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| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Aleah James |
5-7 |
Gr. |
11.2 |
3.7 |
38.0 |
Rejoined starting lineup vs LIU |
| G |
1 |
Makyiah Ward |
5-4 |
Fr. |
4.7 |
3.1 |
40.3 |
12 assists in last two tilts |
| F Â Â Â Â Â Â |
4 |
Sonia Sato |
6-0 |
Gr. |
9.2 |
3.8 |
33.8 |
Averaging 9.5 ppg in last two games |
| GÂ |
12 |
Sajol Thornhill |
5-7 |
So. |
1.0 |
1.1 |
10.4 |
Season-high four steals against FDU |
| F |
23Â Â Â |
Shelby Ricks |
5-9 |
Gr. |
12.1 |
6.1 |
39.2 |
Averaged 17.5 ppg in last two tilts |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| GÂ |
3 |
Desire Short |
5-9 |
Jr. |
0.7 |
0.7 |
10.0 |
Scored first SFU points against LIU |
| G |
5 |
Kash Holmes |
5-9 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Did not play in first 15 tilts |
| F |
10 |
Zaiha Minnis |
5-11 Â Â |
Sr. |
4.2 |
2.1 |
32.7 |
Six points, seven rebounds vs LIU |
| G |
11 |
Bati Assefa |
5-9 |
Sr. |
5.5 |
5.2 |
38.3 |
10 points against Wagner |
| FÂ |
15 |
Cassandra Hawthorne |
5-11 |
Gr. |
6.1 |
3.9 |
37.8 |
Scored a career-high 24 points at Fordham |
| G |
21 Â Â |
Gemma Walker |
5-10 |
So. |
6.2 |
3.0 |
28.3 |
Career-high 20 points vs LIU |
| G |
33 Â Â |
Giselle Eke |
6-3 |
So. |
2.8 |
3.6 |
27.1 |
Career-high nine rebounds against FDU |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS STONEHILLÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Thursday's game between Saint Francis and Stonehill marks the seventh meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2022-23 season.
• After the Red Flash won the first two meetings in the series, the Skyhawks have taken the last four in the matchup.
• Last year, Saint Francis split the two games in New England after it opened NEC play with a 79-63 win against CCSU on January 2, 2025, before dropping a 73-59 decision at Stonehill two days later.
• For the older folks, this weekend is reminiscent of the old NEC days when basketball teams would play on Thursday-Saturday or Saturday-Monday. Before the mirror schedule, which debuted in the 2020-21 COVID season, men's basketball would play on Thursdays against an opponent, women's basketball would join the men's team for a doubleheader on Saturday, and then the women's basketball team would play the same team the men played Thursday on Monday at the same location. Not completely the same because there is no doubleheader on Saturday, but the Red Flash women's basketball team will play Stonehill on Thursday, and the men will play the Skyhawks on Monday, while both teams will play CCSU on Saturday.
• Saint Francis debuted a new look attack at home last weekend. It is not as fast-paced as the Grinnell men's basketball game plan from back in the day, and it might be more similar to Quinnipiac Gold Rush, where the team subs five players in at a time. The system worked in the 75-67 win against Wagner on January 8. Head coach
Chynna Bozeman said the switch was to "get us operating at 100 percent segment by segment and to stay focused." Bozeman calls them units, but if the trend continues, it might need a name like the Bobcats Gold Rush. The student section at Saint Francis is called "The Flash Flood," so that might be a good name to try since the Red Flash are flooding the court with a new lineup every couple of minutes. It's not like they run a special play like "The Flying V" with a Mighty Ducks line change.
• Saint Francis comes into the game against Stonehill with 398 wins in NEC history, needing two wins to become the first NEC team to win 400 times in NEC regular season history.
• The Red Flash will travel to CCSU on Saturday to complete it time in New England and will travel to Chicago State on January 22 before returning home to host New Haven on January 24.
• The home game against New Haven will be a special event. Saint Francis won nine of 10 NEC Tournament titles from 1996 to 2005, and with this being the 30th Anniversary of that first championship, the Red Flash will honor that legacy by retiring three jerseys that were the pillars of the Golden Era of Saint Francis women's basketball. Jess Zinobile's jersey is already retired, but will be joined by Stacy Alexander, Mary Markey, and Beth Swink.Â
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the team's 399th NEC victory in program history
• End a four-game losing streak against Stonehill
• Be the first win at Merkert Gymnasium since a 56-52 win on January 6, 2023
• Be the first victory on the road this season, and the first since defeating Mercyhurst 80-65 in Erie on March 6, 2025
• Start a three-game road trip with a win
• Be the second win in the last three games
• Be the third victory against Stonehill in the series
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ABOUT THE SKYHAWKS
• Stonehill comes into the contest 5-10 overall and 1-3 in NEC play after falling 51-48 at Chicago State on Saturday. The Skyhawks are 4-3 at Merkert Gymnasium and 0-7 on the road.
• Stonehill registered a 270 NET non-conference strength of schedule. The Skyhawks' best non-conference win was a 77-55 win against NET 320 Rider on November 13.
• Brooke Paquette paced Stonehill with 10 points, while Ella Pelletier tallied eight points and eight rebounds against the Cougars.
• Paquette leads the team with 13.8 points per game. Reese Roggeburk paces the Skyhawks with 7.5 rebounds per game and is second on the squad with 9.3 points per game.Â
LAST TIME WE MET
• Stonehill defeated Saint Francis 74-43 on February 13, 2025.Â
• Marissa Shelton paced the Red Flash with 18 points.
• Brooke Paquette powered the Skyhawks with 23 points. Megan Sias (14 points), Sharn Hayward (13 points), and Kylie Swider (12 points) also found double figures.Â
 LAST TIME OUT
• LIU defeated Saint Francis 77-61 on Saturday.
• Sophomore Gemma Walker paced the Red Flash with a career-high 20 points. Walker shot 7-for-12 from the floor, 1 of 2 from behind the arc, and 5 of 5 from the free throw line.
TRENDING UP
• Sophomore Gemma Walker became the fifth player to reach 20 points in a game and marked the seventh time this season a player has reached that mark. Last season, three players turned the trick a total of seven times. Walker came into her homecoming at Pitt, where she grew up 18 minutes away, on December 18 with 20 career points. Since her breakout performance at the Petersen Events Center, the sophomore has three 10+ point games and is averaging 9.0 points per game in her last six games, which started with her game 18 minutes from her hometown. "The game at Pitt was a launching pad for me. It gave me the confidence to play. If I do the right things and listen to the coaches, they are going to steer me in the right direction of where I want to be as a player," Walker said. Last weekend, she averaged 15.5 points per game, following 11 points against Wagner on January 8. She has done a lot of damage at the free-throw line, hitting 15 of 16 shots in her last six games, while adding 18 rebounds, nine assists, and five steals in this stretch.
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks has scored double figures in five of her last seven games and is averaging 14.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in that stretch. The graduate student has two 20-point games in this stretch, including a career-high 29 points against Wagner and 21 points at Le Moyne on January 2, in her only NEC road game. Ricks also registered back-to-back double-doubles to end non-conference play. She also had seven blocks in her last seven games with a career-high three rejections against Xavier on December 1.
• Graduate student Sonia Sato averaged 9.5 points per game in her last homestand. The graduate student narrowly missed her first career double-double after finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds against Wagner. The nine boards were a personal best.Â
• Freshman Makyiah Ward has posted two of her top four scoring performances in NEC play. She had a career-high 15 points at Le Moyne and then had seven points against LIU. The freshman posted 11 points in her first two collegiate games at Duquesne on November 3 and at La Salle on November 8. Ward has dished out 12 assists in her last two games and 18 assists in the four NEC games. The freshman has seven games with at least four helpers.
• Senior Bati Assefa is averaging 9.5 points per game in her last two games played after scoring nine points against FDU on January 4 and 10 points against Wagner. She missed the last game against LIU.
IN THE NEC
• Graduate student Aleah James leads the NEC in 3-point field goal percentage (44.1), and ranks fifth in assists (2.85 apg), ninth in minutes played (31.62 mpg), and 10th in scoring (11.2 ppg).
• Freshman Makyiah Ward is second in the NEC in assists (3.20 apg.) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.12).
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks ranks sixth in the NEC in scoring (11.9 ppg.), fifth in 3-point percentage (37.8), fifth in blocked shots (0.86 bpg.), seventh in defensive rebounds (4.36 rpg.), and 10th in rebounding (6.1 rpg.). Ricks leads the NEC in 3- point field goal percentage in league play (69.2).Â
• Graduate student Sonia Sato ranks third in the NEC rin blocks (1.00 bpg.) and 19th in scoring (9.3 ppg.), while sophomore Giselle Eke is eighth in blocks (0.75 bpg), and senior Bati Assefa is ninth in offensive rebounds (1.92 rpg).Â
• Sophomore Gemma Walker leads the NEC in free-throw percentage (93.3) in NEC games.Â
• Saint Francis ranks third in 3-point field goal defense (28.8), fourth in blocked shots (2.80 bpg.), fourth in assists (13.00 apg.), fourth in defensive rebounds (24.20), fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.68), and fifth in 3-pointers made (5.53). In NEC play, the Red Flash leads the conference in free throws (79.7) and is tied for second for blocked shots (3.00 bpg).Â
DRIVE FOR 400 WINS
• Saint Francis can become the first team in NEC history to reach 400 wins in conference play with three more wins against NEC opponents.
• With its 75-67 win against Wagner on January 8, the Red Flash sits at 398 wins in its 40th year of the circuit. The team has averaged 10.2 wins per season. Mount St. Mary's is the closest team with 355 wins, while FDU is next on the active list with 328 victories.
• Saint Francis has earned a win in NEC play against 20 teams. The only past or present NEC team the Red Flash has not defeated is New Haven, which joined the league this season.Â
• Saint Francis has won at least three league games in its first 39 years in the league, which is the mark the Red Flash needs to reach 400 wins this season. The 1988-89 and 2007-08 seasons are the only two seasons in which the team won exactly three games, while in the rest of the seasons, the team had more than three wins.Â
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ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 8-7 overall, 4-4 on the road, and 7-5 in NEC play on this date.
• Allison Daly hit a jumper with 1:47 left in overtime to give Saint Francis the lead it would not relinquish in a 73-70 overtime win against FDU on this date in 2011. Daly had 14 points, while Samantha Leach paced the Red Flash with 18 points.Â
• Karson Swogger posted 20 points, and Lilli Benzel had 18 points to lift Saint Francis past Bryant 70-66 on this date in 2021. It was the Red Flash's sixth straight conference win as the team opened NEC play, 7-0. The win was the 375th NEC win in team history.
FUN FACT...Â
• This will be Saint Francis' second time in the New England area, following its 2021 matchup with Bryant.Â
