St. Francis Brooklyn Athletics

THE MATCHUP:
St. Francis Brooklyn vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Saturday, February 9, at 1 p.m.
Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.
Live Video | Live Stats
 
The Terriers (12-9, 6-3) return home for the first time in nearly one month, to welcome the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson University (6-14, 3-6) for the second and final meeting of the regular season on Saturday, February 9. The contest is slated to tip-off at 1 p.m. At halftime, the retirement ceremony of Karen Erving Schiera's number "40" will rise to the rafters as her respective number will never be worn again. The Terriers will hope to obtain their second consecutive victory in honor of the leading scorer in program history against the Knights. St. Francis Brooklyn comes home from a four-game road trip that included a trip to Teaneck for a battle with the Knights, and only dropping their lone contest to Mount St. Mary's (MD) by three points.

#40 RETURNS HOME FOREVER:
The all-time leading scorer in women's basketball program history Karen Erving-Schiera (1,929 points) returns home as she watches her number 40 rise to the rafters. This is the third number in school history to be retired. Erving's illustrious career will be celebrated on Saturday at halftime of the women's contest as she will join Dennis McDermott and Jeanne Zatorski to be considered Terriers forever. Erving-Schiera grabbed 1,049 rebounds, which is a program high. She also scored 400 or more points in three seasons, which included a 591-point season (ranks 1^st all time). Erving also made a program high 798 field goals during her illustrious career.

ALL-TIME SERIES:
St. Francis Brooklyn trails Fairleigh Dickinson 23-48 all time. The previous contest featured these two schools battling head-to-head at the Rothman Center, where the Terriers won their 23^rd game against the Knights in program history. Four student-athletes scored in double-digit points to secure the victory (Lassen 10, Johnson 13, Palarino 12, O'Neill 14). Amy O'Neill registered her second double-double during the season in the January contest. The Terriers had a poor outing from behind the arc, where they only converted three out of 17 (17.6%). St. Francis Brooklyn outscored the Knights in the paint 34-32, and had outscored the opposition on fast-break opportunities 27-7. The Terriers had a 19-point lead as their largest in the game. This will be second meeting in two weeks between the two. The Terriers had one of their best games from the free-throw line as they would be unsuccessful on only one attempt, and converting on 11 (91.7%).
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The four-game road trip concluded on Saturday against the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University. The Terriers began their quest for revenge on the home team, along with attempting to do their best in shutting down graduate forward Katherine Haines. For those who remember, she posted the conference's 11^th triple-double in women's basketball history. St. Francis Brooklyn was poised to not allow that to happen again and to have an accolade of their own on the opposition's court. Senior guard and captain Amy O'Neill recorded her first triple-double and the program's first as well by tallying 13 points, assisting on 12, and grabbing 13 rebounds. The latter two statistics are personal career highs. The O'Neill-Johnson show rolled on as the junior Australian guard registered 20 points, assisted on two, and converted four triples on eight tries. O'Neill would shoot 4-of-7 from the field, and would steal four also. In addition to the accolade being achieved by the senior guard, it would take her squad overtime to finally put the Pioneers to rest, as graduate guard Dominique Ward stunned the crowd with a wide-open lay-up on the right side of the paint with 23 seconds remaining in extra time. Ward would put her team ahead by a pair to secure the game-winning bucket.
 
TEAM NEC LEADERS:
The Terriers are currently first in the conference in scoring (73.6 ppg), field goal percentage (43.5%), rebounding margin (+4.9), rebounding offense (42.0), three-point field goal percentage (40.9%), assists per game (15.9), total assists (333), defensive rebounds (29.4 RPG).
 
INDIVIDUAL NEC LEADERS:
The Terriers have five players ranked in the top 30 of the conference in scoring. Johnson is ranked second in points per game with 18.8. O'Neill leads the conference in both assists (152) and assists per game (7.6). Sophomore forward Ally Lassen leads the conference in field-goal percentage (53.8). Mia Ehling and Jade Johnson sit first and second on the three-point field-goal percentage list (46.7 and 45.5 respectively). Amy O'Neill ranks first in assist/turnover ratio (+1.8). O'Neill also has averaged the most minutes played per game (37.2).

AUSTRALIAN DUO LIGHTING IT UP
Two Australians on the Terriers named Jade Johnson and Amy O'Neill have St. Francis Brooklyn making their name known as the pair combined for 33 points on Saturday against Sacred Heart. One from Melbourne, the other from Adelaide, about a seven-hour drive from each other, have found one another in New York City. Playing for head coach Linda Cimino has unleashed the types of players they really are, good ones. The Terriers are 4-0 when O'Neill assists on double-digit baskets. Johnson has eclipsed the double-digit mark in points scored in a single contest all but four games this season.

MILESTONE WATCH:
Senior guard Maria Palarino is 18 rebounds away from tying Carolyn Harvey (596) for 14^th all-time on the career rebounds list. The captain is also five free-throws away from taking lone control of 11^th on the all-time list, currently occupied by Jazmine Rhodes (237). Junior guard Jade Johnson is six points from 400 during the 2018-19 season. Johnson is currently tied with Sarah Benedetti for 5^th in three-pointers made during a season with 71. She needs one to take sole possession of the respective spot, and seven away (77) from surpassing her own record for 4^th all time. Senior guard and captain Amy O'Neill is five assists away from surpassing Sharon McAdams (168) on the season assists total listing for second all time.
 
1,000 POINT WATCH: JADE JOHNSON:
Australian native Jade Johnson has closed in within 100 points of 1,000 in her magnificent career in Brooklyn. The junior guard has tallied double-digit points in all but four contests this season. With her 20-point performance against Sacred Heart on Saturday, Johnson is now 61 points away from becoming the 18^th student-athlete to accomplish this feat.
 
HISTORY MADE BY MARIA PALARINO:
St. Francis Brooklyn welcomes the 17^th student-athlete in program history to the 1,000-point club as Irwin, PA native and senior guard Maria Palarino accomplished the feat on Monday evening at Mount St. Mary's. Palarino would accomplish points number 1,000 and 1,001 on a right-handed lay-up seven minutes into the second quarter of the contest. Against Sacred Heart, Maria ended the contest with five points to move her within 10 of 15^th on the all-time scoring chart, that is currently occupied by Mary Kawas-Rotolo.
 
TOP OF THE NATION:
Australian native Amy O'Neill currently ranks fourth on the total assist chart (164). O'Neill also ranks fourth in the nation in assists per game (7.8) Jade Johnson is ranked 8^th in the nation on the free-throw percentage column (91.8). Johnson is tied for 10^th in three-pointers made (71). She is tied with Stony Brook's Shania Johnson. Jade is also ranked 10^th in three-pointers made per game (3.38) Johnson sits 10^th in three-point field-goal percentage (45.5).
 
NEC WEEKLY AWARDS:
Senior guard and captain Amy O'Neill has been named "Co-Player of the Week" by the Northeast Conference this past week. Amy was also named a "Prime Performer" with the likes of Jade Johnson for the eighth time this season. They join teammates Dominique Ward, Maria Palarino, and Ally Lassen on the list. Johnson was also named as a Co-Player of the Week on the week of November 19. It was the first time in her career that Jade took home the honor.
 
UP NEXT:
The Terriers once again head back on the road, this time to battle the Seahawks of Wagner College in Staten Island. The game will tip-off on Monday, February 11 at 7 p.m. at the Spiro Sports Center.