Game #30 vs. Saint Francis (NEC)
Info: Monday, March 10 | Loretto, Pa. | 7:00 p.m. | DeGol Arena
Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals
Watch: NEC Front Row .... Live Stats: sfuathletics.com
Le Moyne Radio: Fox Sports 92.5FM & 1490 AM (foxsports1490.com)
SFU Links: Schedule | Roster | News | Stats

Loretto, Pa. – The fifth-seeded Le Moyne College women's basketball will begin postseason play Monday evening with a Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinal matchup at fourth-seeded Saint Francis University. The playoff tilt will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. inside DeGol Arena and will be broadcast on NEC Front Row.

Le Moyne fans can also tune into the radio broadcast for pregame, in-game and postgame coverage with the voice of Le Moyne women's basketball Tim McCaffrey on Fox Sports Syracuse 92.5FM & 1490AM and at foxsports1490.com.

THE MATCHUP:
Saint Francis compiled a 9-7 conference record during the regular season to earn the No. 4 seed in the NEC Tournament, while Le Moyne went 6-10 against conference competition to claim the fifth seed.

SFU claimed both regular season matchups against Le Moyne this season. The Red Flash registered a 73-41 win over the Dolphins in Loretto on January 11. During the rematch in Syracuse on February 6, Le Moyne erased a six-point halftime deficit to force overtime at Ted Grant Court, but SFU prevailed and claimed a 66-60 win in OT.

During the meeting in Syracuse, SFU junior guard Natalie Johnson led all scorers with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, two steals and two assists, while Le Moyne had five players score in double figures, led by freshman guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township), who tallied 14 points, six assists and five rebounds in 42 minutes played.

Le Moyne and Saint Francis met for the first time in women's basketball during the 2023-24 season, with the two sides splitting their regular season matchups, as both teams claimed a win on their home floor. Le Moyne will be looking for its first win in DeGol Arena on Monday.

The Saint Francis women's basketball program has claimed 12 NEC Tournament Championships, the most in league history, while Le Moyne made its first NEC Tournament appearance during its debut season in the league in 2023-24 and advanced to the tournament title game.

DOLPHIN RUNDOWN:
Le Moyne (6-23, 6-10 NEC) most recently dropped its regular season finale at home against the NEC regular season champion FDU on Thursday, after falling in a tightly contested matchup at Stonehill on March 1. Prior to that, the Dolphins won back-to-back home games by double digits against LIU and Central Connecticut State.

Graduate forward Haedyn Roberts has the highest scoring average on the team during conference play at 13.9, followed by junior guard Sierra Linnin (11.3), graduate guard Megan Bodziony (8.6) and Clark (8.5).

Roberts' 13.9 points per conference game ranks 11^th among all NEC players. She is fourth in free-throw percentage at .864, and tied for sixth in rebounding average at 6.5.
Seniors Brianna Williams (2.1) and Emily Florvil (2.0) are two of just six players in the league averaging at least 2.0 offensive rebounds against Northeast Conference competition.

Linnin is second in the NEC in made threes per conference game with 2.8, Clark is seventh in assists (3.5) and eighth in assist to turnover ratio, Williams is seventh in blocks (0.7) and Florvil is 12^th in steals (1.5).

Linnin, who has now recorded at least 62 made three-point field goals in all three of her seasons on the Heights, is shooting a career-best 39.1% from three-point range, and a career-high 89.3% from the free throw line. Only five players in program history have shot over 39% from three in a season on at least 100 attempts.

With a team-high 85 assists so far this season, Clark is one away from moving into 25^th for most single-season assists in program history.

As a team, Le Moyne ranks third in the NEC in made threes per conference game (6.6), and second in free throw percentage (.776).

SCOUTING THE RED FLASH:
Saint Francis (11-18, 9-7 NEC) closed the regular season with an 80-65 win at Mercyhurst following road losses at FDU and Chicago State.

Johnson leads the Red Flash in scoring with 12.3 points per conference game on 50% shooting from the field. She is also shooting 50% from three-point range on 32 attempts.

Freshman guard Ineivi Plata is contributing 7.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals per conference game, while junior guard is second on the team in scoring during league play with 8.8 points per game.

Sophomore forward Marina Artero (4.5), sophomore forward Alary Bell (4.2) and sophomore guard Yanessa Boyd (4.1) are each grabbing over 4.0 rebounds per conference game. Boyd is also adding 2.4 assists and 5.7 points.

As a team during conference play, Saint Francis is first in field goal percentage (.433), three-point field goal percentage, opponent three-point field goal percentage and defensive rebounds (28.1) and second in points allowed (60.4) and opponent field goal percentage (.376).

SFU is led by head coach Keila Whittington, who is in her sixth season at the helm of the program.