BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team will head to Staten Island this weekend, to take on Northeast Conference foe Wagner, Saturday, January 10 at 1 p.m. The game, a part of a doubleheader with the men's teams, will air nationally on ESPN3. The Blackbirds (4-9, 1-1 NEC) will be looking to beat the Seahawks (3-10, 1-1 NEC) in the annual Battle of the Boroughs.
BLACKBIRD BITS• LIU notched its first Northeast Conference win of the season Monday night in the Steinberg Wellness Center, beating Fairleigh Dickinson, 81-71. The Blackbirds were led by career-highs from both junior
Sophie Bhasin (27 points), and sophomore
Shanovia Dove (16 points).
• Bhasin scored 10 of her points from the free throw line, going 10-for-11.
• Dove shot 50% from the field and 72% from the free throw line. She also had four steals in the win.
• 10 of LIU's 12 players scored points in the total team win, including junior
Jolanna Ford (9 pts, 6 rebs), senior
Letava Whippy (7 pts, 12 rebs), and junior
Jahmia Phillips (6 pts).
• Freshman
Paris Jones added four assists (a career-high) and three steals.
• Ford shot 100% from the free throw line, going 7-for-7.
ALL-TIME SERIES • The Battle of the Boroughs is nearly split down the middle all-time. The Seahawks hold a slight advantage, 41-38, in a rivalry that dates back to 1967.
• Recently, the two teams have continued in that vein, splitting the series in both 2013 and 2014. In 2013, the Blackbirds lost at home early in the season, and then beat Wagner on its home court. Last year, LIU fell in the NEC opener at Wagner, 71-65, but bounced back to beat them in late February, 77-51.
• In the win last February, six different members of the LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team scored in double digits in that win, including three Blackbirds who will take the court Saturday.
Letava Whippy had 13 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three assists,
Shanovia Dove chipped in a then-career high 11 points, along with eight rebounds, and
Sophie Bhasin added 11 points.
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS • Wagner comes into the weekend sitting at 3-10 overall, 1-1 in conference play. The Seahawks recently had a three-game winning streak snapped. Wagner beat Stony Brook (76-70), Columbia, and Saint Francis U. (76-60), before falling in a last-second heartbreaker to Mount St. Mary's Saturday (60-58).
• In every single one of those wins, current NEC Player of the Week Jasmine Nwajei has been the go-to girl. In the matchup with the Lions, Nwajei had a rare 40-point performance, one of only nine in the nation so far this season. Powering Wagner past the Lions, 97-86, the sophomore poured in 40 points (shooting 12-of-22) while logging 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Nwajei had her second straight double-double in the Seahawks' win over SFU. The guard had 17 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and six steals in the win over last year's NEC runner-up. And most recently against Mount, she contributed 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals. She is currently second in the conference in scoring (22.5 points per game), and steals per game (2.77). She also grabs 6.6 rebounds per game, and leads the team with 50 assists.
• Fellow guard Jordyn Peck is next on the team, and eighth in the NEC in points per game, averaging 14.8.
• And guard Lyndsay Rowe is a threat from long distance. The sharp-shooter leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 50 percent from downtown. She averages 6.8 points per game. Freshman forward Sofia Roma is also making noise for Wagner. Having played in all 13 games so far this year, she's second on the team in rebounds, grabbing 5.7 per game, including 18 in the win over SFU.