Women's Basketball | 3/6/2026 9:45:00 AM

LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis women's basketball begins its quest for its 13th NEC championship against top seed FDU on Monday night at the Bogota Savings Bank Center in Hackensack, N.J. Game time is 7 p.m.

Tickets are available through FDU. Adult reserved seating is $17; Youth/Senior Reserved and Adult General Admission are $13; Youth/Senior General Admission is $11, and group general admission is $9. You can purchase tickets by clicking on this LINK.

In the other quarterfinal matchups on Monday, No. 2 Mercyhurst (14-15, 14-4 NEC) hosts No. 7 Stonehill (12-17, 8-10 NEC), No. 3 seed LIU (19-10, 14-4 NEC) hosts No. 6 Chicago State (9-22, 8-10 NEC), and No. 5 Le Moyne (11-20, 9-9) travels to No. 4 Wagner (13-16,  9-9 NEC) All the games except for the contest at Mercyhurst start at 7 p.m., with the game in Erie beginning at 6 p.m. 

The winners of the quarterfinals advance to the NEC Semifinals, with the two highest seeds hosting on Thursday at 7 p.m. Those games will air on ESPN+. NESN Nation will air one game live and one on delay.

Graduate student Shelby Ricks (Lakeland, Fla.) powers the Red Flash (3-26, 3-15 NEC) with 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The graduate student also leads the team in blocks (23). Graduate student Aleah James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) leads the team in assists (76), ranks second in scoring (10.6 ppg) and third in steals (23), Graduate student Sonia Sato (Okayama, Japan) is third on the team with 8.9 points per game, while sophomore Gemma Walker (Venetia, Pa.) ranks fourth with 7.8 points per game. Freshman Makyiah Ward (Oxon Hills, Md.) leads the team in steals (46) and ranks second in assists (71).

FDU (27-4, 18-0 NEC) is led by Ava Renninger and Kailee McDonald, who are tied with 12.2 points per game. Renninger leads the team with 162 assists and is second in rebounding (5.5 rpg), while McDonald powers the Knights with 93 3-pointers and is second in steals (40). Madlena Gerke is third on the team with 11.5 points per game, and paces the team in steals (44) while ranking second in assists (61) and 3-pointers (79). Leah Crosby ranks fourth in scoring with 7.8 points per game.

FDU swept the season series with Saint Francis with a 73-28 win in Loretto on January 4 and a 61-39 win in Hackensack on March 5. Bati Assefa (Stockholm, Sweden) had nine points to lead the Red Flash in the January meeting, and James (13 points) and Ricks (10 points) each scored double figures in the regular-season finale. McDonald was the Knights' leading scorer in both meetings with 13 points in Loretto and 17 points in Hackensack. Rebecca Osei-Owusu also had double figures with 11 points in the first meeting this season. 

Saint Francis leads the all-time series with FDU 47-32 and 20-19 in the Garden State, but the Knights have won the last eight meetings in the series. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in the NEC Quarterfinals, but this time the Red Flash will be the road team. Saint Francis defeated the Knights 72-59 on March 5, 2011, and 89-70 on March 7, 2018. Both times the Loretto program ended the tournament holding the championship trophy. 

Saint Francis is making its 31st appearance in the NEC Tournament. The Loretto program is 47-18 all-time in league postseason play, including 20-8 in the NEC Quarterfinals. The Red Flash is 8-5 in quarterfinal games away from Loretto, including 1-5 on the opponent's home floor. The lone road win in the NEC Quarterfinals was a 60-50 win at Mount St. Mary's on March 2, 2002. Saint Francis has won 12 NEC Championships (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2018). The Red Flash is looking for its first tournament win since defeating Sacred Heart 68-60 on March 14, 2020, in the NEC Semifinals. 

Just like Saint Francis, FDU is a founding member of the NEC and is making its 31st tournament appearance. The Knights have won the NEC Championship three times (1990, 1992, 2025).

Acting head coach Raphael McNeill will be coaching in his sixth game as a head coach and his first NEC Tournament game. McNeill won his first game as acting head coach with an 82-63 win against CCSU on February 28 for the Red Flash's 400th NEC regular season win and to punch the team's ticket to the postseason.

Stephanie Gaitley is in her third season with the Knights and the 39th season of her career. She owns a 70-25 record in Hackensack and a 754-428 career mark. Gaitley is 11-9 in the NEC Tournament, including 4-5 from 2002-08 at LIU, 3-3 from 2008-11 at Monmouth, and 4-1 in her three seasons with the Knights. She won her first NEC Tournament title last season with FDU.