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BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team will cap the 2014 regular season with the 21st annual Battle of Brooklyn, taking place just up the road from LIU's campus, as the Blackbirds will head to Brooklyn Heights to take on St. Francis Brooklyn, Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m. It's the final game for the Blackbirds before the Northeast Conference tournament. LIU, who has clinched the No.8 seed, is waiting to see where they will play in the first round.
• During the 1993-1994 season, St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU Brooklyn contested the first official "Battle of Brooklyn" in women's basketball. The annual game is dedicated in tribute to all women who have played collegiate basketball. Each year, a Most Valuable Player trophy is awarded at the conclusion of the contest.
• The last time the two teams faced off, St. Francis Brooklyn beat the Blackbirds, 69-48 at the Barclays Center. Senior Cleandra Roberts led all players in scoring in the game, as she hit a career-high with 27 points, along with six rebounds. But she was the only Blackbird with serious production, as LIU shot 31 percent from the field in the loss.
• LIU is coming off a tough road loss in the William H. Pitt Center Saturday afternoon, as the Blackbirds dropped a close game to Sacred Heart, 46-44. The sting of the loss was offset by a career highlight for senior and team captain Cleandra Roberts, as she led the team with 20 points and 11 rebounds, scoring her 1,000th career point in the second half. Senior Fanny Cavallo had 10 rebounds and three blocks, while junior Letava Whippy added 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
ALL-TIME SERIES
• Monday's meeting will be the 71st between the two closest schools in the Northeast Conference. LIU leads the all-time series, 47-23, including a 12-8 advantage in "Battle of Brooklyn" games. But the Terriers hold the recent advantages, having beaten LIU at the Barclays Center earlier this season, and sweeping the Blackbirds in both of last year's match-ups. SFBK won the Battle of Brooklyn in 2012-13 for the first time in four years, 69-58 at the Steinberg Wellness Center. Then-freshman Leah Fechko was named the 2013 Battle of Brooklyn MVP, as she had 18 points and nine rebounds in the win for SFBK.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
• St. Francis has a lot on the line going into Monday's game. The Terriers, one of the top teams in the NEC, are currently tied for fifth place overall. Just one win separates the two teams tied for third and the two teams tied for fifth, with hosting potential up for grabs.
• The Terriers have a true team system going. They are the top defensive team in the NEC, giving up just 62.7 points per game, and they are second in the NEC as a team in field goal percentage (.422) and three-point percentage (.361), but have no one player in the top five in most categories. They're also tough to beat in Brooklyn Heights, as they've compiled an 11-2 record in the Pope Center.
• SFBK does have three players averaging in double digits this year. Elidh Simpson leads the squad with 14.9 points per game, while Sarah Benedetti has 10.8 points per game off the bench. Jaymee Veney has 10.8 points per game, along with a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.
• Benedetti had a career-high 28 points in the Terrier's win over league-leading Robert Morris at home last Monday. The Terriers won in OT, 93-82, setting a new program record for wins (18). Simpson added 27 points and seven rebounds in the win over RMU, securing NEC Player of the Week honors.
CLE CLINCHES 1,000
• Senior
Cleandra Roberts has been on a scoring
tear this season, and she currently averages 18.7 points per game, third in the Northeast Conference.
• Her scoring output this season has increased so drastically from her first three seasons, that she closed the gap on 1,000 points in just one year.
• In her freshman year, she averaged 4.1 points per game, scoring 114 points all season. In her sophomore season, it was 4.6 points per game, scoring 144 total points. In 2012-13, her junior year, she more than doubled those numbers, averaging 9.3 points per game, and scoring 223 over the season. Coming into her senior year, she had 481 career points.
• Nothing in her past compares to the scoring numbers she has put up this season. So far this year, Roberts has averaged 18.7 points per game, scoring 525 points.
• She eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in LIU's loss to Sacred Heart March 1st. With 985 career points heading into the game, Roberts scored 20 points, to put her career total at 1,005 with one regular season contest left, along with the NEC Tournament.
• She became the 18th player in LIU Brooklyn women's basketball history to surpass the 1,000-point mark.