GAME NOTES (pdf)

LORETTO, Pa. (March 15, 2013) - The Saint Francis University women's basketball team travels to top-seeded Quinnipiac for the NEC Finals. SFU is looking to win its 12th NEC Title.

JUST THE FACTS

Saint Francis Red Flash (17-14, 10-8 NEC) vs.
Quinnipiac Bobcats (29-2, 18-0 NEC)
TD Bank Sports Center – Hamden, Conn.
Sunday | 5 p.m.

ALL-TIME: Saint Francis leads 17-10
LAST TIME: QUIN 61, SFU 50 – Feb. 16, 2013

LIVE COVERAGE:

Television: ESPNU
Audio Stream: ESPNWilliamsport.com
Broadcasters: Joe Vesnesky (PxP) and Bernie Jubeck (Color)

SETTING THE STAGE

• Saint Francis and Quinnipiac face off in the Northeast Conference Finals, SFU took down No. 2 Sacred Heart on Wednesday, while the Bobcats took down No. 6 Mount St. Mary's. Quinnipiac finished the regular season 18-0 in conference play and have not lost since Dec. 29 when they faced Georgia Tech.
• Saint Francis is 41-7 all-time in NEC postseason play, including a staggering 24-1 all-time record inside DeGol Arena in the postseason. The lone defeat coming against Wagner, 61-51, on March 10, 1992.
• SFU is also 2-0 against Quinnipiac in league postseason play.
• Quinnipiac has won both meetings against Saint Francis this season, both victories were by over 10 points.
• The Bobcats score the most of any team in the league, averaging 71.1 points per game. Quinnipiac also manages to hold opponents to 57.7 points a game, which ranks second in the conference.

SFU IN NEC FINALS

• SFU is 11-3 all-time in Northeast Conference Championship games.
• The Flash last beat Monmouth in 2011, 72-57, for their 11th NEC Title.
• Saint Francis has won 11 of its last 12 NEC Finals contests. The Flash lost the first two appearances against Mount St. Mary's in 1994 and 1995.

FLASH FACTS

• Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) ranks second in the Northeast Conference in scoring, fourth in rebounding and second in steals. Williams stands as one of just four players in the NEC averaging a double-double per game. The junior has notched 23 double-doubles this season.
• Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) is second on the team in rebounding at 6.5 boards per contest, the junior is also sixth in the conference in field goal percentage.
• Rebecca Sparks (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) erupted against Sacred Heart in the NEC Semifinals, the freshman scored a career-high 27 points and hit five three-pointers.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

• Felicia Barron leads the team in scoring with 13.6 points per game, while Jasmine Martin follows closely averaging 13.3 points a contest.
• Brittany McQuain leads the Bobcats in the rebounding department, the junior forward averages 8.8 per contest.
• Gillian Abshire is the assists leader for Quinnipiac, the sophomore averages five helpers per game.

SECOND MEETING ON FEB. 16

• In the last meeting between the two schools, Quinnipiac won 81-56 in Fairfield, Conn.  
• Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) posted 16 points and 16 rebounds. 
• Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) and Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) each added seven points.
• Felicia Barron had 18 points for Quinnipiac, while Jasmine Martin added 17.    
• SFU was leading at halftime, but the Bobcats outscored SFU 37-21 in the second half enroute to the win. 

FIRST MEETING ON JAN. 21

In the first meeting between the two schools this season, Quinnipiac won 85-69 in Sweet Loretto.  
Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) scored a game-high 29 points and had 13 rebounds. 
Robin Perkins (Willingboro, N.J./Trenton Catholic) added nine points for the Flash.
Felicia Barron scored 28 points for the Bobcats, while Jasmine Martin added 21.   
Quinnipiac outscored SFU 42-25 in the first half of play and shot 48% from the field in the game.

WILLIAMS NAMED ALL-NEC FIRST TEAM

Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) was named to the Northeast Conference first team on Thursday, March 7. Williams finished the regular season averaging 17.4 points per game, which ranks second in the league behind the NEC Player of the Year, Artemis Spanou. The junior also finished the regular season averaging 10.8 rebounds per game, which ranks fourth in the conference. Williams is one of only four players in the conference to end the regular season averaging a double-double.


WILLIAMS NAMED CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA®

Williams was honored Thursday by being named to the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Women's Basketball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Williams garnered second team laurels with a 3.89 grade-point average (GPA) in Occupational Therapy. Williams is the 37th student-athlete at SFU to be honored by CoSIDA as Academic All-America, most among all Northeast Conference institutions. Williams is also only the second SFU women's basketball player to earn All-America honors, Beth Swink was honored in 2003-04 and 2004-05.

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 11th all-time at SFU in scoring (1,347), 7th in rebounding (809) and 4th in steals (251). 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 1,084 points.