Game Notes
Brooklyn, N.Y. - Long Island will be in search of its second four-game winning streak of the season as it hosts Cal Poly on Wednesday evening at the Wellness Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Live audio is available through Red Zone Media, while live stats of the game are also available here.
Tonight's Storylines
• The Blackbirds have reeled off five straight victories at home to start the season, the best home start since joining the Northeast Conference in 1988-89.
• Long Island has a 7-1 non-conference record thus far this season, tied with Sacred Heart for the best non-league mark in the NEC. The LIU record for non-conference wins is nine, set in 2007-08.
• Senior Ashley Palmer led the Blackbirds with 17 points in the win over Columbia on Sunday, marking the seventh time this season that she has led the team in scoring in a game.
• Palmer's classmate, Kiara Evans, dished out four assists against the Lions and now stands 40 assists from second place on LIU's career list behind former teammate Connie James (2006-10).
• Long Island and Cal Poly have met once before, in the 2005 LIU Turkey Classic at the Schwartz Center. Amber Wirth led LIU with 18 points but the Mustangs came away with the 72-68 win.
• The Blackbirds are looking for their second four-game winning streak of the season. Last year, LIU's longest winning streak was seven games and the program record for consecutive wins is 13, set in 2006-07.
• Long Island is off to an 8-2 start for just the second time since joining the Northeast Conference in 1988-89. The Blackbirds also started the season with eight wins in their first 10 games back in the 2007-08 season, when they set a program record with 24 victories.
Rewind: Columbia
• The Blackbirds won their third straight game, jumping out to a 15-point first-half lead and withstanding a fierce comeback attempt from Columbia on Dec. 11.
• LIU led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but saw the Lions go on a 19-0 run to begin the second half.
• After Columbia took a 41-38 lead, Long Island went on a decisive 9-0 run to take control.
• Ashley Palmer led the Blackbirds with 17 points.
No Three For You!
• Long Island has been one of the most proficient teams in the nation in defending the three-point shot in 2011-12.
• The Blackbirds rank 29th in the nation, allowing the opposition to shoot just 24.1 percent from deep (33-137).
• Wofford leads the country with a perimeter defense that allows 13.4 percent from behind the arc. LIU's NEC rival Central Connecticut State is second at 15.2 percent.
Denied by Davis
• Junior Ebony Davis has been a menace for opposing offenses in the paint in the early going.
• Davis has come within one block of LIU's single-game record in two games, swatting four shots against both La Salle and Albany.
• On the season, Davis has 21 blocks -- besting last season's team high of 17 held by Chelsi Johnson.
• Davis ranks second in the NEC at 2.1 blocks per game, and is already just six blocks away from 10th place on the LIU single-season chart.
Scouting Cal Poly
• The Mustangs enter Wednesday's matchup with a 3-5 record, having lost their last three games.
• Cal Poly averages 76.2 points per game, good for the 32nd-best scoring offense in the country.
• Four players average in double figures, led by Kristina Santiago's 20.3 points per game.
• Santiago, the 2009-10 Big West Player of the Year, sat out last season due to injury and missed the first two games of this year with a bruised neck.