Lynchburg, VA – Saint Francis women's basketball (0-2) returns to action on Saturday when the Red Flash travel to play at Liberty.
Scouting Liberty
The Lady Flames will be the second NCAA tournament team from last season that SFU will face in its first three games. Liberty advanced to the Big Dance in 2017-18 after winning the Big South Championship. The Lady Flames earned a No. 14 seed and fell to No. 3 seed Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Liberty is now a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference and has struggled out of the gate to an 0-2 record following a season-opening 81-76 overtime defeat at Bethune-Cookman and a 72-61 loss to Virginia Tech this past Tuesday in Lynchburg. The loss to the Hokies snapped a 15-game home winning streak for the Lady Flames and was the first defeat in the Vines Center since March 10, 2017 against Charleston Southern.
Redshirt sophomore Emily Lytle has shined early for the Lady Flames, averaging 18.5 points per game and was named the ASUN's Newcomer of the Week following a 24-point performance against Bethune-Cookman. Sophomore Bridgette Rettstatt leads the team in rebounding with 11 boards per contest and maintains a strong presence in the paint along with fellow six-footer KK Barbour, who is averaging eight rebounds a clip.
Zezza's Block Party
Senior Courtney Zezza (Plum, PA/Plum) has been a force for the Red Flash on defense, dealing an NEC best nine blocks through two games this season. Her 4.5 blocks per game ranks tied for fifth in the country and is nearly double of the next closest conference player, FDU's Madison Stanley, who is averaging 2.5 rejections per contest. The 6-4 forward ranks second all-time at SFU with 220 blocks and trails only Cheril Meier (1982-86) for most career blocks (278).
Kovatch Watch
Senior Jess Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) is averaging a modest 13.5 points per game this season and is second in the NEC with 3.5 three-pointers a clip. The Phillipsburg, N.J. native continues to climb the record books in multiple categories. She ranks second on the Red Flash all-time scoring list with 2,185 points and trails Jess Zinobile (1996-2000) by 153 points for first-place all-time. Kovatch is third in school history in field goals made (744) and ranks first all-time in NEC history with 356 three-pointers made. She has tallied 209 career steals and needs only two takeaways to pass Allison Daly (2007-11) for fifth place all-time at SFU.
Contrasting Styles of Play
The two teams play very different styles of basketball. Liberty's greatest strength is its rebounding ability, as the Lady Flames enter Saturday's game with a +15.5 rebound margin this season. Meanwhile, Saint Francis plays an up-tempo offense which relies heavily upon three-point shooting. The Red Flash are averaging an NEC best 13.0 triples per game this year.
First-ever Meeting
Saturday's contest will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Tip time at the Vines Center is set for 2 p.m. and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.
