| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Makyiah Ward |
5-4 |
Fr. |
4.6 |
3.6 |
38.1 |
Career-high 10 rebounds at Wagner |
| F Â Â Â Â Â Â |
4 |
Sonia Sato |
6-0 |
Gr. |
9.0 |
4.0 |
37.2 |
Scored team-high 11 points vs CCSU |
| G |
21 Â Â |
Gemma Walker |
5-10 |
So. |
8.1 |
3.0 |
32.7 |
Scored 17 points against CCSU |
| F |
23Â Â Â |
Shelby Ricks |
5-9 |
Gr. |
11.5 |
6.4 |
37.1 |
Leads the team in scoring |
| G |
24 |
Bati Assefa |
5-9 |
Sr. |
5.4 |
4.6 |
36.8 |
NEC career-high 14 points against CCSU |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Aleah James |
5-7 |
Gr. |
10.5 |
3.5 |
37.1 |
Scored 21 points against CCSU |
| GÂ |
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 28 tilts |
| F |
10 |
Zaiha Minnis |
5-11 Â Â |
Sr. |
4.0 |
1.5 |
33.7 |
Matched career-high with 15 points vs New Haven |
| GÂ |
12 |
Sajol Thornhill |
5-7 |
So. |
1.8 |
1.1 |
18.8 |
Season-high nine points vs Mercyhurst |
| FÂ |
15 |
Cassandra Hawthorne |
5-11 |
Gr. |
5.5 |
3.9 |
34.9 |
NEC-high 12 points at LIU |
| G |
33 Â Â |
Giselle Eke |
6-3 |
So. |
2.3 |
2.9 |
29.6 |
Matched career-high with six points against Mercyhurst |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS FDUÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Thursday's game between Saint Francis and FDU marks the 79th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1985-86 season.
• The Red Flash leads the overall battle 47-31 and holds a 20-18 lead in Hackensack, but the Knights have won the last seven meetings.
• Seeds are set, and the two teams will meet again for the third time in the NEC Tournament in four days, back at the Bogota Savings Bank Center.
• Saint Francis defeated CCSU 82-63 on February 28 to clinch its spot in the postseason for the 31st time in program history.
• A loss to the Blue Devils and the game would have a different tone to Thursday's game. The Red Flash would have had to defeat the Knights, or CCSU would have had to lose to New Haven, or Wagner would to finish ahead of Chicago State in the standings to clinch its spot, but those complexities are all gone after Saint Francis scored its most points this season.
• The win against CCSU marked the 400th win in NEC history for the Red Flash to become the first NEC team to reach 400 wins in the regular season. The Knights have 345 NEC wins in the regular season to sit as the second-most among active teams, and third most after Mount St. Mary's had 355 wins in the NEC regular season from 1989-2022.
• If clinching a playoff spot and the 400th win was not enough, active head coach
Raphael McNeill earned his first win as a head coach. On the other sideline is
Stephanie Gaitley, who has 753 wins to sit as the seventh-winningest active head coach in her 39th season.
• FDU is looking to become the second team to post back-to-back undefeated seasons in league play after going 16-0 last season. The Knights would become the fourth league team to go 18-0 in NEC play, joining Mount St. Mary's (1993-94), Saint Francis (2003-04), and Quinnipiac (2012-13). FDU would be the second NEC team go undefeated in back-to-back seasons after Monmouth in the first two years of the league went 16-0.
• The Knights have also won an NEC record 36 games in a row and look to end the regular season with 37 in a row. The Red Flash won 24 in a row from 2002-03 to 2004-05. The first and last win in the streak were against the Knights. After falling 52-49 on February 17, 2003, Saint Francis defeated FDU 66-48 on February 22, 2003, for the first of 24 in a row, and then the last win of the run was in Hackensack with a 61-44 win on January 8, 2005. A 76-69 loss to Quinnipiac on January 11, 2005, at DeGol Arena ended the run.
• It also marks the third time the two teams will meet in the regular season finale. FDU defeated the Flash 67-50 in Loretto on March 4, 1989, and then Saint Francis defeated the Knights 65-49 on March 1, 2003, to extend the 24-game winning streak to four.
• A connection to the game in 1989 was that it was the last loss of a 10-game NEC losing streak, the last time the Red Flash lost that many games until this season, and that streak was ended with its win against CCSU.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• End the NEC regular season with a win for the second straight season and 23rd time in program history
• Post the first winning streak since winning four in a row in 2024-25
• Be the second win in February
• Be the second win on the road
• Be the first win versus FDU since a 70-56 win in the Lo' on February 11, 2022, and the first in Hackensack since a 64-48 win on December 16, 2021
• Be the third win against the Knights on this dateÂ
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
• FDU comes into the contest 26-4 overall and 17-0 in NEC play after defeating LIU 82-49 on Saturday. The Hackensack program is 14-1 at home, with its only loss coming at the hands of Binghamton, 62-51, on December 29.Â
• Kailee McDonald paced the Knights with 18 points, while Akeelah Lafleur (11 points), Madlena Gerke (10 points), Leah Crosby (10 points), Reese Downey (10 points), and Ava Renninger (12 rebounds) all posted double figures against the Sharks.Â
• Renninger powers the team with 12.4 points per game, and leads the team with 155 assists. McDonald (12.0 ppg) and Gerke (11.6 ppg) are also averaging double figures.
LAST TIME WE MET
• Saint Francis dropped its NEC home opener to FDU, 73-28, on January 4.
• Bati Assefa led the Red Flash with nine points. Giselle Eke chipped in five points and a career-high nine rebounds.
• Kailee McDonald paced the Knights with 13 points, and Rebecca Osei-Owusu added 11 points.Â
LAST TIME OUT
• In a season in which Saint Francis celebrated its rich NEC women's basketball history, the team earned its 400th win in NEC history in its final home game of 2025-26.
• Aleah James scored 18 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to help the Red Flash rally from a 10-point first-half deficit for an 82-63 win against CCSU on Saturday.Â
• It was a big day for the program, which also clinched a spot in the upcoming NEC Tournament, and active head coach Raphael McNeill earned his first win as a head coach.
• Gemma Walker added 17 points, Bati Assefa had an NEC-high 14 points, and Sonia Sato chipped in 11 points in a great day to be a Red Flash.
TRENDING UP
• Graduate student Aleah James will remember her last game at DeGol Arena fondly. She reached her 1,000th point in college in the fourth quarter against CCSU on February 28. She racked up most of her points in the New Jersey-New York metropolitan area in the NJCAA thanks to 246 at Union College, a JUCO 29.2 miles away from the Bogota Savings Bank Center. She also recorded 393 points at Monroe University, a junior college 10.7 miles from Hackensack, for a total of 639 points in the NJCAA. After playing in the area for two years, she went to UMES and scored 93 points last year and has 274 points this season in Loretto for a total of 1,006 points in her last four seasons. Â
• James scored 21 points against the Blue Devils in her final game at DeGol Arena after starting her DeGol Arena career with 20 points against Robert Morris on November 13 in her first game in the building. The point total against the Blue Devils was her best scoring performance in NEC play, besting the 19 points she had against CCSU in New Britain on January 17. She has six games in double figures in league play and looks to score back-to-back 10+ points for the third time in circuit play and fourth time this season after she hit at least 10 points in her first three games.
• Sophomore Gemma Walker reached 17 points against CCSU for her third game with 17 points, the second-most points she has scored in her career, after the 20 points against LIU on January 10. She also had 17 points at Stonehill on January 15 and against Chicago State on January 29. Walker has scored 10+ points nine times this season, and she has done a lot of the damage at the foul line to post double figures. In seven of the nine times, the sophomore has made at least four free throws and is 42-for-49 (87.5 percent) from the free throw line in those contests. She also has an eight-point game against LIU, with all eight points coming from the charity stripe, so when she has at least eight points, she is 50-for-59 (84.7 percent) from the free throw line.
• Senior Bati Assefa did something for the first time in her final home game. She registered a NEC career-high 14 points against CCSU, following 12 points against Stonehill on February 26, to notch double figures in consecutive games for the first time in her career. Assefa has recorded all four of her 10+ point games at DeGol Arena, so if she wants to hit three in a row, she would have to do it for the first time in her career on the road.Â
• Graduate student Sonia Sato notched her 13th double-figure game of the season after her 11 points against Central Connecticut State. In 13 games with at least 10 points, she finished with 13 points on seven of those occasions, including four of the last six times she has reached double figures.Â
• The 82 points against CCSU were the most points scored in a game since posting 80 against Mercyhurst on March 6, 2025. It was the fourth time this season the Red Flash has scored over 70 points, and the team is 3-1 in those games.Â
IN THE NEC
• Graduate student Aleah James ranks fifth in assists (2.96 apg) in the NEC, 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (35.7), and 20th in scoring (10.5 ppg).
• Graduate student Shelby Ricks ranks fifth in blocked shots (0.88 bpg), seventh in rebounding (6.4 rpg), sixth in free throw percentage (78.8), eighth in defensive rebounds (4.19 rpg), 10th in offensive rebounds (2.19 rpg), and 15th in scoring (11.5 ppg). Ricks' 29 points against Wagner on January 8 are tied for the fifth-most points this season.
• Freshman Makyiah Ward ranks eighth in steals (1.56) and ninth in assists (2.54 apg)
• Graduate student Sonia Sato ranks seventh in blocked shots (0.77 bpg) and 27th in scoring (9.1 ppg).
• Sophomore Gemma Walker is eighth in free-throw percentage (78.8).
• Saint Francis ranks third in defensive rebounds (24.25), fifth in rebounding offense (35.6 rpg), fifth in 3-point field goal defense (29.6), fifth in assists (12.89 apg), fifth in defensive rebound percentage (0.673), fifth in blocked shots (2.50 bpg), and fifth in 3-pointers made (5.43 pg).Â
ON THE ROAD
• Saint Francis is 1-14 away from DeGol Arena (1-13 on the road, and 0-1 at a neutral site), and 1-7 in NEC play on the road. The Red Flash defeated CCSU 74-63 on January 17 for its only road win this season.
• The Red Flash is averaging 57.3 points per game and is allowing 72.1 points per game on the road. In conference games, Saint Francis is averaging 61.4 points per game and allowing 67.8 points per game away from the Lo'.
• Graduate student Aleah James is averaging 12.1 points per game, while fellow graduate student Shelby Ricks is averaging 11.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 15 games on the road. In conference, Ricks is averaging 12.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and James is averaging 11.6 points per game.
• James has eight 10+ point games this season on the road, including a string of four-straight in NEC play before the last road trip to New York. She registered career highs of 22 points at Xavier on December 14 and 19 points at CCSU on the road. The performance at CCSU was an NEC high until her 21 points against the Blue Devils in the home finale on February 28.
• Ricks has nine games in double figures away from Loretto and four of her five double-doubles. She posted a road high of 21 points at Le Moyne on January 2, and registered 16 points and nine rebounds in her last road game at Wagner on February 21.
• Graduate student Sonia Sato (six games), graduate student Cassandra Hawthorne (five games), sophomore Gemma Walker (three games), and freshman Makyiah Ward (three games) also had at least one 10+ point game this season.Â
• Sato has scored exactly 13 points in four of her six games on the road, while Hawthorne has posted five of her six double-figure games on the road. Senior Bati Assefa has two games in double figures in rebounds on the road, but all four of her 10+ point games have come at DeGol Arena.Â
400 NEC WINS MAKES HISTORY
• Saint Francis became the first NEC school in league history to win 400 NEC regular season games with its 82-63 win against CCSU on February 28.Â
• While the Blue Devils were the team's 400th, CCSU was also NEC win No. 150 (February 2001) and No. 225 (January 26, 2008). FDU was win No. 50 (February 5, 1994), No. 100 (January 5, 1998), No. 200 (January 8, 2005), No. 275 (January 12, 2013) and No. 350 (January 5, 2019)
• Here is a breakdown the 400 NEC wins for the Flash: 49 wins against LIU and Wagner; 47 wins against St. Francis Brooklyn; 45 wins against FDU; 37 wins against CCSU; 36 wins against Robert Morris; 32 wins against Mount St. Mary's; 21 wins against Monmouth; 17 wins against Sacred Heart; 15 wins against Quinnipiac; 14 wins against Bryant; 12 wins against Marist; seven wins against Rider; six wins against UMBC; three wins against Le Moyne and Merrimack; two wins against Loyola, Stonehill and Mercyhurst; one win against Chicago State.
• The team has averaged 10.2 wins per season since the women's basketball league started in 1985-86. Mount St. Mary's is the closest team with 355 wins, while FDU is next on the active list with 345 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
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 7-2 overall, 2-2 away from Loretto (1-2 on road, 1-0 neutral site), 2-1 in the regular season (1-1 in NEC play), and 5-1 in the NEC Tournament on this date.
• This is not the first time Saint Francis and FDU tangled on this date in Hackensack in the regular season. Behind 21 points and nine rebounds by Erin Murphy, the Red Flash defeated the Knights 60-59 on this date in 1992. Barbara DeShields paced FDU with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Despite this loss in the regular season, the Knights would go on to win the NEC Tournament title, which was FDU's last title until last year.
• The two teams met in the postseason was aon this date in 2011. Brittany Lilley registered 24 points, and Samantha Leach added 16 points to pace the Red Flash past FDU 72-59 in the NEC Quarterfinals. Danielle Pankey (16 points), Jasmyra Saunders (14 points), and Esther Wallace (12 points, 14 rebounds) each had double figures for the Knights. Saint Francis would go on to win its 11th title in program history by defeating Stephanie Gaitley's Monmouth Hawks 72-57 in the NEC Championship Game.Â
FUN FACT...Â
• The first two NEC Tournament Championship teams for Saint Francis advanced to the NEC Championship Game thanks to wins in the semifinals on this date in 1996 and 1997. Mary Markey posted 26 points and nine rebounds on this date in 1996 in an 88-68 win against Rider, and then Jess Zinoble powered the Red Flash with 29 points and 13 rebounds to defeat Mount St. Mary's on this date on the way to back-to-back NEC Tournament titles.
