BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team starts a four-game series with the Pennsylvania contingent of the Northeast Conference this weekend. The Blackbirds will host Saint Francis U., Saturday, February 7 at 2 p.m. in the Steinberg Wellness Center, and then take on Robert Morris, Monday, February 9 at 7 p.m.
The Blackbirds will then turn around and hit the road to take on those two teams next weekend, playing at Saint Francis U., Saturday, February 14 at 4 p.m., and at Robert Morris, Monday, February 16 at 7 p.m.
Saturday's game against Saint Francis U. is a double-header with the men's team, as the Red Flash and Blackbirds will tip off at 4:30 p.m. The game is also LIU's annual Change-A-Life charity fundraiser. The Blackbirds will be collecting the spare change of fans to support a good cause. This year, LIU has chosen to support 11-year-old Jerica Stanley from Tennessee, who is raising money to purchase technology that will help her walk again. More information is available
here.
BLACKBIRD BITS • The Blackbirds are coming off a loss at the hands of Northeast Conference leader Central Connecticut State Monday night in the Steinberg Wellness Center, as the Blue Devils led the Blackbirds from wire to wire, taking the win, 68-54.
• Junior
Sophie Bhasin led LIU with 12 points, 7 rebounds and three assists.
• Junior
Jolanna Ford had eight rebounds, while freshman
DeAngelique Waithe and senior
Letava Whippy added seven points each.
• CCSU shot 52.2 percent from the field to LIU's 34.4 percent.
ALL-TIME SERIES • Saint Francis holds the all-time advantage in match-ups between the two teams, 42-16.
• Last season, the two teams split games. In Brooklyn, SFU got the win, 84-76. The two teams were locked in a run-and-gun contest for 40 minutes, in a match-up that saw the score tied seven times, and the lead change hands 12 times. LIU had four players score in double-digits in the loss, including a 15 point, 11 rebound double-double from
Letava Whippy.
• The second time the two teams matched up, LIU pulled out a last-second win, beating the Red Flash at home in February, 69-66.
Sophie Bhasin had 19 points for LIU in the win, one of three players in double-digits.
SCOUTING THE RED FLASH • After an 11-7 NEC record in 2013-14 and advancing to the NEC championship game, Saint Francis U. is struggling in 2014-15. The Red Flash come into this weekend's game at 3-18 overall, and 2-8 in NEC play. Currently tied for ninth place with no post-season guarantees, SFU is looking to climb those standings quickly, and the Blackbirds are one of the few remaining teams standing in the way.
• The two wins that the Red Flash has chalked up this season have been big ones, beating defending NEC champs Robert Morris, 71-68, and downing Wagner on the road, 87-74.
• Most recently, SFU is coming off losses to FDU (78-65) and Bryant (73-71). In the loss to the Bulldogs, the Flash had a chance to win it on the final possession, but couldn't make the play. SFU forced Bryant into 28 turnovers in that game.
• Senior guard Alexa Hayward had 30 points against the Bulldogs, her sixth time this season surpassing that mark.
• Overall, the Red Flash is third in the conference in scoring, averaging 69.1 points per game as a team. They're also third in the NEC in blocked shots (3.33), and second in steals behind LIU, snagging an average of 9.0 per game.
• Hayward is one of the top scorers in the nation. Her 22.6 points per game is second in the NEC, and tenth in the NCAA. She also ranks nationally in three-point field goals made, averaging 2.62 per game. In the conference, she is also fourth in assists per game, with an average of 4.52.
• Junior guard Aisha Brock is next in scoring, adding 13.0 points per game, while Cydney Smith is fifth in the conference in blocked shots, swatting away an average of 1.11 per contest.