BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team will host its annual Play4Kay game this Saturday in the Steinberg Wellness Center. The Blackbirds (6-16, 4-6 NEC) will host Northeast Conference foe Mount St. Mary's (5-16, 3-7 NEC) in a game slated for a 2 p.m. tip-off. LIU will also be celebrating Alumni Day and National Girls and Women in Sports Day Saturday afternoon.
LAST TIME OUT• After their first win this season in the Steinberg Wellness Center, the LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team fell to Sacred Heart Monday night, dropping a 62-53 decision to the Pioneers.
• LIU senior
Shanice Vaughan led all scorers with 23 points, including shooting a career-high 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Junior
Brianna Farris had 14 points in the win, while senior
Jolanna Ford had 10 rebounds. Sophomore
Stylz Sanders added eight points, five rebounds and four assists in the loss.
ALL-TIME SERIES• This is the 52nd meeting between Mount St. Mary's and LIU Brooklyn women's basketball. The Mount has the all-time advantage, 32-19, and has won five of the last seven meetings.
• Last year, the two teams split, with LIU winning the most recent game. Mount won the season opener in the Barclays Center, 76-69. LIU retaliated by beating the Mountaineers at home in February, 48-45.
• The Blackbirds took the first meeting between the two teams this year - LIU opened the 2016 Northeast Conference season with a road win in Knott Arena, as the Blackbirds beat Mount St. Mary's, 61-51. It was the first NEC season-opening win for LIU since 2009.
• Defense was a highlight for the Blackbirds, as LIU forced 28 Mountaineer turnovers.
• Senior
Shanice Vaughan led LIU in scoring with 17 points. She also had five rebounds and two steals in the win.
• The Mountaineers out-rebounded LIU, 42 to 32, but the Blackbirds only had 14 turnovers, to Mount's 28. LIU scored 17 points off turnovers, and had 11 steals as a team.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS• Mount enters the weekend 5-16 overall, 3-7 in the NEC. After falling to LIU, the Mountaineers rallied to win two straight games, beating both St. Francis Brooklyn (66-56) and CCSU (54-48) early in the conference slate. Since then, Mount has gone 1-6 in NEC action.
• Mount's only other NEC win so far this season came over Wagner, 64-55 at home. Most recently, the Mountaineers fell to Robert Morris, 74-67.
• Junior guard Alexis Carter leads Mount in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.9 points per game, and 6.1 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Jessica Harris adds 10.3 points per game, and is also second on the team in rebounding, with 5.7 rebounds per game.