Terriers Conclude Western PA Road Trip at Saint Francis on Monday

THE MATCHUP:
St. Francis Brooklyn vs. Saint Francis (PA)
Saturday, February 23, at 7 p.m.
Loretto, PA
Live Video | Live Stats

The Terriers (15-11, 9-5) look to rebound as they make one more stop in Pennsylvania before heading home to face the Red Flash of Saint Francis University (12-14, 9-5) for a Monday evening contest at the DeGol Arena. St. Francis Brooklyn has its eye on one of the top two seeds in the conference and looks to move ahead of the Red Flash in the standings with a victory. Saint Francis (PA) suffered an upset against the Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon on their senior day, as they fell by five points against the opposition. They were unable to move ahead of the Terriers or the Pioneers with the loss. Both teams sit at 9-5 in the standings in pursuit of a home game in the first round of the NEC Tournament. The winner of the contest on Monday evening will take sole possession of third place baring the results of the Sacred Heart match.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES:
St. Francis Brooklyn trails St. Francis (PA) 18-45 all time. The previous contest featured these two schools battling head-to-head on Remsen Street on January 14. Junior guard Jade Johnson led her squad with 27 points, that featured six triples, and a perfect five-for-five from the charity stripe. She also grabbed 10 rebounds as well. Graduate guard Dominique Ward tallied 11 points, assisted on two, and blocked one. Ward would also shoot four-of-eight from the field (50%). Freshman guard had one of her best games of the season against the opposition, as she tallied 10 points, assisted on six baskets, and grabbed four rebounds. For the opposition, leading blocker Courtney Zezza was held in check with only eight points, and one block in 20 minutes of action. A total of three players tallied double-digit points (Morrow 12, Swogger 13, Kovatch 20). The opposition was held to 22.7% from behind the arc (5-of-22). The Terriers came out of the locker room outscoring the Red Flash 28-10 that merely put Saint Francis to bed by the fourth quarter.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
A trip to Western PA for the second to last road trip of the season has the Terriers' eyes on one of the top two seeds heading into the conference tournament in roughly three weeks. The Colonials had the lead from beginning to the end in the contest that began with an Ezeigbo lay-up. The Terriers would bounce back quick with a bounce-back bucket from sophomore forward Ally Lassen to knot the game at a pair a piece. Multiple runs would commence for Robert Morris that had the Colonials on an 11-2 run that lasted approximately a full four minutes. Points off turnovers is what plagued the Terriers down the stretch. In the first five minutes, St. Francis Brooklyn would turn the ball over five times. The final regular season homecoming for Maria Palarino didn't turn out to be the greatest show for the senior. She would end up committing nine turnovers, which would be a season high for one student-athlete donning the Terriers uniform this season. St. Francis would come back with a 9-2 run to conclude the first quarter and narrow the lead to seven points. The breakthrough for the Terriers would come when they exited the locker room and would end the quarter on a 14-2 run to close things out. The third stanza featured five points from Amy O'Neill, four from Lassen, and three triples from Jade Johnson. The junior guard surpassed Tiffany Hill atop the leaderboard of triples during a single season with 86 and counting. The Terriers would surrender the points they got back as Isabella Posset led the opposition with six points, as the team effort for the Colonials turned out to be a positive one. The opposition would have seven players score for a total of 19 points compared to the visiting team who could only rally with 15. St. Francis Brooklyn led the fourth quarter by shooting six-of-10 from the field, and 60% from the charity-stripe. Robert Morris would take full advantage of the turnovers from St. Francis Brooklyn, who scored 29 points on 24 turnovers. Points in the paint, second chance opportunities, and bench points were the eventual demise for the Terriers, who would allow double-digit points throughout the game in the respective category. St. Francis shot 43.4% from the field (23-of-53). Free-throws hurt the Terriers as they could not convert all nine, and only converted on five.
 
TEAM NEC LEADERS:
The Terriers are currently first in the conference in scoring (74.6 ppg), free-throw percentage (74.5) field goal percentage (44.0%), rebounding margin (+5.3), rebounding offense (41.2), three-point field goal percentage (40.3%), assists per game (16.5), total assists (395), defensive rebounds (28.6 RPG), and assist-turnover ratio (0.9). St. Francis is tied with Sacred Heart in the latter category.
 
INDIVIDUAL NEC LEADERS:
The Terriers have four players ranked in the top 30 of the conference in scoring (Johnson, Lassen, Palarino, O'Neill). Johnson is ranked second in points per game with 19.6. O'Neill leads the conference in both assists (216) and assists per game (8.3). Sophomore forward Ally Lassen leads the conference in field-goal percentage (55.7). Mia Ehling and Jade Johnson sit atop the three-point field-goal percentage list (45.8 and 44.9 respectively). Johnson also sits first in free-throw shooting percentage (92.3). Amy O'Neill ranks first in assist/turnover ratio (+1.9). O'Neill also has averaged the most minutes played per game (37.6).
 
MILESTONE WATCH:
Senior guard Maria Palarino is 14 points away from taking over 13th place on the all-time leading scorers' column from Elidih Simpson (1,082). Palarino also is four free-throws away (244) from taking over 7^th all-time on the career free-throws list. Currently, Caitlin O'Malley sits with 247. Junior guard Jade Johnson, now on the same list as her teammate, is 12 points away from surpassing her teammate Maria Palarino on the same list. Jade is also five points away from passing Pam Curcio for 5th all time (513) in points scored during a single season. Jade can also surpass Tiffany Hill with 11 points on the same chart for 4^th all-time in scoring in a single season. Johnson sits at 509 prior to Saint Francis (PA). The three-point specialist has also broken the single-season three-pointers scored record by tallying six against Robert Morris on Saturday. Senior guard Amy O'Neill holds the all-time single season assist mark with 207 and counting.
 
JADE JOHNSON ENTERS GOLDEN TERRITORY:
Australian native Jade Johnson was welcomed into the 1,000-point club on Saturday, February 16 against the Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn. The junior guard tallied 31 points against the down the block rivals. Most recently, she tallied 22 points at Robert Morris on Saturday February, 23. She was recognized for her entrance into the prestigious club against Central Connecticut on President's Day afternoon. She is currently chasing her current teammate and the rest of the former student-athletes. Jade also broke the single-season three-pointers mark, who surpassed Tiffany Hill (85 | 2007-08). Johnson now has 89 and counting. In addition, she currently sits at 1,054 points, just passing Rosie Downing for sole possession of 14^th place on the all-time list. She is now chasing her current teammate Maria Palarino (1,068) for 13^th on the respective chart.
 
MARIA PALARINO KEEPS MAKING HISTORY:
St. Francis Brooklyn welcomed 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, January 28 at Mount St. Mary's. Palarino would accomplish points number 1,000 and 1,001 on a right-handed lay-up just seven minutes into the second quarter of the contest. Most recently against Robert Morris, Maria contributed four points. She remains in sole possession of 13^th place on the all-time scoring list. In addition, with her nine rebounds against the Colonials on 2/23, she surpassed Kim Weir for 13^th all-time in rebounding. Maria sits with 611 in her illustrious career. She is now chasing Patrice Erving, who sits at 626 rebounds in 12^th place on the respective list.
 
TOP OF THE NATION:
Australian native Amy O'Neill currently ranks third on the total assist chart (216). O'Neill is ranked second in the nation in assists per game (8.3). She also ranks 11th in minutes played per game by averaging 37.55 minutes. Amy currently sits with two triple-doubles on the season. Two others in UMKC's Ericka Mattingly and Portland State's Ashley Bolston are the lone trio in the nation with two accomplishments. Junior guard Jade Johnson is ranked fifth in free-throw percentage at 92.0%. Johnson is ranked 10th in the nation with 89 triples made. Johnson is also ranked 7th in triples made per game with 3.42. Johnson continues raking in the recognition by being tied for 9th in three-point field goal percentage at 44.9. She is tied with South Alabama's Savannah Jones.
 
NEC WEEKLY AWARDS:
Junior guard Jade Johnson was awarded her second "Player of the Week" award by the Northeast Conference on Wednesday afternoon. Along with Jade being garnered with the "Prime Performer" nomination (10x), her teammates Amy O'Neill and Maria Palarino were selected alongside. They join Ally Lassen and Dominique Ward on the respective list. Johnson was also named as a Co-Player of the Week on the week of November 19, as was Amy O'Neill a mere two weeks ago. Both players took home the honors for the first time in their careers.
 
UP NEXT:
The Terriers head back to Brooklyn in an effort to conclude their home regular season schedule in a positive way, by playing host to the Bulldogs of Bryant University on Saturday, March 2 for a 1 p.m. senior day tip-off from the Pope Physical Education Center.