Saint Francis University (1-7) at Duquesne University (3-2)
Date | Time	Sunday, December 1, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.
Location	Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
Television	ESPN+/Pittsburgh Sports Net
Live Stats	Sidearm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | Duquesne
Stats	Saint Francis | Duquesne | Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashWBB  | #WIN | #BIB | Instagram | Facebook

 

Saint Francis Probable Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	0	Yanessa Boyd	5-9	So.	7.8	3.1	33.9	Scored 14 points at Pittsburgh in last trip to Steel City
G	10	Ineivi Plata	5-3	Fr.	4.1	3.5	28.9	Leads team with eight steals
G	20	Airah Lavy	5-10	Fr.	5.6	1.3	33.3	Made first career start at Saint Joseph's
F	12	Julianna Gibson	6-2	Jr.	4.8	3.0	39.4	Scored 15 points in last trip to Western PA
F	23	Marina Artero	5-11	So.	1.3	3.5	17.9	Ranks seventh in the NEC in assists
Top Players Off the Bench
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	1	Kameryn Dorsey	5-6	So.	7.0	5.0	60.0	Posted a team-high five rebounds against NJIT
F	3	Jade Campbell	6-0	Jr.	3.5	4.5	60.0	Season-high six boards at Saint Joseph's
G	4	Marissa Shelton	5-8	Jr.	3.9	1.8	25.6	Looking for her first 10+ point game on the road
G	5	Natalie Johnson	5-8	Jr.	7.0	1.3	45.3	Scored at least nine points four times
G	11	Harris Robinson	5-8	Sr.	2.9	2.1	27.6	Earned a scholarship after last season
G	21	Gemma Walker	5-10	Fr.	2.5	0.5	25.0	Made collegiate debut against NJIT
G	24	Destini Ward	5-8	Jr.	---	---	---	Team captain in 2024-25
F	32	Fanta Daffe	5-10	Sr.	0.0	0.3	0.0	Playing her second season in Loretto
F	33	Giselle Eke	6-3	Fr.	2.9	2.0	36.8	Career-high six points at Maryland
F	34	Alary Bell	6-2	So.	5.3	3.3	54.2	Second on team in steals

SELECT GAME NOTES VS. DUQUESNE (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saint Francis wraps up Atlantic-10 week and its East-West trip through the Keystone State at Duquesne on Sunday. The Red Flash traveled to Saint Joseph's on Wednesday to start the week. It is the 34th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1968-69 season.
• Duquesne has won 28 of the last 31 meetings in the series, including the previous 12 contests. The Dukes won the last tilt 70-61 on December 11, 2021, while the previous Red Flash win in the series was a 66-54 overtime decision in Loretto on November 27, 2007. Saint Francis won six of the first nine matchups in the series before the Dukes joined the Atlantic-10.
• Saint Francis is 1-0 against teams from Western Pennsylvania this season after defeating Robert Morris 58-55 on November 20 in Moon Township.
• Duquesne is the second of three Atlantic-10 teams on the schedule over 23 days. The Red Flash lost to Saint Joseph's on Thanksgiving Eve and will head to Rhode Island on December 20 to wrap up the non-conference slate. It is the first time since 1993-94 Saint Francis will play three Atlantic-10 opponents in the same year. That season, the Red Flash opened the season at home with Dayton, St. Bonaventure at home, and then traveled to Duquesne in the first week. The 1991-92 team opened the slate with UMass and George Mason in the Red Flash Classic and hosted Duquesne. The 1985-85 Flash also played three games against the Atlantic-10 but played a home-and-home with Duquesne and traveled to George Mason.
• It will be the fourth time Saint Francis will face consecutive Atlantic-10 opponents in program history. Along with opening the 1991-92 and 1993-94 seasons against the conference, the Red Flash faced Saint Joseph's and Duquesne back-to-back in 2012-13, just like the team is doing this season. That year, the Hawks came to Loretto, and then the Red Flash traveled to Pittsburgh to face Duquesne.
• Saint Francis is 6-53 all-time against the Atlantic-10 and 2-28 on the road. It will be the seventh time head coach Keila Whittington will battle an Atlantic-10 team.
• The team is on a five-game road trip that will wrap up at Delaware State on Thursday with the team's third Kid's Day Out game this season.
• It is the team's 11th five-game road trip in program history and the 17th time the squad has been away from Loretto for more than five games at one time. The team had a six-game road trip in 2021-22 under Whittington.
• The team also went on five-game road trips in 1976-77, 1985-86, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92, 2004-05, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13. Along with the six gamer in 2021-22, the Flash went on a six-game trek in 2001-02, 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2016-17, while hitting the road for a program-record seven games in 1998-99.

AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the team's second win in Western Pennsylvania this season after defeating Robert Morris 58-55 on November 20
• End a 12-game losing streak against Duquesne
• Be the team's first win against Duquesne in Pittsburgh since a 71-59 victory on December 8, 1999
• Be the team's second win on its five-game road trip
• Be the second win this year

ABOUT THE DUKES
• Duquesne comes into the contest 3-2 after defeating Robert Morris 77-61 on Monday in a Western Pennsylvania battle.
• Megan McConnell paced the Dukes with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals. Nadia Moore (14 points) and Jerni Kiaku (12 points) also found double figures against the Colonials.
• Megan McConnell leads the team with 18.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and has a team-high 31 assists and 18 steals. Kiaku also averages double figures, with 13.8 points per game.
• Megan and her cousin/freshman teammate Kellie McConnell are cousins of Saint Francis men's basketball associate head coach Luke McConnell. In addition, Luke's father and Megan and Kellie's uncle, Tom, was the men's basketball head coach for the Red Flash men's basketball team for seven years (1992-99). 

LAST TIME WE MET
• Duquesne defeated Saint Francis 70-61 in Pittsburgh on December 11, 2021. 
• Lili Benzel paced the Red Flash with 14 points, while Jada Dapaa tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds. 
• Tess Myers fueled the Dukes with 23 points. Libby Bazelak (14 points), Megan McConnell (10 points) and Fatou Pouye (10 points) also found double figures in the contest. 

LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis lost 88-35 at Saint Joeph's on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
• Junior Natalie Johnson paced the Red Flash with nine points. Fellow junior Jade Campbell added a season-high six rebounds. 


TRENDING UP
• Junior Natalie Johnson has been the leading scorer three times this season and is tied with sophomore Yanessa Boyd with a team-best three 10+ point performances this season.
• Johnson has registered at least nine points in four of the eight games this season, including three on the road. She registered 10 points in her return to Western Pennsylvania and Robert Morris on November 20. She played her first two seasons in Moon Township with seven double-figure point games as a sophomore.
• Boyd averaged 9.0 points per game in December in her freshman year. The sophomore had three 10+ point games in the month last season, including a career-high 16 points against UMBC on December 29, 2023 in the final game of the month. The sophomore registered a then career-best 14 points against Pittsburgh on November 29 in her first trip to the Steel City.
• Freshman Airah Lavy posted a career-high 19 points in her first trip to Western Pennsylvania at Robert Morris, including draining the game-winning basket with 27 seconds left against the Colonials. The game at Robert Morris and Sunday's contest at Duquesne are the closest Lavy will be from her hometown of Nelsonville, Ohio. Granted, she is still 174 miles away from home, though. On the other hand, Boyd was 11 miles away from her high school when she had 10 points at Maryland on November 24.
• For the first time this season, sophomore Marina Artero was held without an assist after recording at least one helper in the first eight games. Artero has already surpassed her season total in assists after seven games. The sophomore fuels the team with 23 assists after dishing out 18 helpers as a freshman. She has recorded multiple assists in six out of the eight games, with four helpers at Robert Morris on November 20, five at No. 11 Maryland on November 24, and a career-high six at Lafayette on November 9. Artero has become the Norm Van Lier of the women's team because she has also put up some great numbers on the glass. The sophomore has grabbed at least four boards four times this season with a season-high eight caroms against Robert Morris.
• Junior Julianna Gibson registered two of the best five performances of her career last December, with 14 points against UMBC and 13 points against Morgan State on December 2, 2022. The junior is also looking to succeed in Western Pennsylvania for the second time this season after matching her career high with 15 points at Robert Morris.
•Junior Jade Campbell is making her way back from injury and posted seven points and nine rebounds in her first two games after missing the entire 2023-24 season due to an injury.