Seattle, Wash. - Saint Francis women's basketball (2-6) heads west to participate in the Husky Classic at the University of Washington. The Red Flash will face Boise State on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET and either Washington or Montana on Sunday. All games will be played at the Alaska Airlines Arena on the campus of the University of Washington.
Scouting Boise State
Boise State was tabbed to win the Mountain West regular season title for the second straight season. The Broncos have advanced to the NCAA tournament each of the past two seasons and are led by junior guard Riley Lupfer, who was voted Preseason Mountain West Player of the Year. She has lived up to the billing so far this season, averaging a team-high 11.6 points per game. Boise State is 6-2 on the season and has won three of its last four contests over Idaho (91-85), Northern Iowa (61-60) and Eastern Washington (67-55). The only Broncos loss during the stretch was at Washington State (95-71). Boise State's only other defeat this season came to No. 5 Louisville (74-55).
Scouting Montana
Montana is 4-3 on the season and returns four starters from last year's team, including redshirt senior forward Jace Henderson, redshirt junior guards Taylor Goligoski and McKenzie Johnston and junior forward Madi Schoening. Johnston leads the Grizzlies with 11.6 points per game, while Emma Stockholm is also in double figures with 10.3 ppg. Montana has won three of its last four games over Northern Illinois (86-70), UC Davis (62-56) and Grand Canyon (69-47). The lone loss for the Grizzlies this month was at Arizona (100-51). Montana will face Washington in the first game of the Husky Classic on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
Scouting Washington
Washington is 6-3 on the season and is led by All-Pac-12 honoree and one of the most prolific scorers in the conference, Amber Melgoza. The Santa Barbara, Calif. native is averaging 20.8 points per game, which ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and 22nd in the country in scoring. Melgoza also leads the team in rebounds (6.1 rpg) and assists (3.2 apg). The Huskies have won three straight games over Seattle (69-58), George Mason (81-52) and Ohio State (69-59).
Red Flash return to Pacific Northwest for second straight season
This week's cross country trek will mark the second season in a row that the Red Flash travel to the Pacific Northwest. Last season, SFU played at Gonzaga, Portland and Boise State in a one week stretch in mid-December.
Kovatch within range of scoring record
Senior guard Jess Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) sits in second place all-time in scoring at Saint Francis with 2,301 career points. She needs only 38 points to break Jess Zinobile's career scoring record. Kovatch is averaging 17.9 points per game this season and has scored 19 or more points in five straight games.
Zezza's size coming up big in the paint
Senior forward Courtney Zezza (Plum, PA/Plum) has maintained a strong presence for the Red Flash in the paint this season. She leads the NEC and ranks 19th in the country with 2.5 blocks per game. Zezza will be relied on heavily against a Boise State team with nine players at 6-0 or taller.
All-time vs. the opponents
This will be the second meeting all-time between Boise State and Saint Francis with the Broncos winning last season's contest, 87-59, on Dec. 21, 2017. The Red Flash have never faced either Montana or Washington.
