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| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Aleah James |
5-7 |
Gr. |
12.4 |
4.1 |
40.5 |
Scored a career-high 22 points at Xavier |
| G |
1 |
Makyiah Ward |
5-4 |
Fr. |
4.3 |
3.7 |
43.6 |
Matched a career high with four assists at Xavier |
| F Â Â Â Â Â Â |
4 |
Sonia Sato |
6-0 |
Gr. |
9.4 |
3.8 |
32.0 |
Averaging 15.0 ppg against teams from Western PA |
| G |
11 |
Bati Assefa |
5-9 |
Sr. |
5.4 |
5.0 |
50.0 |
Career-high 12 rebounds at Xavier |
| FÂ |
15 |
Cassandra Hawthorne |
5-11 |
Gr. |
6.3 |
4.9 |
39.1 |
Ranks seventh in NEC in defensive rebounds |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| GÂ |
3 |
Desire Short |
5-9 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Did not play in first nine games |
| G |
5 |
Kash Holmes |
5-9 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Did not play in first nine tilts |
| F |
10 |
Zaiha Minnis |
5-11 Â Â |
Sr. |
4.3 |
1.7 |
35.3 |
Season-high eight points against Lafayette |
| GÂ |
12 |
Sajol Thornhill |
5-7 |
So. |
1.5 |
1.0 |
13.3 |
Missed first game of season at Xavier |
| G |
21 Â Â |
Gemma Walker |
5-10 |
So. |
2.0 |
3.0 |
0.0 |
Grew up 19 minutes from Petersen Events Center |
| F |
23Â Â Â |
Shelby Ricks |
5-9 |
Gr. |
10.5 |
5.1 |
36.8 |
Red Flash high of 16 points at Xavier |
| G |
33 Â Â |
Giselle Eke |
6-3 |
So. |
3.3 |
3.0 |
35.7 |
Matched career-high six points vs Lafayette |
SELECT GAME NOTES FOR PITTSBURGHÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saint Francis travels to the Steel City to face Pittsburgh for the 15th time in program history, dating back to the 1990-91 season.
• The Panthers lead the series 11-3, including 8-1 in Oakland and 5-0 at the Petersen Events Center. The Red Flash defeated Pittsburgh in the Steel City 65-63 on November 25, 1997, but that game was played at the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.
• The Loretto program has defeated the Panthers twice on the road. The last time the Red Flash defeated Pittsburgh was an 85-71 decision on December 1, 2010, while the first time Saint Francis defeated the Panthers was on this date 30 years ago, thanks to an 81-51 victory at DeGol Arena on December 18, 1995.
• If Saint Francis can win on Thursday, it could be a good omen for the Flash since the three times the team defeated Pittsburgh, it won the NEC Tournament and went dancing in the NCAA Tournament (1996, 1998, 2011).
• Saint Francis is 0-16 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, and 0-15 in the regular season: Virginia (0-6), Pittsburgh (0-4), Virginia Tech (0-2), Boston College (0-1), Maryland (0-1), North Carolina (0-1), Syracuse (0-1). The matchup against the Terrapins was in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
• While the Red Flash does not have a win against the ACC, it does have two wins against the Big 10, including its last win against a Power 5 school with a 103-100 victory against Wisconsin on the road on November 13, 2016. Saint Francis also defeated Penn State in Loretto 74-69 on November 28, 2006.
• The wins against the Panthers were while they were in the Big East. The team also owns wins over two teams now in Power 5 conferences, but were not at the time of the meeting: Cincinnati (W, 77-73, American Conference, November 27, 2017); Marquette (W, 65-63, Conference USA, November 27, 2002).
• The game marks the second-straight game the Red Flash will play against a Power 5 team after battling Xavier on Sunday. It is the first time Saint Francis will play consecutive games against power conferences since facing Michigan (November 11, 2022) and Xavier (November 13, 2022) in the 2022-23 season.
• Saint Francis wraps up its non-conference slate at Fordham on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Red Flash began the season against the Atlantic-10 at Duquesne (November 3) and La Salle (November 8) and will conclude the non-conference slate going from the Oakland Zoo to the Bronx Zoo.Â
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the team's first win of the season
• Give head coach Chynna Bozeman her first career victory
• Be the team's first win against Pittsburgh since December 1, 2010
• Be the team's first victory at the Petersen Events Center
• Be the team's first road win against a Power 5 team since defeating Wisconsin 103-100 on November 16, 2016
• End a nine-game losing streak
• Be first Red Flash win in Western Pennsylvania since defeating Robert Morris 58-55 on November 20, 2024
ABOUT THE PANTHERS
• Pittsburgh comes into the contest 6-6 after falling 73-41 in the ACC opener at Clemson on Sunday. • This will be the fourth game for the Panthers against NEC teams: Le Moyne (W, 87-65, November 18), Chicago State (W, 67-53, November 29), CCSU (W, 68-43, December 1).
• Theresa Hagans, Jr. powered the Panthers against Clemson with 23 points.Â
• Mikayla Johnson leads Pitt with 10.9 points per game, while Fatima Diakhate has a team-best 8.4 rebounds per game and is averaging 10.6 points per game.Â
LAST TIME WE MET
• Pittsburgh defeated Saint Francis 87-62 on November 29, 2023.
• Yanessa Boyd (14 points), Kendall Carruthers (12 points), Destini Ward (11 points) and Kameryn Dorsey (10 points) all reached double figures for the Red Flash.
• Liatu King (23 points), Aislin Malcolm (14 points), Rapuluchi Ayodele (14 points, 12 rebounds), Bella Perkins (13 points), Aaryn Battle (11 points) and Gabby Hutcherson (10 points) all registered 10+ for the Panthers.
LAST TIME OUT
• Xavier defeated Saint Francis 63-51 on Sunday at the Cintas Center.Â
• Aleah James paced the Red Flash with a career-high 22 points. Shelby Ricks registered a Red Flash-best 16 points, and Bati Assefa hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds.Â
• The 25 points scored in the fourth quarter were tied for the most in a quarter this season by Saint Francis, and the third time the team has scored 20 points in a frame. The Red Flash also hit 25 points in the third quarter against La Salle on November 8 and had 22 points in the third quarter against Lafayette on November 16.
WESTERN PA RIVALRY
• The Pittsburgh game marks the fourth game against a team in the Pittsburgh area and the second time the Red Flash will play in the Steel City.
• The Red Flash opened the season at Duquesne on November 3 and then hosted both Robert Morris (November 13) and Carnegie Mellon (November 18) in Loretto before this trip to the Petersen Events Center.Â
• Graduate student Aleah James is averaging 16.3 points per game in the three games against Western Pennsylvania and has reached double figures in all three games. She is averaging 18.5 points per game in the two games against Division I opponents, with two of her top three scoring performances coming against these teams. James had 17 points against Duquesne and her first career 20-point performance against Robert Morris. Despite being from Brooklyn, you might think she likes playing teams west of Loretto after she had a career-high 22 points at Xavier on December 14.Â
• Thanks to a career-high 22 points against Carnegie Mellon, fellow graduate student Sonia Sato is averaging 15.0 points per game against the Steel City teams. Sato also had 10+ points in the other two games against the area.
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks has grabbed at least six rebounds against the region and also had a 14-point performance against Robert Morris, which, similar to James, was her best performance in a Red Flash uniform until Xavier. Ricks had 16 points against the Musketeers.Â
• Sophomore Gemma Walker grew up in Venetia, Pa., which is about 19 minutes away from the Petersen Events Center. She played three minutes in last year's meeting at Duquesne on December 1, 2024, but missed all three games against the Western PA teams this season due to an injury. She returned against Army West Point on November 22 and is averaging 21.5 minutes a game since her return.
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TRENDING UP
• Graduate student Aleah James reached 20 points for the second time in her career at Xavier on December 14. After registering double figures in her first three games and four of her first five contests, the graduate student was held to single digits in her last three games before her career afternoon. In addition, after being held to one assist in her first game, James has dished out multiple assists in her last eight games, including three times in three of her last four tilts. She dished out a career-high eight assists against La Salle on November 8.Â
• Similar to James, graduate student Shelby Ricks went through a string of three consecutive games where she was held to single digits before her Red Flash high of 16 points on Sunday. Ricks had three straight games with at least 14 points, starting with the second game of the year. James (vs Maine, November 29) and Ricks (Army West Point, November 22) both had a nine-point game in this stretch.
• After posting a pair of seven-rebound games at the Turkey Tipoff right before Thanksgiving, senior Bati Assefa notched a career-high 12 rebounds against Xavier for the most rebounds in a game by a Flash player this season (Ricks had 10 against Lafayette on November 16). She is averaging 8.7 rebounds per game in her last three games.Â
• Graduate student Sonia Sato has been having a block party of two in her last three games. The graduate student has rejected two shots in each of her last three games and has turned the trick four times this season.Â
ON THE ROAD
• Saint Francis is 0-5 away from Loretto, with a 0-2 mark in the state of Pennsylvania, a 0-2 record in the state of New York and a 0-1 record in Ohio.
• The Red Flash is averaging 52.2 points per game in the five games on the road and allowing 71.0 points per game. • If you break it down by the two games played on the road in each state, the Loretto program averaged 66.5 points per game and allowed 86.5 points per game in those two games in the Keystone State, while it averaged 38.5 points per game and allowed 59.5 points per game in the two games in the Empire State.Â
• The game at Pitt will be the third time this season the team will play on the road in Pennsylvania before heading back to New York for its third game in the Empire State to wrap up non-conference play at Fordham on December 21.
• Graduate student Aleah James is averaging 13.8 points per game on the road, and fellow graduate student Shelby Ricks is averaging 10.3 points per game in the five games away from Loretto.
• James has three 10+ point games, and is coming off a career-high 22 points at Xavier on December 14. The graduate student scored 17 points in the season opener at Duquesne on November 3. Ricks has a 15-point game at La Salle and 16 points at Xavier on her road resume.
• Fellow graduate student Sonia Sato also has three 10+ point games on the road.
• Freshman Makyiah Ward has two 11-point games in her first two games of her collegiate career, while graduate student Cassandra Hawthorne has one 10+ point game on the road this season.
IN THE NEC
• Graduate student Aleah James leads the NEC in 3-point field goal percentage (56.5) and is second in assists (3.44 apg.), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.00), third in minutes played (34.89), fifth in scoring (12.4 ppg.), fifth in steals (1.89 spg.) and eighth in field goal percentage (40.9).
• Graduate student Sonia Sato is fourth in blocks (1.00 bpg.), and ninth in minutes played (31.33) and 15th in scoring (9.7 ppg.).
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks ranks sixth in free throw percentage (71.9), and 12th in scoring (10.3 ppg.)
• Graduate student Cassandra Hawthorne is seventh in defensive rebounds (4.13 pg.), while freshman Makyiah Ward is sixth in assists (2.78 apg.).
• As a team, the Red Flash is second in 3-point percentage defense (26.9), third in defensive rebounds (24.78), third in defensive rebound percentage (0.680), fourth in assists (12.44 apg.), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (28.7), fifth in blocks (2.33 bpg.), fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.65), and fifth in 3-pointers made (5.33).
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 2-9 on this date, including 1-6 on the road.
• The road win was a 74-67 win at Miami (Ohio) in 2002. Carlin Chesick paced the Red Flash with 17 points, while Beth Swink (16 points), Regina Schlichter (15 points), Tonjee Ward (13 points) and Karen Hewitt (10 points) also scored double figures. It was one of two non-conference road wins that season with the other one coming at Marquette (64-62) on November 30.
FUN FACT...Â
• The other win on this date was an 81-51 win against Pittsburgh at DeGol Arena in 1995.
