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LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 1, 2013) - The Saint Francis University women's basketball team travels to New York to take on the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers, tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday.

JUST THE FACTS

Saint Francis Red Flash (11-8, 6-2 NEC) vs.
St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers (7-12, 4-4 NEC)
Where: Pope Physical Education Center –
Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.
When: Saturday | 2 p.m.

ALL-TIME: Saint Francis U leads 38-13
LAST TIME: SFU 60, SFC 51 – Jan. 30, 2012
 
BROADCAST INFO

Video Web Stream – NECFrontRow.com
Audiostream: ESPNWilliamsport.com
Broadcasters: Dave Franczak (PxP) and Dann Whitmore (Color)
 
SETTING THE STAGE

Saint Francis makes the trip to Brooklyn after going 2-2 in its four-game home stand. Coming off of back-to-back losses against Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart, the Red Flash dominated a Wagner team 80-43. On Monday evening, SFU took down the Robert Morris Colonials for their second straight Northeast Conference victory. The win was the first over the Colonials since the 2010-11 campaign. The Battle of Saint Francis has been controlled by SFU the past few seasons, the Red Flash have won the last seven meetings. St. Francis Brooklyn is coming off a win over LIU Brooklyn that snapped a two game losing streak. Against Central Connecticut State, the Terriers only scored 29 points in a losing effort. SFU posts the second highest scoring offense in the conference, while SFC holds the second ranked scoring defense in the league.

Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) ranks first in the Northeast Conference in scoring, fourth in rebounding and second in steals. Since the start of league action, Williams stands as the only player averaging over 20-points a game (21.9 ppg) and she also sits as one of just four players in NEC action averaging a double-double per game. Williams also leads the conference in steals per game in league contests with 35 swipes in eight league contests. Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) poured in a career-high 28 points against Robert Morris on Monday evening, the sophomore guard hit seven triples in the game.  Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 6.6 per contest. Fleming also ranks fifth in the conference in field goal percentage at .469.  

St. Francis Brooklyn enters the match-up 7-12 overall, but has earned four wins in conference play. The Terriers rank first in the NEC in rebounding defense and will look to slow down the Flash who average nearly 40 a contest. Sarah Benedetti leads SFC in scoring, averaging 12.5 per game. She is also the top three-point threat for the Terriers; Benedetti has made 56 this season, which ranks second in the NEC. Benedetti also is tied for the lead in rebounding with 4.9 per contest.  Jessica Kaufman leads the conference in field goal percentage at .508 (63-124).

FOR THE RECORD

Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) has cracked several key career statistical plateaus this season including recording her 1,000th point and 600th rebound. Williams also hit the 200-career steal mark. The junior now ranks as just the third player in school history to total 1,000-points, 600-rebounds and 200 steals in her career joining Beth Swink and Jess Zinobile. Williams currently ranks 15th all-time at SFU in scoring (1,165), 12th in rebounding (682) and tied for 5th in steals (207). Williams is not the only current SFU student-athlete in the 1,000-point club, as Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) sits 19th on the all-time scoring list with 1,079 points.  Williams also leads the country in efficiency rating, with a mark of 28.4. She is the only player in the country above 28 in conference action.

NO SLEEP TILL' BROOKLYN

Freshman Brooklyn Taylor (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) has provided a spark off the bench for the Red Flash since earning playing time over the last month. Taylor has scored in seven out of the last eight games, including 11 points against Bryant and eight points versus Wagner.  Taylor has also shown her range from beyond the three-point arc for SFU, she has connected on 12 triples already this year.

MAKING THE GRADE

Highlighted by an impressive 35 perfect 4.0 grade-point-averages, 294 Saint Francis University student-athletes have been named to the Athletic Department's Fall 2012 Academic Honor Roll. Red Flash athletes must earn a GPA of 3.0 or high for inclusion on the list. Women's basketball placed two of the 35 perfect 4.0 GPA as both Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) and Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) earned unblemished grade point averages in the fall.
     
The department also recognized the 125 Red Flash who posted a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Saint Francis student-athletes stretched their string of semesters with a GPA of 3.0-or-higher to 28 – a run spanning 14 years. The Red Flash posted a collective 3.122 GPA for the fall semester. Men's golf was the top men's team with a cumulative GPA of 3.411, while field hockey led the way for the women with a GPA of 3.483. Women's swimming posted five perfect 4.0's on the list, the most of any sport.
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW

1st - The Red Flash win against Robert Morris was the 1st since the 2011 season.

1st- Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) ranks first in the nation for steals by a forward, she has totaled 72 thefts so far in 2012-13

1st (Bonus)- Saint Francis used a different starting lineup for the first time all season as Rebecca Keegan (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) started for the injured Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt).

7 - Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) was just one three-pointer away from tying the SFU all-time record of 8.

7 (Bonus) – Saint Francis U has won seven consecutive games over St. Francis Brooklyn

28- Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) posted a new career-high in a winning effort over Robert Morris on Monday.

28.4- Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) leads the nation in efficiency rating with a mark of 28.4. She is the only player in the country above 28 in conference action. To put it in perspective, if she was ranked among NBA players, she would be third behind LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

UP NEXT

Saint Francis continues its road trip in NYC as they take on LIU Brooklyn on Monday evening; tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.