SFU Plays Fairfield in WBI Opening Round

GAME NOTES (pdf)

LORETTO, Pa. (March 20, 2013) - The Saint Francis University women's basketball team travels to Fairfield University for the opening round of the Women's Basketball Invitational.

JUST THE FACTS

Saint Francis Red Flash (17-15, 10-8 NEC) vs.
Fairfield Stags (17-13, 11-7 MAAC)
Alumni Hall – Fairfield, Conn.
Thursday | 7 p.m.

ALL-TIME: Fairfield leads 2-0
LAST TIME: Fairfield 98, SFU 59 – 1990

LIVE COVERAGE:

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

SETTING THE STAGE

Saint Francis and Fairfield face off in the opening round of the Women's Basketball Invitational. SFU lost in the NEC Finals to No. 1 Quinnipiac, 72-33, on Sunday.
This is SFU's first trip ever to the WBI.
SFU has not played Fairfield since the 1989-90 season. Fairfield has won both previous meetings between the two schools.
The Stags lost in the opening round of the MAAC tournament to Siena after securing a third seed after the regular season concluded.
Fairfield averages just over 53 points per game, but also holds opponents to an average of 53 points a contest.

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 STAGS

Katie Cizynski leads the team in scoring with 12 points per game, while Brittany Obi-Tabot follows closely averaging 10.5 points a contest.
Cizynski also leads the Stags in the rebounding department, the junior forward averages 8.4 per contest.
Alexys Vazquez is the team leader in three-point shooting, the junior guard has knocked down 69 triples in 2012-13.

WBI TOURNAMENT

Also competing in the 16-team field are: Mercer, McNeese State, Elon, Eastern Kentucky, Lamar, Presbyterian, Utah State, South Dakota, Detroit, Belmont, Northern Kentucky, and the College of Charleston.

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 for 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 (1,349), 5th in rebounding (819) and 4th in steals (252). 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.

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