| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Makyiah Ward |
5-4 |
Fr. |
4.6 |
3.3 |
40.2 |
Three 10+ point games on the road |
| F Â Â Â Â Â Â |
4 |
Sonia Sato |
6-0 |
Gr. |
9.1 |
4.2 |
36.4 |
Team-high 13 points against Le Moyne |
| G |
21 Â Â |
Gemma Walker |
5-10 |
So. |
7.9 |
2.8 |
34.2 |
Averaging 11.0 ppg in last five tilts |
| G |
24 |
Bati Assefa |
5-9 |
Sr. |
4.9 |
4.8 |
34.0 |
10 points against Wagner |
| G |
33 Â Â |
Giselle Eke |
6-3 |
So. |
2.7 |
3.2 |
29.4 |
Matched career-high with six points against Mercyhurst |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Aleah James |
5-7 |
Gr. |
10.6 |
3.7 |
36.8 |
13 points at Mercyhurst in last game |
| GÂ |
3 |
Desire Short |
5-9 |
Jr. |
1.0 |
0.8 |
15.4 |
Has not played since CCSU |
| G |
5 |
Kash Holmes |
5-9 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Did not play in first 24 tilts |
| F |
10 |
Zaiha Minnis |
5-11 Â Â |
Sr. |
4.2 |
1.8 |
34.9 |
Matched career-high with 15 points vs New Haven |
| GÂ |
12 |
Sajol Thornhill |
5-7 |
So. |
1.9 |
1.2 |
18.2 |
Season-high nine points vs Mercyhurst |
| FÂ |
15 |
Cassandra Hawthorne |
5-11 |
Gr. |
5.6 |
4.0 |
35.5 |
Four 10+ point games on the road this season |
| F |
23Â Â Â |
Shelby Ricks |
5-9 |
Gr. |
11.6 |
6.4 |
41.1 |
Averaging 12.3 ppg in last three games |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS LIUÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Thursday's game between Saint Francis and LIU marks the 81st meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1985-86 season.
• The Red Flash leads the matchup 56-23, including a 20-15 record in Brooklyn. Saint Francis was 11-7 in the Paramount Theatre against the Sharks and 9-8 in the Wellness Center against the Brooklyn program. The Red Flash won the 2010 NEC Tournament title at LIU.
• Saint Francis has five games left: three games in the New York-New Jersey area (at LIU, February 19; at Wagner, February 21; at FDU, March 5) and two games at home against New England schools (Stonehill, February 26; CCSU, February 28).
• It may be hard to believe, but if the Red Flash wins its final five games, it can be the No. 5 seed with some help. Five wins would get Saint Francis to 7-11 on the year. Wagner and Chicago State are 7-6 in league play, but they play each other on February 28, so one team would reach 8 wins. However, if Wagner and LeMoyne lose out, and Stonehill wins no more than two games, the Red Flash can claim the No. 5 seed and would most likely travel to No. 4 Chicago State in the NEC Quarterfinals. Saint Francis would win the tiebreaker with Wagner since it swept the season series. If the Red Flash is tied with Stonehill and wins out, it would win the tiebreaker because it would have to beat FDU and LIU to win out, and Le Moyne would only have six wins.
• The Red Flash's magic number to clinch is four, with a combination of Saint Francis wins or CCSU losses. The Blue Devils are two games behind the Red Flash with five games to play. Saint Francis can clinch with wins at LIU and Wagner and CCSU losses at Le Moyne and against Chicago State this weekend. Â
• Since defeating CCSU on January 17, the Red Flash has lost the last seven games, looking for win No. 400 in NEC history. The first NEC win in team history (98-67, January 17, 1987), the 25th win (79-66, January 28, 1991), and the 175th win (61-40, February 10, 2003) were all against the old Blackbirds.
• The 100th (FDU, 50-40, January 5, 1998), 200th (FDU, January 8, 2005), and 300th (Bryant, February 3, 2014) all took place on the road.
• Saint Francis University Criminal Justice Club is collecting monetary donations or new teddy bears for their annual "Bears for Care" Drive during the game against Stonehill on February 26. The Bears will then be taken around and given to local law enforcement agencies to keep on hand for children involved in emergency situations. There will be a special halftime bear toss. The Red Flash will also honor its seniors before the game against the Skyhawks.
AN SFU WIN WOULD"
• Be the team's 400th NEC victory in program history
• Be the third straight year the two teams have split the season series
• End a two-game losing streak in Brooklyn
• Be the first win in February
• End a seven-game losing streak
• Be the first win in the state of New York in five tries this season
• Be the second win on the road
• Mark that the first and 400th NEC would be against LIU
ABOUT THE SHARKS
• LIU comes into the contest 16-8 overall and 11-2 in NEC play after defeating New Haven 78-74 in overtime on Saturday. The Sharks have improved by 10 games from last year, which is the third-best improvement in Division I: McNeese State (+12) and Arizona State (+11).
• Kadidia Toure paced LIU with 26 points and 18 rebounds against the Chargers. Janessa Williams (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Solangelei Akridge (17 points) also posted double figures in the overtime win.
• Toure, the three-time and current NEC Player of the Week, is averaging a double-double with 18.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, and also powers the squad in steals (54) and blocks (36). Williams is averaging 12.6 points per game. Akridge is almost averaging 10+ a game at 9.7 points per game, and has a team-best 69 assists.
LAST TIME WE MET
• Saint Francis lost to LIU 77-61 at DeGol Arena on January 10. The Red Flash outscored the Sharks in the first (14-10) and fourth (15-14) quarters.
• Kadidia Toure paced LIU with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Hannah Humphrey (15 points), Laura Molnarova (13 points) and Janessa Williams (12 points) also registered double figures.
• Gemma Walker led Saint Francis with a career-high 20 points.
LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis dropped an 85-61 decision at Mercyhurst on February 14. The Red Flash outscored the Lakers 20-15 in the fourth quarter.
• Aleah James powered Saint Francis with 13 points, while Cassandra Hawthorne posted 10 points for the second time in league play.
TRENDING UP
• Graduate student Aleah James returns to LIU after she was a member of the Sharks for the 2021-22 season, but did not appear in a game for her hometown Brooklyn team. When James played at Fordham in the Bronx, she scored 16 points on December 21. The graduate student does better coming off the bench than starting in the unit rotation. She is averaging 11.1 points per game off the bench, with four double-figure games, including an NEC-high 19 points at CCSU on January 17. She is averaging 6.0 points per game as a starter since the shift, with one 10+ point game. James also picked up her production of assists with six games with at least three assists and a six-helper performance against Mercyhurst on February 5.
• Graduate student Cassandra Hawthorne registered the fifth 10+ point game of her career against Mercyhurst on February 14. She has two games with 10 points in NEC play after also scoring 10 points at CCSU on January 17. Four of her five double-figure point games have come on the road, and she set a career high with 24 points against Fordham. Hawthorne is averaging 8.3 points per game when she plays at least 17 minutes, with all five of her 10+ point games, while she is averaging 2.6 points per game when she plays under 17 minutes.Â
• Sophomore Gemma Walker was held to single digits against Mercyhurst to end a career-high four games with at least 10 points. She averaged 13.8 points per game in those four games and is averaging 11.0 points per game in her last five tilts. The first meeting against the Sharks in Loretto, Walker posted a career-high 20 points on January 10. The sophomore has eight 10+ point games in her last 15 contests.
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks is averaging 12.3 points per game in her last three contests she has played. She has four games with at least 18 points in NEC play, including a career-high 29 points against Wagner on January 8.
• Sophomore Giselle Eke has started the last two games and has grabbed 15 rebounds in those two contests. She registered eight caroms in her first career start against Le Moyne on February 7, the second-most of her career, behind her nine-board performance against FDU on January 4. Eke had six points against Mercyhurst to tie her career high, which she also set against Maryland on November 24, 2024, and against Lafayette on November 16.
IN THE NEC
• Graduate student Aleah James ranks fourth in assists (2.95 apg) in the NEC, 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (35.7), and 20th in scoring (10.6 ppg).
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks ranks fourth in blocked shots (1.00 bpg), seventh in rebounding (6.4 rpg), eighth in offensive rebounds (2.23 rpg), ninth in free throw percentage (74.2), ninth in defensive rebounds (4.14 rpg), and 12th in scoring (11.5 ppg). Shepaces the NEC in 3-point field goal percentage (44.4) in league games.Â
• Freshman Makyiah Ward ranks eighth in assists (2.74 apg).
• Graduate student Sonia Sato ranks eighth in blocked shots (0.77 bpg) and 27th in scoring (9.2 ppg).
• Sophomore Gemma Walker is seventh in free-throw percentage (75.3).
• Saint Francis ranks third in defensive rebounds (24.50 rpg), fourth in 3-point field goal defense (30.0), fourth in rebounding offense (36.0 rpg), fifth in assists (13.17 apg), fifth in defensive rebound percentage (0.673), fifth in blocked shots (2.67 bpg), and fifth in 3-pointers made (5.63pg). The Red Flash is second in league play in free-throw percentage (76.3).
ON THE ROAD
• Saint Francis is 1-12 on the road (0-11 in road games, 0-1 in neutral site games) and 1-5 in NEC play this season.Â
• The Red Flash is averaging 57.6 points per game and allowing 73.0 points per game on the road.Â
• This will be the fourth game in the New York City area after playing two games in the Turkey Tip-off hosted by Iona on November 28-29 and at Fordham on December 21. Saint Francis wraps the season with three of its final five games on the road, and all three are in the New York-New Jersey metropolitian area.
• Graduate student Aleah James is averaging 12.8 points per game, while fellow graduate student Shelby Ricks is averaging 11.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.Â
• James has scored double figures seven times on the road, including her last four tilts away from Loretto. She is averaging 14.3 points in her last four road tilts and 13.0 points per game in NEC road games. James had a career-high 22 points at Xavier on December 14. Ricks has eight games with 10+ points on the road, and has reached double figures in seven of her last nine games outside of the Lo'. She is averaging 13.0 points per game in that stretch and 12.6 points per game in NEC road games. Ricks has four double-doubles on the road. Â
• Graduate student Sonia Sato has five 10+ points games on the road, including three games with 13 points and a 14-point performance at La Salle on November 8. Sophomore Gemma Walker has three 10+ point games in her last seven games, including a 17-point performance at Stonehill on January 15. Graduate student Cassandra Hawthorne has three 10+ point games, including a career-high 24 points at Fordham on December 21, while freshman Makyiah Ward had 11 points and five rebounds in her first two road games of her career.
• Senior Bati Assefa has two 10+ rebound games on the road.
• Saint Francis was 6-11 on the road overall, and 4-4 in NEC play last season.
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 74-63 win against CCSU on January 18, the Red Flash sits at 399 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 341 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. The team current sits at two NEC wins with four to play.
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 5-9 overall, 0-7 on the road, and 4-4 in NEC play on this date.
• Jess Kovatch scored 29 points to lead Saint Francis past FDU 80-61 on this date in 2018. Caitlyn Kroll added 16 points, and Ace Harrison hauled in 12 rebounds. The Red Flash lost to Sacred Heart 69-68 on February 17, 2018. The win against the Knights was the first of an eight-game winning streak that led to the Loretto program winning its final NEC Tournament championship.Â
FUN FACT...Â
• This will be the first time the Red Flash will play in Brooklyn, but has played a Brooklyn school three times on this date at DeGol Arena with three wins against St. Francis Brooklyn (1994, 2001, 2007).
