Â
| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
4 |
Marissa Shelton |
5-8 |
Jr. |
6,9 |
2.4 |
34.9 |
Averaged 9.5 ppg in previous two road games before FDU |
| G |
10 |
Ineivi Plata |
5-3 |
Fr. |
5.0 |
3.4 |
37.0 |
Two 10+ point games on the road |
| G |
11 |
Harris Robinson |
5-8Â Â Â Â |
Sr. |
4.1 |
2.9 |
40.4 |
First career double-double with 16 pts, 10 rebs vs. CCSU |
| F |
12 |
Julianna Gibson |
6-2 |
Jr. |
5.0 |
3.0 |
49.1 |
Notched 10 points and six rebounds at Le Moyne |
| F |
23 Â Â Â |
Marina Artero |
5-11 |
So. |
1.9 |
3.9 |
35.9 |
Nine games with 5+ rebounds |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| GÂ |
0 |
Yanessa Boyd |
5-9 |
So. |
7.2 |
3.7 |
34.0 |
Missed first game of career at FDU |
| 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. |
4.6 |
3.8 |
39.1 |
Two double-doubles on the road |
| G |
5 |
Natalie Johnson |
5-8 |
Jr. |
9.0 |
2.3 |
46.2 |
Team's leading scorer |
| G |
20 |
Airah Lavy |
5-10 |
Fr. |
7.0 |
1.1 |
36.3 |
18 points in first matchup with Cougars |
| GÂ Â Â Â |
21 |
Gemma Walker |
5-10 |
Fr. |
1.0 |
0.4 |
21.1 |
Notched career-high four points vs Le Moyne at home |
| G |
24Â Â Â Â |
Destini Ward |
5-8 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Team captain in 2024-25 |
| F |
32 |
Fanta Daffe |
5-10 |
Sr. |
0.0 |
0.7 |
0.0 |
Made first careeer start against CCSU |
| F |
33 |
Giselle Eke |
6-3 |
Fr. |
1.5 |
2.2 |
27.3 |
Career-high six boards vs Stonehill |
| F |
34 |
Alary Bell |
6-2 |
So. |
4.7 |
4.1 |
52.1 |
Shooting 51.1 percent in NEC games |
SAINT FRANCIS TIDBITS IN A FLASH VS. CHICAGO STATE (FULL GAMENOTES PDF)
• Saturday's game between Saint Francis and Chicago State marks the second meeting in the all-time series after the two teams met in Loretto on February 8. The Red Flash defeated the Cougars 63-58 in the inaugural contest.
• It will be the third time Saint Francis will play a game in the state of Illinois, and the second time under head coach
Keila Whittington. The Red Flash lost 69-56 at Loyola Chicago on November 25, 2022. Saint Francis also played at the University of Illinois in 2002-03, falling 55-52. With a win at Chicago State on Saturday, the Red Flash would notch its first win in the state of Illinois.
• After being at home for eight of the last 12 games dating back to when FDU came to Loretto on February 9, Saint Francis will be on the road for its final three regular season games. It will be the fifth time in NEC history that the team will end the season with at least three road games, joining the 1991-92, 1995-96, 1996-97, and 2014-15 seasons. In the last two years, the Red Flash played its final three games away from Loretto, but the previous game in both seasons was in the NEC Tournament.
• With its 70-69 win against Mercyhurst on February 20, Saint Francis had a trifecta of accomplishments. The Red Flash clinched a home playoff game, won its 10th game of the season, and clinched at least a non-losing record in league play. The last time the team won double digits in a season and had at least a .500 record in league play was 2021-22, while the squad will host an NEC Tournament game for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
• The squad is 3-3 on the road this season in league play with two road games. With a win, the team would notch its most road wins in a single season since the 2020-21 season when the Red Flash won seven games in league play on the road.
• Saint Francis wraps up the regular season with its first trip to Mercyhurst on Thursday. After the game at Erie, the Red Flash will return to Loretto to host an NEC Tournament Game. Seed and opponent to be determined, but a clearer picture will form after the completion of play on Saturday.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Sweep the season series with Chicago State
• Clinch a winning conference season for the 27th time in program history.
• Register its first win in the state of Illinois
• Seal at least a .500 record on the road in NEC play
• Improve to 9-6 in NEC playÂ
• Notch its third road win in the last four games
• Be the 11th win on the season for the Red Flash
ABOUT THE COUGARS
• Chicago State comes into the game 5-25 overall and 5-10 in NEC play after defeating Mercyhurst 77-63 on Thursday. Four of the five Cougars wins are at home, including an 84-77 win against CCSU on January 23.
• Aiyanna Culver and Kace Urlacher paced Chicago State with 16 points each, while Tania Allen (13 points) and Hailey Hohenecker (11 points) also found double figures.Â
• Culver leads the team with 14.3 points per game along with 89 assists and 47 steals.. Josie Hill powers the team in rebounding (6.1 rpg.) and is second with 12.3 points per game.Â
LAST TIME WE MET
• Freshman
Ineivi Plata registered the go-ahead basket with 58 seconds left, and sophomore
Yanessa Boyd knocked down four free throws to seal a 63-58 win against Chicago State on February 8.
• Freshman
Airah Lavy powered the Red Flash with 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor, 5 of 9 from behind the arc and 3 of 3 from the free throw line. Boyd finished with eight points and six rebounds, and senior
Harris Robinson posted seven points and a career-high five assists.
•
Josie Hill fueled the Cougards with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while
Aiyanna Culver and
Asha Walker each had 10 points.Â
LAST TIMEÂ OUT
• FDU defeated Saint Francis 60-33 on February 22 in Teaneck.
• Junior Natalie Johnson paced the Red Flash with eight points.
STATE OF THE NEC
• FDU leads the NEC with a 14-0 record. Stonehill sits in second place at 9-5, one game ahead of Saint Francis. The Skyhawks also swept the season series to hold the ultimate tiebreaker with the Flash. FDU, Stonehill, and Saint Francis have clinched a home game in the NEC Quarterfinals on March 10. After CCSU's 75-64 loss at Le Moyne on Thursday, the Blue Devils and the Red Flash are tied for third. CCSU needs a win or a loss by Le Moyne in the final two games to clinch the final home game. Two CCSU losses and two Dolphins wins and the two teams would finish in a tie at 8-8. Le Moyne would hold the tiebreaker because it would have to beat FDU in order to reach 8-8 to hold the tiebreaker with CCSU. Saint Francis can also finish 8-8, but would win any tiebreaker involving Le Moyne because it swept the season series.
• Saint Francis can finish as high as second in the standings and as low as fourth. If the Red Flash, Skyhawks and Blue Devils finish with the same conference record, the seeding will be determined by the fifth place team. Why do you ask? Well Stonehill swept Saint Francis, but CCSU swept Stonehill and CCSU and Saint Francis split its season series. so the teams are 3-3 in that tiebreaker None of the three teams defeated FDU so would come down to Mercyhurst and/or Le Moyne, or if Wagner, Chicago State or LIU get into a tie for fifth place.Â
• Saint Francis is currently 1-0 against both Chicago State and Mercyhurst, while it went 2-0 against Le Moyne and Wagner and 1-1 against LIU.
• Stonehill is 2-0 against Mercyhurst, Chicago State and LIU, 1-0 against Wagner, 0-1 against Le Moyne
• CCSU is 1-0 against LIU and Wagner, 1-1 against Mercyhurst and Le Moyne.
• Unless the Red Flash comes out of a three-way tiebreaker, it would most likely fall to the four spot because it does not hold a two-way tiebreaker with either of those teams and would have to finish one-game better than Stonehill or CCSU to finish as the higher seed.Â
• If the playoffs started today, Chicago State would be the Red Flash's opponent in the NEC Quarterfinals.Â
• Le Moyne (6-8), Chicago State (5-10), Wagner (4-9), and LIU (3-11) are the bottom four teams, while Mercyhurst is 6-8 but ineligible for the tournament.
