BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team will take on one team twice this week: Fairleigh Dickinson. The Blackbirds (5-15, 3-5 NEC) and the Knights (7-14, 4-4 NEC) will face off twice in a span of four days. The Knights won the first meeting this past Wednesday night, 75-58. The Blackbirds will be looking to avenge that loss just four days later, as the two teams will face off in Brooklyn, Saturday, January 30 at 12:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT• The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team dominated the first quarter in Stratis Arena Wednesday night, but couldn't hold off the home team, falling to Fairleigh Dickinson, 75-58.
• Junior
Brianna Farris led LIU with 16 points and five rebounds, while senior
Shanice Vaughan had 13 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore
Stylz Sanders had 12 points in the loss, while classmate
DeAngelique Waithe had ten. Senior
Jolanna Ford led the effort on the boards with nine rebounds, along with seven points.
ALL-TIME SERIES• The two teams have been facing off since 1977, and FDU holds the all-time edge, 39-29. But recent history had favored the Blackbirds, as LIU has won the last four straight meetings, until the Knights stopped the streak Wednesday night.
• Last year, the Blackbirds beat the Knights, 81-71 on the road, and 79-75 in Brooklyn. Wednesday, FDU had the win at home, 75-58.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS• FDU comes into Saturday's game 6-15 overall, 4-4 in the NEC. The Knights, who were picked fourth in the NEC preseason coaches' poll, just won their second-straight game for the first time this season.
• FDU is led by two key returners, who top the squad in scoring this season, and are ranked 3rd and 4th in the conference. Senior guard Kelsey Cruz averages 18.2 points per game to lead the Knights, while red-shirt senior center Erika Livermore adds 16.6 points per game. She's also the team's leading rebounder, at 7.6 rebounds per game, and one of the top blockers in the NEC, swatting away 1.2 shots per game.
• Junior guard Kiana Brown is another key contributor, as she leads the conference with a 4.05 assists per game average.
• In Wednesday's game, Livermore and Cruz were the key to the Knights' victory. Livermore had 23 points and seven rebounds in the win, while Cruz had 20, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Brown had five steals and six assists against the Blackbirds.
WELCOME KANDANCE!• The Blackbirds welcomed a new face on the team this January, a transfer from the University at Buffalo,
Kandance Satterwhite.
• A true freshman, Satterwhite will sit out the 2016 calendar year, and be elligible to take the court for LIU in January of 2017.
• Satterwhite played her high school ball at Lakota East High School, in Liberty Township, Ohio. In her senior season there, the team went 19-7, and advanced to the District I championship game.
• Satterwhite was named First-Team All-Greater Miami Conference in her senior season, named to the District 12 All-Star Game, and earned honorable mention all-district. She finished her senior season as an ESPN 3-star recruit, averaging 11.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game.