\u00a0<\/p>\n
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
ABOUT THE BLACK KNIGHTS
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSaint Francis Probable Starters
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPos.
\n\t\t\tNo.
\n\t\t\tName
\n\t\t\tHt.
\n\t\t\tYr.
\n\t\t\tPPG
\n\t\t\tRPG
\n\t\t\tFG%
\n\t\t\tNote
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG
\n\t\t\t0
\n\t\t\tAleah James<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-7
\n\t\t\tGr.
\n\t\t\t13.6
\n\t\t\t4.2
\n\t\t\t40.0
\n\t\t\tCareer-high 5 steals on Tuesday
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG
\n\t\t\t1
\n\t\t\tMakyiah Ward<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-4
\n\t\t\tFr.
\n\t\t\t6.0
\n\t\t\t4.2
\n\t\t\t44.8
\n\t\t\t5 rebounds in 4 of 5 games
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tC \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
\n\t\t\t4
\n\t\t\tSonia Sato<\/a>
\n\t\t\t6-0
\n\t\t\tGr.
\n\t\t\t12.6
\n\t\t\t4.6
\n\t\t\t39.7
\n\t\t\tCareer-high 22 points against CMU
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG
\n\t\t\t11
\n\t\t\tBati Assefa<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-9
\n\t\t\tSr.
\n\t\t\t6.0
\n\t\t\t2.8
\n\t\t\t60.0
\n\t\t\tCareer-high 15 points vs Lafayette
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tF
\n\t\t\t23\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\t\t\tShelby Ricks<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-9
\n\t\t\tGr.
\n\t\t\t11.0
\n\t\t\t7.0
\n\t\t\t37.0
\n\t\t\tLeads team in rebounding
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTop Players Off the Bench
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPos.
\n\t\t\tNo.
\n\t\t\tName
\n\t\t\tHt.
\n\t\t\tYr.
\n\t\t\tPPG
\n\t\t\tRPG
\n\t\t\tFG%
\n\t\t\tNote
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG\u00a0
\n\t\t\t3
\n\t\t\tDesire Short<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-9
\n\t\t\tJr.
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\tDid not play in first five games
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG
\n\t\t\t5
\n\t\t\tKash Holmes<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-9
\n\t\t\tJr.
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\tDid not play in first five tilts
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tF
\n\t\t\t10
\n\t\t\tZaiha Minnis<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-11 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n\t\t\tSr.
\n\t\t\t3.8
\n\t\t\t1.2
\n\t\t\t31.8
\n\t\t\tSeason-high eight points on Sunday
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG\u00a0
\n\t\t\t12
\n\t\t\tSajol Thornhill<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-7
\n\t\t\tSo.
\n\t\t\t1.4
\n\t\t\t1.2
\n\t\t\t14.3
\n\t\t\tPosted three rebounds and three assists vs Duquesne
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG
\n\t\t\t21 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n\t\t\tGemma Walker<\/a>
\n\t\t\t5-10
\n\t\t\tSo.
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\t—
\n\t\t\tAppeared in 13 games last season
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tG
\n\t\t\t33 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n\t\t\tGiselle Eke<\/a>
\n\t\t\t6-3
\n\t\t\tSo.
\n\t\t\t3.7
\n\t\t\t3.3
\n\t\t\t30.8
\n\t\t\tMatched career-high six points vs Lafayette
\n\t\t
\n\t
<\/p>\n
\nSELECT GAME NOTES VS. ARMY WEST POINT\u00a0(FULL\u00a0GAME NOTES PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Saturday’s game between Saint Francis and Army West Point marks the first meeting between the two teams in team history
\n\u2022 Saint Francis is 15-34 all-time against the Patriot League and\u00a0 has played all nine teams associated with the league except for Army West Point and Boston University. The Red Flash can cross Army West Point off that list on Saturday. It is also the second meeting against a Patriot League team in seven days, following Sunday’s game against Lafayette.
\n\u2022 The Loretto program has played Bucknell 21 times (7-14), Loyola 12 times (2-10), Lehigh (1-3), and Navy (3-1) four times, American (2-1) three times, Lafayette (0-3), and Colgate (0-2) twice each. The Red Flash played Loyola last year.
\n\u2022 Saint Francis is looking to end a six-game losing streak against the Patriot League, with its last win coming at Bucknell with a 64-54 win on November 14, 2012. The Loretto program is also looking for its first home win against the circuit since a 64-56 win against Navy on December 1, 2006.
\n\u2022 While the two teams have never met on the floor, there was once a Saint Francis connection to Army West Point. Dave Magarity, a 1972 graduate of Saint Francis, led the Black Knights women’s basketball team from 2006 to 21 after serving as an assistant for one season. Magarity was 266-83 with Army and led the Black Knights to the Patriot League Tournament title in 2014 and 2016, and the regular season crown in 2013 and 2016. Prior to Army, Magarity was the head coach at Marist with the men’s basketball program from 1986-2004, posting a 253-259 record with the Red Foxes with an NEC Tournament title in 1987 and two NEC regular season titles (1987, 1988) with the aid of Rik “The Dunking Dutchmen” Smits, who would play with the Indiana Pacers from 1988-2000. Magarity was also the head coach of the Saint Francis men’s team from 1978 to 83.
\n\u2022 Army is wrapping up a four-game homestand for Saint Francis, which is hosting its first non-conference four-game homestand since 1984-85. The Colonials also started the four-game stretch that season just like in 2025-26. While this is just the second time the Loretto program has hosted four in a row in non-conference play, Saint Francis has had 11 four-game homestands in NEC action, although twice those spans included two NEC games and two non-conference tilts.
\n\u2022 Army is also the first team on the schedule not from the Keystone State after the Red Flash opened the season at Duquesne (November 3) and La Salle before starting the homestand with Robert Morris (November 13), Lafayette (November 16), and Carnegie Mellon (November 18).
\n\u2022 The Red Flash will stay in the New York State of Mind when it travels to Iona in New Rochelle, New York, for the Turkey Tipoff after Thanksgiving.
\n<\/p>\n
\nAN SFU WIN WOULD
\n\u2022 Be the team’s first win of the season
\n\u2022 Give head coach Chynna Bozeman<\/a> her first career victory
\n\u2022 Have Bozeman become the sixth head coach to win her first game in Loretto
\n\u2022 Be the team’s first win against the Patriot League since 2012
\n\u2022 Be the team’s first victory against Army in the first meeting between the two teams
\n\u2022 End an eight-game non-conference home losing streak
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Army comes into the contest 4-1 after defeating New Hampshire 63-44 on Thursday.
\n\u2022 Kya Smith fueled the Black Knights with 18 points and 14 rebounds against the Wildcats. Taylor Wilson added 15 points and Camryn Tade had 14 points in the win.
\n\u2022 Smith leads the team with 16.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game,while Wilson is second on the team with 12.0 points per gam,e and Tade is third with 10.6 points per game.
\n\u2022 Camryn Tade, who is averaging 9.2 points per game, was the 2025 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
\n\u2022 Head coach Katie Kuester is in her first season as head coach, but was an assistant coach last year at Saint Joseph’s when Saint Francis played in Philadelphia. She is the daughter of longtime NBA coach John Kuester, who spent 20 years in the league with teams including the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n
\nLAST TIME OUT
\n\u2022 Saint Francis lost 55-53 to Carnegie Mellon on Tuesday.
\n\u2022 Sonia Sato<\/a> registered a career-high 22 points along with eight rebounds, while Aleah James<\/a> added 12 points and a career-best five steals.\u00a0
\n\u2022 The trend might not be as big as six-seven, but the Red Flash was one of three Division I teams to lose to a Division III team in a three-day span: Scranton defeated Pitt, 69-63 (November 16), and Johns Hopkins downed Morgan State, 75-59 (November 18).<\/p>\n
\nTRENDING UP
\n\u2022 Graduate student Sonia Sato<\/a> became the second Red Flash player to reach 20 points for the first time in her career this season when she posted 22 points against Carnegie Mellon on November 18. Sato has registered double figures in four of the five games this season, her first four 10+ point games of her career after posting a career-high of nine points twice in three seasons at Presbyterian. She added a season-high eight rebounds, which matched the career high she had with the Blue Hose against Winthrop on January 29, 2025. Sato is averaging 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in three games at DeGol Arena.
\n\u2022 Graduate student Aleah James<\/a> was the first player to reach 20 points this season and her career with her 20 points against Robert Morris in her DeGol Arena debut on November 13. Just like Sato, James has registered double figures in points in four of the five games this season. The graduate student is averaging 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.7 steals per game. During this homestand, James has established new personal bests in points, rebounds (9 vs. Lafayette, November 16) and steals (5) against Carnegie Mellon.
\n\u2022 Senior Bati Assefa<\/a> is averaging 10.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in her last two tilts, both games since she joined the starting lineup. Assefa posted a career-high 15 points and five assists against Lafayette in her first Red Flash start and then had six points and a season-high five rebounds against Carnegie Mellon.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Graduate student Shelby Ricks<\/a> powers the team with 7.0 rebounds per game and has recorded at least five boards in all five games this season. Ricks registered three-straight games with at least 14 points before she finished the game against Carnegie Mellon with five points and six rebounds.\u00a0 In the game against Lafayette, the graduate student recorded her first Red Flash double-double of the season and the second of her career, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Ricks is averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game on the homestand.
\n\u2022 Freshman Makyiah Ward<\/a> has registered five rebounds in four of the five games this season, has at least three assists four times, three steals three times and 11 points twice in her first collegiate action.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Saint Francis is 6-18 against the state of New York and 5-7 in Loretto against the Empire State in non-conference play.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Canisius has the distinction of being the last team from New York to win at DeGol Arena with a 48-46 decision last year in front of 1,400 children for Education Day on November 15, 2024, while the Golden Griffins are also the last team from the Empire State the Red Flash has defeated in the ‘Lo with a 95-74 win on November 22, 2016 on another Educational Day game.
\n\u2022 Saint Francis will travel to Iona on November 28-29 for the Turkey Tipoff.\u00a0 It will be the first trip to the state of New York since playing at Canisius on November 11, 2023.
\n\u2022 The Red Flash is 121-59 against teams from New York in NEC play.\u00a0
\n
\nON THIS DATE
\n\u2022 Saint Francis is 1-8 on this date and 1-3 at home. The one win at DeGol Arena was an 81-58 decision against Penn in 1997 in the home opener
\n\u2022 The Red Flash defeated Akron 80-79 in overtime on this date in 2011. Alli Williams made two free throws with four seconds left in the extra session to propel Saint Francis to the victory. Williams finished the game with 25 points, eight rebounds, and five steals, while Kelley Doogan (14 points), Nickia Gibbs (13 points) and Rhoda Watts (11 points) also found double figures.\u00a0
\nFUN FACTS
\n\u2022 This will be the fourth time in the last six years the team will play on this date after only playing on this date seven times from 1985-2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0
Saint Francis Probable Starters
Pos.
No.
Name
Ht.
Yr.
PPG
RPG
FG%
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