| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Makyiah Ward |
5-4 |
Fr. |
4.6 |
3.4 |
39.0 |
Career-high five steals at LIU |
| F Â Â Â Â Â Â |
4 |
Sonia Sato |
6-0 |
Gr. |
9.3 |
4.1 |
36.8 |
Scored team-high 13 points at LIU |
| G |
21 Â Â |
Gemma Walker |
5-10 |
So. |
8.0 |
2.8 |
32.5 |
Scored all eight points from free throw line at LIU |
| F |
23Â Â Â |
Shelby Ricks |
5-9 |
Gr. |
11.5 |
6.4 |
41.1 |
Had career-high 29 points in first meeting with Seahawks |
| G |
24 |
Bati Assefa |
5-9 |
Sr. |
4.7 |
4.8 |
33.3 |
10 points in first meeting with Wagner |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Aleah James |
5-7 |
Gr. |
10.6 |
3.6 |
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 25 tilts |
| F |
10 |
Zaiha Minnis |
5-11 Â Â |
Sr. |
4.0 |
1.7 |
34.5 |
Matched career-high with 15 points vs New Haven |
| GÂ |
12 |
Sajol Thornhill |
5-7 |
So. |
1.8 |
1.2 |
18.2 |
Season-high nine points vs Mercyhurst |
| FÂ |
15 |
Cassandra Hawthorne |
5-11 |
Gr. |
5.8 |
3.9 |
36.1 |
NEC-high 12 points at LIU |
| G |
33 Â Â |
Giselle Eke |
6-3 |
So. |
2.6 |
3.0 |
29.6 |
Matched career-high with six points against Mercyhurst |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS WAGNERÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saturday's game between Saint Francis and Wagner marks the 83rd meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1985-86 season.
• Did you know that on February 25, 1985, was the first time Saint Francis traveled to the state of New York for a game, and that was against Wagner.
• Besides a 70-54 win against Robert Morris on December 15, 1976, Saint Francis defeated Wagner 85-77 for one of the first wins against a future NEC member on January 11, 1986, although the first official NEC win was a 98-67 decision at home against LIU on January 17, 1987.
• The Seahawks are the most played NEC rivalry among the current membership, but Robert Morris and the Red Flash have met 94 times, and that series began in 1976-77.
• Wagner and LIU are tied for the most wins that the Red Flash has posted in the NEC with 49 each after the team defeated Wagner 73-67 in Loretto on January 8 for the first Saint Francis win of the season. Saint Francis sits at 399 NEC wins after defeating CCSU 74-63 on January 17.
• The Seahawks were the Red Flash's 250th win in NEC history thanks to a 65-63 win in Staten Island on January 8, 2011.
• The Red Flash's magic number to clinch is three with a combination of Saint Francis wins or CCSU losses. The Blue Devils are two games behind the Red Flash with four games to play. The earliest Saint Francis can punch its ticket to the postseason is on Thursday at home against Stonehill. Two Saint Francis wins, and a CCSU loss, and the Red Flash can celebrate Senior Day with an NEC Tournament berth. Â
• 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. 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. Graduate students
Cassandra Hawthorne,
Aleah James, and
Shelby Ricks, and seniors
Sonia Sato,
Zaiha Minnis, and
Bati Assefa will be recognized.
AN SFU WIN WOULD"
• Be the team's 400th NEC victory in program history
• Sweep the season series with the Seahawks for the third-straight season and the 21st time in program history
• Be its third-straight win at the Spiro Sports Center
• Be the first win in February
• End a eight-game losing streak
• Be the first win in the state of New York in six tries this season
• Be the second win on the road
• Mark that the first and 400th NEC would be against LIU
ABOUT THEÂ SEAHAWKS
• Wagner comes into the contest 11-14 overall and 7-7 in NEC play after falling 73-67 to Mercyhurst on Thursday. The Seahawks are looking to end a two-game losing streak.
• Keana Fox paced Wagner with 15 points, while Irene Fernandez de Caleya (12 points), Lijirin Doyinsola Modesayor (11 points, 10 rebounds), Priscila Varela (10 points) and Klea Kaci (10 points) registered double figures against the Lakers.
• Doyinsola Modesayor leads the team with 10.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Foz and Fernandez de Caleya are tied in assists (53), while Foz powers the team in steals (46).
LAST TIME WE MET
• Shelby Ricks tallied 29 points to power Saint Francis past Wagner 75-67 on January 8. It was the first game that the Red Flash deployed the unit system.Â
• Sonia Sato (11 points), Gemma Walker (11 points), and Bati Assefa (10 points) each recorded double figures on the night.
• Lijirin Doyinsola Modesayor paced the Seahawks with 14 points, while Keana Foz (13 points), Irene Fernandez de Caleya (10 points) and Hawa Balde-Camara (10 points) reached 10+ points for the Seahawks.
•  The game was on the 57th Anniversary of the first-ever women's basketball game in program history, a 59-24 win at Mount Aloysius on January 8, 1969.
LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis lost 74-59 at LIU on Thursday.
• Sonia Sato fueled the Red Flash with 13 points, and Cassandra Hawthorne registered an NEC-high 12 points.
TRENDING UP
• The number 13 might be un unlucky number for some, but graduate student Sonia Sato lands on that number of points half the time she scores double figures including four of her last five times. The graduate student is averaging 10.3 points per game in her last four tilts with two 13-point performances. Her six 13-point games are tied for the fourth most points she has scored this season and her best in league play is 15 points against Chicago State on January 29.
• Fellow graduate student Cassandra Hawthorne has a similar pattern with numbers with three games with 12 points, two games with 10 points and a career-high 24 points at Fordham, which when you look at it is 12 times two. She also posts double figures on the road in five of her last six times she has reached 10 points in a game. She has tallied back-to-back 10+ point games for the first time in her career after 10 points at Mercyhurst on February 14 and 12 points at LIU five days late. Despite being from the Nutmeg State, she is averaging 9.8 points per game in the Empire State and 4.7 points per game in the rest of the United States.
• Sophomore Gemma Walker recorded all eight of her points against LIU from the free throw line. It was the second time in her last three games she registered at least 63 percent of her points from the charity stripe after she had seven of her 11 points from the line against Le Moyne on February 7. The sophomore has made at least five free throws five times this season. Walker is averaging 11.0 points per game in her last six contests.Â
• Freshman Makyiah Ward stuffed the stat sheet against the Sharks with six points, six rebounds, a career-high five steals and two assists. It is the second time this season a player had five thefts. It was the seventh time this season she has posted a five in two of the following categories: points, rebounds, assists or steals. It was the second time she had a handful in all three categories after 15 points, six rebounds and five assists against Le Moyne on January 2.Â
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks is averaging 11.5 points per game in her last four games with two 10+ point performances. She is also averaging 5.5 rebounds per game in that stretch with at least five boards in her last two tilts. She registered a career-high 29 points in her last meeting against Wagner on January 8.
• Graduate student Aleah James is averaging 11.0 points per game in her last two tilts. She has scored 10+ points five times in her last nine games.
IN THE NEC
• Graduate student Aleah James ranks sixth in assists (2.87 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), sixth in rebounding (6.4 rpg), eighth in offensive rebounds (2.17 rpg), eighth in free throw percentage (74.2), eighth in defensive rebounds (4.22 rpg), and 13th in scoring (11.4 ppg). She paces the NEC in 3-point field goal percentage (44.4) in league games.Â
• Freshman Makyiah Ward ranks ninth in assists (2.71 apg), and ninth in steals (1.46).
• Graduate student Sonia Sato ranks eighth in blocked shots (0.78 bpg) and 26th in scoring (9.3 ppg).
• Sophomore Gemma Walker is seventh in free-throw percentage (75.9).
• Saint Francis ranks third in defensive rebounds (24.28 rpg), fourth in 3-point field goal defense (30.1), fifth in rebounding offense (35.6 rpg), fifth in assists (12.96 apg), fifth in defensive rebound percentage (0.673), fifth in blocked shots (2.64 bpg), and fifth in 3-pointers made (5.52 pg). The Red Flash is second in league play in free-throw percentage (76.3).
ON THE ROAD
• Saint Francis is 1-13 on the road (0-12 in road games, 0-1 in neutral site games) and 1-6 in NEC play this season. The one win was a 74-63 win at CCSU on January 17.
• The Red Flash is averaging 57.7points per game and allowing 73.1 points per game on the road.Â
• This will be the fifth game in the New York City area after playing two games in the Turkey Tip-off hosted by Iona on November 28-29, at Fordham on December 21 and at LIU on Thursday. 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 metropolitan area.
• Graduate student Aleah James is averaging 12.5 points per game, while fellow graduate student Shelby Ricks is averaging 11.5 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 13.2 points in her last four road tilts and 12.3 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 10 games outside of the Lo'. She is averaging 12.6 points per game in that stretch and 10.6 points per game in NEC road games. Ricks has four double-doubles on the road. Â
• Graduate student Sonia Sato has six 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 four 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 342 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 6-9 overall, 3-9 on the road, and 4-6 in NEC play on this date. The Red Flash has lost the last three road games on this date and is looking for its first win on this date since an 89-66 win at Mount St. Mary's in 2004.
• Beth Swink had 20 points in that 89-66 win against the Mount, while Sarah Bolten (17 points), Karen Hewitt (16 points), Cristin Black (13 points), and Tonjee Ward (10 points) also posted double figures in that win.
FUN FACT...Â
• Saint Francis scored 100 points for the first time in program history on this date at the old Paramount Theatre in Brooklyn against LIU, with a 103-93 decision.
