Stonehill College (10-16, 6-9 NEC) at Saint Francis University (2-24, 2-13 NEC)  (11-14, 7-7 NEC)
Date | Time	Thursday, February 26, 2026, 7:00 p.m. (Senior Night Ceremony at 6:40 p.m.)
Location	Loretto, Pa.  | Merkert Gymnasium
Television	NEC Front Row (Preston Shoemaker, play-by-play; Jarrod Prugar, color analyst)
Live Stats	SideArm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | Stonehill
Stats	Saint Francis | Stonehill | NEC
Social Media	@RedFlashWBB  |@RedFlashWBB | Facebook

Saint Francis Probable Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	1	Makyiah Ward	5-4	Fr.	4.6	3.6	38.0	Career-high 10 rebounds at Wagner
F	4	Sonia Sato	6-0	Gr.	9.1	4.0	36.8	Scored team-high 13 points at LIU
G	21	Gemma Walker	5-10	So.	7.8	2.9	31.9	Scored 17 points in first meeting with Stonehill
F	23	Shelby Ricks	5-9	Gr.	11.7	6.5	41.1	Scored 16 points at Wagner
G	24	Bati Assefa	5-9	Sr.	4.8	4.8	32.7	Grabbed five rebounds against Stonehill in first meeting
Top Players Off the Bench
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	0	Aleah James	5-7	Gr.	10.4	3.5	36.6	Needs 18 points for 1,000 through JUCO and NCAA
G	3	Desire Short	5-9	Jr.	1.0	0.8	15.4	Has not played since CCSU road game
G	5	Kash Holmes	5-9	Jr.	---	---	---	Did not play in first 26 tilts
F	10	Zaiha Minnis	5-11	Sr.	4.0	1.6	34.1	Matched career-high with 15 points vs New Haven
G	12	Sajol Thornhill	5-7	So.	1.8	1.2	17.8	Season-high nine points vs Mercyhurst
F	15	Cassandra Hawthorne	5-11	Gr.	5.7	3.9	34.8	NEC-high 12 points at LIU
G	33	Giselle Eke	6-3	So.	2.5	3.2	29.6	Matched career-high with six points against Mercyhurst

SELECT GAME NOTES VS STONEHILL (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Thursday's game between Saint Francis and Stonehill marks the eighth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2022-23 season.
• A team has swept the season series every campaign, so the Red Flash are looking to stop that streak after the Skyhawks edged Saint Francis 59-57 in New Easton on January 15.
• The Red Flash won the first two meetings in the series, but Stonehill has won the last five games.
• Raphael McNeill was named acting head coach for the remainder of the season. He was at the helm for both of the games in New York this last weekend.
• Saint Francis is battling CCSU for the last postseason spot. The Red Flash has two NEC wins, and CCSU picked up its first win of the year against Chicago State on February 21.
• Saint Francis can clinch a spot in the postseason on Saturday with a win. That would give the Red Flash three NEC wins. Even if CCSU beats Mercyhurst on Thursday and New Haven on March 5, the two teams would finish tied, and the Flash would have swept the season series to earn the tiebreaker.
• Now, if CCSU defeats Saint Francis on Saturday, the Red Flash would need CCSU to lose at Mercyhurst and at New Haven on March 5, and hope that Wagner (SFU's best win) finishes higher than Chicago State (CCSU's best win) in the standings to earn the berth, or Saint Francis would need to win against either Stonehill or FDU to clinch a spot.
• If the Blue Devils win the next two games, the only way Saint Francis can advance to the postseason is with at least a win against FDU so it can trump the Blue Devils' win against Mercyhurst. If CCSU wins its final two games, the Red Flash could possibly get in with just a win against Stonehill as long as Wagner finishes ahead of Chicago State, but that is a lot of scoreboard watching.
• If CCSU wins its final three, the Red Flash would have to beat both Stonehill and FDU to earn its ticket.
• Saint Francis is still looking to become the first NEC team to reach 400 wins in NEC history, sitting at 399 wins since defeating CCSU on January 17. This will be the team's 10th attempt at trying to reach the milestone. In addition, the win would be McNeill's first win as a head coach.

AN SFU WIN WOULD"
• Be the team's 400th NEC victory in program history
• Earn a split with Stonehill for the first time in program history
• End a five-game losing streak to the Skyhawks
• Be the first win in February
• Be Active Head Coach Ralph McNeill's first win as a head coach
• End a nine-game losing streak
• Be the second win at home this season
• Be the eighth straight win on this date

ABOUT THE SKYHAWKS
• Stonehill comes into the contest 10-16 overall and 6-9 in NEC play after falling 53-49 on Saturday at Le Moyne. The Skyhawks are 2-10 on the road this season with wins at CCSU (74-65, January 24) and Wagner (52-37, February 14).
• Brooke Paquette paced Stonehill with 14 points against the Dolphins. Ella Pelletier nearly had a double-double in the game after finishing with nine points and 11 rebounds. 
• Paquette leads the team with 14.5 points per game, and also is the team leader in assists (78) and steals (35). Julia Webster is also averaging double figures (10.7 ppg), while Reese Roggenburk powers the squad on the boards (7.5 rpg) and is third with 9.3 points per game. 

LAST TIME WE MET
• Despite cutting a double-digit margin to one point with 92 seconds left, Saint Francis fell 59-57 at Stonehill on January 15.
• Gemma Walker paced the Red Flash with 17 points, including the 3-pointer to cut the margin to one point in the final two minutes. Shelby Ricks added a double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Trailing 52-39 with 1:50 left in the third quarter, Saint Francis went on an 18-6 run to cut the margin to 58-57 with 1:32 remaining in the fourth quarter on Walker's long-distance call. Ricks registered a defensive rebound on the ensuing Skyhawks offensive play, but a traveling call did not allow Saint Francis to get a shot off. Stonehill made the front end of two free throws with 2.2 seconds left before missing the second, and Ricks came down with the board with 1.7 seconds left. After a timeout by the Loretto program allowed the ball to be advanced to the Saint Francis end, Walker had a good look from the top of the key, but her shot did not fall to allow Stonehill to escape with the win.
• Brooke Paquette powered the Skyhawks with 17 points, while Julia Webster (15 points), Breana Delaney (10 points), and Ella Pelletier (10 rebounds) also had double figures for Stonehill. 

LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis dropped a 58-51 decision at Wagner on Saturday. 
• Shelby Ricks fueled the Red Flash with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Makyiah Ward hauled in a career-high 10 boards.

TRENDING UP
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks averaged 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in her two games against Wagner. She had a career-high 29 points and eight rebounds against the Seahawks in Loretto on January 8 and 16 points and nine rebounds in the return game on February 21. She finished one rebound shy of her sixth double-double of the season, and returned to double digits in points after registering nine points in her previous two games. The graduate student is averaging 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in her last five contests. Ricks needs 26 points to reach 500 points in her NCAA career. 
• Freshman Makyiah Ward is a 5-4 guard and is second on the team with 12 games with at least five rebounds. She added her first 10 board performance against Wagner in her last game. She is the second player this year to finish in double figures in rebounds but not have a double-double, after senior Bati Assefa turned the trick twice. Ward had at least two of something in four of the five categories (points, rebounds, steals, assists, blocks) after finishing with five points, two assists, and two steals to go along with 10 boards against the Seahawks. It was the second-straight game she turned the trick on the trip after registering six points, six rebounds, a career-high five steals, and two assists. 
• Graduate student Aleah James needs 18 points to reach 1,000 points for her career through her stops at Union (246 points), Monroe (393 points), UMES (93 points), and Saint Francis (250 points). Union and Monroe are both part of NJCAA, so she has 639 points at the JUCO level and 343 points at the NCAA level. James has at least nine points in six of her last 10 games, and is averaging 9.6 points per game in that span. In addition, she has at least four assists in three of her last four and four of her last eight tilts.
• Graduate student Sonia Sato is averaging 9.8 points per game in her last four games, including a pair of 13-point performances, a number that she has hit six times this season on the nose. 
• Does sophomore Gemma Walker have a rule of three or four? The sophomore went three games scoring eight points and then had three 10+ point games with a total of 48 points before another streak of three games with eight points. She then rolled off four-straight games in double figures with 55 total points. The game at Wagner was her third straight game in single digits for a total of 16 points. Does she go back to a 10+ point game against Stonehill on Thursday, or is she going to go up the ladder with her fourth single-digit game and then return to double figures in her final games of the season?

IN THE NEC
• Graduate student Aleah James ranks sixth in assists  (2.92 apg) in the NEC, 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (35.7), and 20th in scoring (10.4 ppg).
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks ranks fourth in blocked shots (0.96 bpg), sixth in rebounding (6.5 rpg), seventh in defensive rebounds (4.29 rpg), eighth in free throw percentage (76.4),  ninth in offensive rebounds (2.17 rpg), and 14th in scoring (11.6 ppg). She is second NEC in 3-point field goal percentage (42.9) in league games. 
• Freshman Makyiah Ward ranks eighth in steals (1.48), and ninth in assists (2.68 apg)
• Graduate student Sonia Sato ranks eighth in blocked shots (0.75 bpg) and 26th in scoring (9.2 ppg).
• Sophomore Gemma Walker is ninth in free-throw percentage (75.9).
• Saint Francis ranks fourth in rebounding offense (36.2 rpg), fifth in 3-point field goal defense (30.2),  fifth in assists (12.96 apg), fifth in defensive rebound percentage (0.676), fifth in blocked shots (2.54 bpg), and fifth in 3-pointers made (5.46 pg). The Red Flash is second in league play in free-throw percentage (76.9).

HOME SWEET, HOME
• Saint Francis is 1-10 at home, and 1-6 in NEC play at DeGol Arena. The Red Flash's lone win was a 75-67 decision against Wagner on January 8.
• The Red Flash is averaging 55.7 points per game, while allowing 69.6 points per game. 
• Graduate students Shelby Ricks (11.3 ppg., 5.6 rpg) and Sonia Sato (10.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg) are both averaging double figures at home, while sophomore Gemma Walker is just below the mark with 9.5 points per game.
• Ricks has four 10+ point games at DeGol Arena, including a career-high 29 points in that win against Wagner. She registered 18 points in her last game in Loretto against Mercyhurst on February 5. Ricks also has one of her five double-doubles at home this season.
• Sato has five games in double figures at home, including a career-high 23 points against Carnegie Mellon on November 18. The graduate student has double figures in three of her last four games in Loretto and is averaging 12.0 points per game in that span. 
• Walker has double figures in five of the seven games in league play at home this season and is averaging 10.5 points per game in NEC games in Loretto. She registered a career-high 20 points against LIU on January 10 and has registered double digits in her last three tilts,
averaging 14.0 points per game. 
• Along with Ricks, Sato, and Walker, graduate student Aleah James has 20-point game in her DeGol Arena debut against Robert Morris on November 13. She has three double-figure point games this season.
• Senior Zaiha Minnis registered a career-high 15 points against New Haven on January 24, senior Bati Assefa had a career-high 10 points in the victory against the Seahawks, and graduate student Cassandra Hawthorne had 12 points against Army West Point on November 22. Hawthorne has five 10+ point games on the road. 

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 343 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. 
• 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 9-1 overall, 3-1 at home, and 6-1 against NEC teams on this date. The Red Flash has won its last seven tilts on this date.
• The Red Flash defeated St. Francis Brooklyn 71-56 on this date in 1999 in the NEC Quarterfinals in Staten Island. Jess Zinobile and Jen DeFlippo each had 16 points for Saint Francis. The Red Flash would win its fourth NEC Tournament title in a row and its ninth title in 10 years.
• Behind 17 points and 21 rebounds by Jada Dapaa, Saint Francis defeated Sacred Heart 74-68 on this date in 2022. Jenna Mastellone also had 17 points, while Lilli Benzel (15 points) and Katelyn Maxwell (10 points) also registered double figures in the win.
FUN FACT... 
• Saint Francis has played 10 games on this date, but has only played six different opponents: Wagner three times (2004, 2007, 2011); Monmouth twice (1994, 1995), St. Francis Brooklyn twice (1999, 2000), Juniata (1970), Bryant (2018), and Sacred Heart (2022).