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LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University women's basketball has its final game in Massachusetts on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 3 p.m. against Merrimack. The Warriors are the only Northeast Conference team the Red Flash have not faced this season.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
Marina Artero is coming off a career-high 11 rebounds, which was the second-most by a Red Flash player this season. In the last two games coming off the bench, she has averaged 9.0 point, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and is shooting 70-percent from the field. On the season, she leads Saint Francis with 5.3 rebounds per game and is second with a 39.1 shooting percentage.
 
Kendall Carruthers (16.3) and Destini Ward (16.1) continue to rank top-four in the NEC in points per game during conference play. Carruthers' 12.9 points and Ward's 11.4 points per game overall rank fifth and seventh in the NEC, respectively. Kameryn Dorsey is third in the NEC with 3.3 assists during conference play and ranks ninth overall with 2.6.
 
Last Time Out
Saint Francis fell to Stonehill for the first time in program history, 66-57. A back-and-forth start to the game saw the teams within two points 5:51 in before Stonehill took a 17-13 lead at the end of the first. A 17-15 Stonehill lead turned to 36-25 at halftime behind a 19-10 Skyhawks' run. Stonehill began the third quarter on a 13-4 run and opened a 48-29 lead with 6:04 remaining in the frame. Saint Francis responded with a 14-4 run and cut the deficit to 52-43 after three. In the fourth, the Red Flash trailed 61-55 with 3:03 remaining before Stonehill held off the Saint Francis comeback to earn its nine-point victory.
 
Scouting Merrimack
The Warriors own a 3-4 conference and 6-14 overall record. Merrimack saw a three-game winning streak snap on Thursday in a 64-57 loss at Le Moyne. The Warriors have its three conference victories over Central Connecticut, Stonehill and Wagner. Kaylee Thompson, who missed the entire non-conference season, leads Merrimack with 15.9 points per game that rank fifth in the NEC during conference play. Amaya Staton leads Merrimack with 6.7 rebounds and is second with 10.9 points per game. She is second in the NEC with 1.7 blocks per game. Jayme DeCesare leads Merrimack with a conference sixth-best 2.9 assists per game and she adds 9.7 points and 4.0 rebounds.
 
All-Time vs. Merrimack
Merrimack owns a 5-3 advantage over Saint Francis since its reclassification to Division I ahead of the 2019-20 season. Merrimack is on a four-game winning streak in the series, which included a three-game sweep of games last season. The Warriors also won the first matchup 71-56 in 2020 before a three-game Red Flash winning streak.
 
Around the NEC
Sacred Heart (5-1) and Le Moyne (5-1) both stayed atop the conference standings with a 70-55 win over LIU (3-3) and 64-57 win over Merrimack (3-4), respectively. FDU (4-2) earned an 80-75 victory over Central Connecticut (2-4), while Stonehill (3-4) defeated Saint Francis (2-5), 66-57. On Saturday, Le Moyne visits LIU, FDU visits Sacred Heart, Saint Francis visits Merrimack and Central Connecticut visits Wagner.
 
Next
Saint Francis tips off a stretch of five-of-six home games on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. against Central Connecticut. The game will be Saint Francis' Black History Month Game.