Â
| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| GÂ |
0 |
Yanessa Boyd |
5-9 |
So. |
8.4 |
3.3 |
35.3 |
Has two 10+ point games at home |
| G |
4 |
Marissa Shelton |
5-8 |
Jr. |
5.5 |
2.1 |
32.0 |
Scored career-high 15 points vs FDU |
| G |
10 |
Ineivi Plata |
5-3 |
Fr. |
4.0 |
3.3 |
34.3 |
Five points, five rebounds, four assists vs FDU |
| F |
23 Â Â Â |
Marina Artero |
5-11 |
So. |
1.3 |
3.6 |
24.3 |
Dished out four assists vs FDU for first time since December 5 |
| F |
34 |
Alary Bell |
6-2 |
So. |
6.0 |
3.7 |
60.0 |
Tied career high with six boards vs FDU |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| GÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
1 |
Kameryn Dorsey |
5-6 |
So. |
7.0 |
5.0 |
60.0 |
Out for season due to an injury |
| F |
3 |
Jade Campbell |
6-0 |
Jr. |
8.0 |
5.9 |
50.0 |
Has two 10+ point games in last three |
| G |
5 |
Natalie Johnson |
5-8 |
Jr. |
8.5 |
1.8 |
48.2 |
Averaged 16.5 ppg in New England |
| G |
11 |
Harris Robinson |
5-8Â Â Â Â |
Sr. |
2.8 |
2.4 |
29.3 |
Tied season high with eight points at Delaware St |
| G |
20 |
Airah Lavy |
5-10 |
Fr. |
5.8 |
1.3 |
31.4 |
Two 10+ point games in Red Flash wins |
| F |
12 |
Julianna Gibson |
6-2 |
Jr. |
4.9 |
2.8 |
47.8 |
Posted 10 points vs FDU |
| GÂ Â Â Â |
21 |
Gemma Walker |
5-10 |
Fr. |
1.1 |
0.4 |
21.4 |
Played in seven games this season |
| G |
24Â Â Â Â |
Destini Ward |
5-8 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Team captain in 2024-25 |
| F |
32 |
Fanta Daffe |
5-10 |
Sr. |
0.0 |
0.4 |
0.0 |
Playing her second season in Loretto |
| F |
33 |
Giselle Eke |
6-3 |
Fr. |
2.0 |
2.0 |
29.0 |
Leads the team in blocks |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS. LE MOYNEÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saturday's game between Saint Francis and Le Moyne marks the third meeting in the all-time series that began when the Dolphins joined the Northeast Conference last season. The two teams split the season series, and both teams won on their home floor.
• After a battle of two of the longest-tenured head coaches in the NEC on Thursday, Saint Francis will face one of two teams in the league with a new head coach.
Nick DiPillo, a 2003 graduate of FDU, is in his first season at Le Moyne. Chicago State is the other team that features a new coach,
Corry Irvin.
• The following three teams on the Red Flash schedule will complete its season series in 26 days with Le Moyne, LIU, and Wagner. Le Moyne is like the chocolate cookie part of the Oreo Cookie, and LIU and Wagner are the white icing middle. After hosting the Dolphins, the Red Flash will face LIU on January 18 and Wagner two days later in Loretto and then will head up to New York to battle LIU (January 18) and Wagner (January 20), with five days separating the two games against each team. It is almost reminiscent of the old NEC Rivalry Week from 2009-11.
• The Red Flash are in the midst of a pair of four-game homestands with the three-game road trip sandwiched in between; Bruce Nolan from Bruce Almighty might say, "That's how the cookie crumbles." It is the first time in program history the team will have two four-game homestands in the same season. The team has hosted four consecutive games in league play six times and had two five-game homestands in 1995-96 and 1999-00, and won all five games both times. It is the third time under head coach
Keila Whittington that the Red Flash has recorded a four-game homestand (2019-20, 2022-23). The squad has won three of four in a four-game homestand thrice (2004-05, 2010-11, and 2019-20) and split the four games in 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2022-23. Saint Francis has never had a losing record in a four-game NEC homestand.
• Saint Francis is 1-2 in NEC play coming into play on Saturday. With a win, the Red Flash would improve to 2-2 on the year for the ninth time in program history and the first time since 2022-23. The Loretto program has gone on to post a winning record four times after splitting the first four games of the league slate, including winning the NEC title in 1998-99. With a loss, the squad will be 1-3 in the circuit for the ninth time in team history.
• After being on the road for 32 days, the team will complete its NEC home schedule of eight games in 42 days from January 9-February 20, straight at DeGol Arena. The Red Flash will continue its homestand against the Empire State next week when LIU and Wagner come to DeGol Arena. Saint Francis has won the last four games against the Empire State at home in NEC play.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Even NEC record at 2-2 for the ninth time in team history
• Notch its first win at home and end an eight-game losing streak at DeGol Arena
• Mark the third time under head coach Keila Whittington the Red Flash has won at least two of the first four in NEC play (2019-20, 2020-21)
•Start the next three games against sea creatures with a win
• Win its fifth straight game in Loretto against a team from New York
ABOUT THE DOLPHINS
• Le Moyne comes into the contest 0-15 and 0-2 in NEC play after falling at Mercyhurst 63-52 on Thursday.
• The Dolphins may have faced the most challenging non-conference schedule in the league with a 122 strength of schedule ranking, facing 10 teams ranked 163 or better. Le Moyne played in the NEC Championship Game last season.
•
Haedyn Roberts paced the Dolphins with 13 points and
Eli Clark had 12 points against the Lakers.
•
Roberts leads the team with 9.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Clark leads the team in assists with 39.
•
Nick DiPillo is in his first season as the head coach at Le Moyne. A longtime assistant coach, DiPillo was the head coach of Scranton, a Division III team in the Landmark Conference. He took the Royals to two NCAA Tournaments and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in 2021-22.Â
LAST TIME WE MET
• The two teams split the season series last year with each team winning on its home floor.
• Powered by 18 points by Destini Ward, Saint Francis defeated Le Moyne 55-52 on January 21, 2024, in the first meeting between the two teams in program history. Kendall Carruthers added 15 points, Marina Artero had 10 points, and Julianna Gibson posted 10 boards for the Red Flash. Lytoya Baker fueled the Dolphins with 14 points, and Sydney Lusher (12 points) and Emily Florvil (10 points) also found double figures.
• Le Moyne defeated Saint Francis 56-24 in Syracuse on March 2, 2024. Carruthers had 12 points for the Red Flash, while Baker (16 points), Haeden Roberts (16 points) and Brianna Williams (10 points) registered 10+ points.
LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis battled the NEC preseason favorite tough in a 63-55 loss on Thursday
•
Junior
Marissa Shelton paced the Red Flash with a career-high 15 points against the Knights, while juniors
Jade Campbell and
Julianna Gibson each had 10 points.
•
FDU is 9-1 against quadrant four teams with a loss at Rutgers, but that marked the fourth time this season the difference was within eight points in a Knights win (two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and two Patriot League teams).
TRENDING UP
• Junior
Marissa Shelton has posted her two best scoring outputs of the season in her last five games. The 11 points she scored in her home state against Butler were her most points on the road, and her 15 points against FDU on January 9 were a new career-high, eclipsing a 14-point effort against CCSU on February 1, 2024. The junior, who has posted double figures four times at home, is looking to post 10+ points in consecutive games for the second time in her career. The last time she turned the trick was when she backed up the effort against CCSU with 11 points against LIU on February 3, 2024.
• Junior
Jade Campbell has scored seven or more points in her last four games with two 10+ point games. The junior is averaging 11.0 points per game in that stretch. The game against the Knights marked the first time she reached double figures this season in a Red Flash loss. It also marked just the second time in her career that she has been held to one rebound in a game when she has played at least 10 minutes. The junior is averaging 8.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in 10 games off the bench since returning from an injury.
• Junior
Julianna Gibson must love NEC home openers because she had double figures in points in the first league game in Loretto for the second-straight season. Gibson registered 15 points against Wagner last season in the lidlifter on January 6, 2024. Like Shelton, Gibson finds the shooting touch at home more than on the road, with four of her six 10+ point games in the friendly confines of DeGol Arena. The junior is averaging 7.0 points per game in league games this season.
• Freshman
Alary Bell returned to the starting lineup against FDU and posted eight points and six rebounds. It was the seventh time this season the freshman has scored at least seven points, while the six rebounds tied her career high she set at Lafayette on November 9. The freshman registered her first career 10-point game at Stonehill on January 4 and is averaging 7.3 points per game since her return from injury and the start of league play.
• Freshman
Ineivi Plata has registered at least a handful in a statistical category 12 times this season. She has registered at least five points six times, at least five rebounds four times and at least five assists twice. On Thursday against FDU, the freshman posted at least a handful in two categories on the same night for the second time in her career after registering six points and six rebounds at Lafayette. Nine is her career high for points (Canisius, November 15) and assists (at Duquesne, December 1), while she had a career-high seven rebounds at Robert Morris (November 20).
• Junior
Natalie Johnson, who did not play against the Knights on Thursday, has posted back-to-back 10+ point games for the second time this season. Both times, it has happened on the road. She averaged 16.5 points per game on the last road trip, thanks to a career-high 20 points at CCSU on January 2 and 13 points at Stonehill two days later, for the third-highest output of her career. In New England, she shot 70.0 percent from the floor (14-for-20) and 71.4 percent from behind the arc (5-for-7).
• Maybe you feel like Gilligan, and instead of a three-hour tour, we have a three-team tour of mascots around the sea with the Le Moyne Dolphins, LIU Sharks, and Wagner Seahawks. Maybe we should Just Go With It, go to Hawaii, swim with Dolphins, and take acting lessons from the real Dolph Lundgren.
