouth Hawks (5-9, 2-1 NEC)
Where: Multi-Purpose Activity Center – West Long Branch, NJ 
When: Monday | Noon
ALL-TIME: Monmouth leads 28-27
LAST TIME: SFU 45, FDU 66 – Jan. 23, 2012
 
BROADCAST INFO:
Audio Web Broadcast – RedZoneMedia.com
Broadcasters: Dave Franczak and Jeff Symonds
 
SETTING THE STAGE
Saint Francis closes a short two game road trip Monday against Monmouth looking to move to 4-0 in Northeast Conference action. The Flash rounded out non-conference play with a record of 5-6 and have run off three consecutive wins to open NEC play. The Hawks posted a 3-8 mark in non-conference play and started league play with a loss on the road against Mount St. Mary's. Since falling in the conference opener, Monmouth has won its last two NEC games including picking up a 58-47 win against Robert Morris Saturday. Last season, the Red Flash and Hawks split a pair of games with each team losing on the road. All-time the Flash and the Hawks have played very close to even with Monmouth holding a 28-27 all-time advantage. The Flash have struggled in West Long Brach and hold a record of 7-17 on the road against the Hawks. Monday, SFU seeks its first win in West Long Brach since Jan. 17, 2004.       
 
Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) enters Monday as the leading scorer for not only the Flash but the entire Northeast Conference. In the three-game conference season, Williams averages 23.7 points a game and 12.3 rebounds a game while also leading the NEC in steals (6.00 spg). Williams nearly missed her second career triple double Saturday falling just one steal short. Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) ranks second on the Flash in scoring averaging 11.8 points a contest and is coming off a season high 19 against FDU. Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) sits second on the Flash in rebounding with 6.6 boards a contest. Off the bench, Rebecca Keegan (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) leads SFU in both points and rebounds. The junior averages 4.6 points a game and 3.6 rebounds a game. Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) stands as the top 3-point threat for SFU with 24 makes on the season and is connecting on three's at a 34.3-percent clip.
 
Monmouth features a balanced attack on offense led by Alysha Womack, who leads the Hawks in scoring averaging 15.1 points a game. Chevannah Paalvast sits second on the team in scoring with a 12.6 per game clip. Abigail Martin ranks first on the Hawks in rebounds and has gotten nearly half her rebounds (42 of 91) off the offensive glass. Bestsy Gadziala sits second on the Hawks in rebounding averaging 5.8 a game but she leads the Hawks in defensive rebounds. Carly Thibault ranks as the top 3-point threat for Monmouth with 24 makes on the season and a 36.4 3-point percentage.
 
WELCOME TO THE TRACK MEET
Of the 345 teams in division I women's basketball only six run at a faster pace than the Red Flash. When Joe Haigh took over the women's basketball program, one thing he talked about was “playing fast” and generating lots of possessions. Over the first 14 games of his career this has been reflected as the Flash currently rank eighth nationally in possessions per 40 minutes. The Flash averages nearly 80 possessions a game, a mark which ranks higher than every NCAA Division I men's program in the country.
 
SPARKS FLY
Freshman Rebecca Sparks (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) saw limited action during the non-conference schedule, but the rookie guard stepped up in the first three games of NEC league play. Sparks did not score against Bryant, but did post three steals, two assists and a rebound in 12 minutes of action. Against CCSU, Sparks went two-for-three from the field and posted her third assist of the weekend. The rookie put together an excellent showing against Fairleigh Dickinson with two points, two assists, four rebounds and a steal in a season high 17 minutes.
 
FOR THE RECORD
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) moved past Beth Barnabei on the Saint Francis all-time scoring list in the Wright State game and now sits alone in 20th-place, 9 points behind matching Cheril Meier for 18th. Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) continues her climb up the all-time scoring list and became the 22nd member of SFU's 1,000-point club against Bryant. The junior forward moved past Lilley in the Fairleigh Dickinson game and now sit two points away from matching Meier for 18th all-time. Williams also continues to move up the all-time rebounding chart and became the 12th player in SFU history to record 600-career rebounds against CCSU. Williams needs 55 more rebounds to tie Sally O'Donnell for 11th all-time.
 
BESTED BY THE BENCH
The Red Flash has received some good performances from its bench so far this season and SFU enters the game with Monmouth averaging 15.2-points a game in bench scoring. The Flash have been feast or famine in defending opponents' benches. Three times this season, SFU has limited its opponents' benches to fewer than 10 points including a shutout of Howard's bench in the season opener. However, thrice this season SFU has allowed an opponents' bench to score more than 40. Against No. 5 Notre Dame, SFU racked up 19 points from its reserves and in SFU's conference opener the Flash bench tallied 17 points led by 11 from Brooklyn Taylor (Greenville, Pa./Greenville). After allowing more than 40 points to both Wright State's and Notre Dame's bench the Flash have held their last three opponents' benches under 20 points. The Flash got a balanced showing from the bench against FDU with six-point showings from Rebecca Keegan (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) and Robin Perkins (Willingboro, N.J./Trenton Catholic). Rebecca Sparks (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) also played strong in the FDU game logging 17 minutes with two points, four rebounds and two assists.   
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
.254 - SFU leads the NEC in 3-point field goal defense by only allowing only 64 of 252. Against FDU, the Flash allowed just one 3-point make on 18 attempts by the Knights.
 
1 - Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) missed her second career triple double on Saturday by just one steal as the junior forward racked up 21 points, 14 assists and nine steals.
 
2 - Robin Perkins (Willingboro, N.J./Trenton Catholic) came off the bench and connected on a pair of 3-pointers against Fairleigh Dickinson. The two makes led a bench effort that tallied 17 points against the Knights.
 
5 – The Red Flash have five wins (5-1) his season when winning the rebounding battle. Conversely when SFU loses the rebounding battle it holds a 1-4 record this season.  
 
9 – Rookie Brooklyn Taylor (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) has connected on nine 3-pointers in her last six games. Taylor has made a 3-pointer in five of her last six games and her last three contests consecutively.
 
19 – Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) posted a season-high 19 points against FDU and did it efficiently on 9-of-14 shooting.
 
33 – Taylor and Rebecca Keegan (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) were a combined plus 33 in SFU's last game against FDU. The strong game also moved Taylor to the black for the season in plus/minus.   
 
UP NEXT
Saint Francis returns home for a nationally televised game Jan. 19 against defending NEC Champion Sacred Heart with tipoff set for 11:30 a.m.