WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW: Saint Joseph’s at Saint Louis
WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 • 1 p.m. CST
WHERE: Chaifetz Arena • St. Louis, Missouri
RECORDS: SLU 9-9, 3-2 Atlantic 10; Saint Joseph’s 9-8, 4-1 Atlantic 10
SLU-SAINT JOSEPH’S SERIES: Saint Joseph’s leads 9-4
SLU-SAINT JOSEPH’S LAST MEETING: Saint Joseph’s 66, at SLU 63 (2/5/17) RECAP
BILLIKENS’ LAST GAME: at SLU 64, Massachusetts 63 (Jan. 18) RECAP
HAWKS’ LAST GAME: Saint Joseph’s 84, at Massachusetts 79 (Jan. 13) RECAP
UP NEXT FOR THE BILLIKENS: at George Mason • Wednesday, Jan. 24 • 6 p.m. CST • Fairfax, Va.
GAME NOTES: Saint Louis
GAME NOTES: Saint Joseph’s
LIVE VIDEO: A-10 Digital Network (Email [email protected] if you encounter difficulty.)
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
A LOOK AT THE BILLIKENS
• Coming off a last-second, come-from-behind victory over Massachusetts Thursday night, the Saint Louis Billikens look for a second straight win when they battle Saint Joseph’s Sunday, Jan. 21.
• Sunday’s contest is the annual Billikens Pink Out Game to heighten awareness of breast cancer. Click here to read more about activities before, during and after the game.
• Since the beginning of the 2015-16 season, the Billikens are 28-9 in A-10 play. That ranks second in the conference, just one game behind George Washington.
• Sunday’s game features the A-10’s top two field goal shooting teams in Saint Joseph’s (first, .438) and Saint Louis (second, .432), and five of the league’s top 12 individuals are on the court. Sarah Veilleux of Saint Joseph’s leads the conference (.543) and is joined by Maddison Gits (third, .525), SJU’s Adashia Franklyn (seventh, .490), Paige Rakers(ninth, .479) and Jenny Vliet (12th, .450).
• Jackie Kemph owns a commanding lead in assists in the A-10. Kemph dishes 7.6 assists per game, just shy of three more per game than the second-place player. She is on pace to have career highs for a season in assists per game and A-TO ratio (currently 2.72).
• Paige Rakers and Jordyn Frantz have become one of the A-10’s most potent long-range shooting combinations, ranking seventh and 10th in the A-10, respectively, in 3-point percentage. Rakers (16-of-30, .533) and Frantz (16-of-35, .457) have combined to shoot 49.2 percent from beyond the arc over the last seven games.
• In A-10 games, SLU ranks second in free throw percentage (.786), field goal percentage defense (.347), assists (17.8 apg), blocks (5.6 bpg) and defensive rebounding (30.6 drpg).
• Paige Rakers tops the conference in overall FG shooting (.604) and 3-point FG shooting (.542) in A-10 games. Rakers leads the Billikens with 14.6 points per game in A-10 contests.
• Jackie Kemph leads the A-10 with 7.4 assists per game and is second with a 3.36 assist-turnover ratio in league action. Kemph has committed only 11 turnovers in five A-10 contests, playing all but 13 minutes in those five games.
• SLU has held eight of its last 10 opponents to under 40-percent field goal shooting. The opponents’ combined shooting mark during that 10-game stretch is 37 percent.
• The Bills have raised their season free throw accuracy to 72.5 percent by connecting on 77.7 percent (101-of-130) from the stripe over the last seven games.
• In their last seven games, the Billikens have registered an assist on 73.2 percent of their field goals. That is significantly higher than their full-season rate of 64.9 percent.
• Sixth-year head coach Lisa Stone takes a 99-79 record at Saint Louis into the Saint Joseph’s game. Now in her 32nd season overall as a collegiate head coach, Stone owns a 602-316 career mark.
A LOOK AT THE HAWKS
• Saint Joseph’s returned four starters and eight additional letter winners from its 2016-17 team that was 17-15 overall and 12-4 (tied with Saint Louis for third) in the A-10. The Hawks were defeated in the WNIT first round.
• Junior guard/forward Sarah Veilleux leads Saint Joseph’s in scoring (14.6 ppg). Veilleux leads the A-10 in field goal shooting (.543) and is third in the league in 3-point field goal shooting (33-of-73, .452, 16th nationally).
• Senior guard/forward Chelsea Woods is back after earning A-10 Sixth Woman of the Year plaudits and a spot on the All-Conference second team last season. Woods scores 14.3 points per game and leads the Hawks with 8.3 rebounds per game (sixth in the A-10).
• Junior guard Alyssa Monaghan tosses in 11.0 points per game and leads Saint Joseph’s in 3-point field goals (37), assists (4.1 apg) and assist-turnover ratio (2.59, third in the A-10).
• Senior forward Adashia Franklyn, a third-team All-Conference choice last year, chips in 9.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Franklyn is second in the league and 16th in the nation with 4.2 offensive rebounds per contest.
• Senior forward Amanda Fioravanti carries a 9.2 scoring average.
