HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team begins the Northeast Conference portion of the schedule on the road Saturday at Saint Francis U at 4 p.m., starting the team's 31st season of NEC play.
 
The game will be streamed live for free on NEC Front Row, and live stats will be available at sfuathletics.com.
 
ENTERING THE KNIGHT
The Knights (3-8) ended the 2018 calendar and the non-conference slate with a 70-45 victory over Georgian Court in the Rothman Center on December 29. The Knights benefited from a strong second quarter, where they outscored the Lions 22-4 and held the Lions to only one field goal. FDU during one stretch of the second period scored 16 straight points. The Knights grabbed a season-high 50 rebounds and forced 30 turnovers for the second time this season while matching their season-best total of 21 steals.
 
CAREER KNIGHTS
Sophomore Madison Stanley recorded career-best totals of 16 points and nine rebounds in the win over Georgian Court, going 6-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 at the charity stripe while making her only three-point attempt. Stanley herself scored seven straight points for the Knights in the third quarter to help push past her previous high of 11 points achieved earlier this season. Junior Jenna Clark scored 12 points for the second straight game, tying her career-high set December 21 at Saint Peter's.
 
FRANCE ON THE BOARDS
Junior Lauren Francillon grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds vs. Georgian Court while scoring eight points and blocking two shots to go with two assists and two steals. Francillon likely would have achieved her third straight game with double-digit points if not for the Knights leading by 20-plus points in the fourth quarter. The junior is now second on the team in scoring (8.2 ppg), rebounding (4.3 rpg) and blocks (9) and is third on the team with 11 steals. She is seven points away from reaching 500 for her career.
 
THE MARCH TO 500
With a win vs. Georgian Court, the Knights need only one more victory (499) to reach the 500th in program history. The team has played in a total of 1,173 games since beginning the program in 1977. Over the previous 499 victories, the Knights have won 214 NEC games and 121 games in Peter Cinella's tenure as head coach.
 
#NECNEWYEAR
The Knights begin the NEC portion of the season with a road trip to Pennsylvania, facing Saint Francis U and Robert Morris, last season's NEC championship finalists, in back-to-back games. Last season, the Knights finished 7-11 in conference games and eighth in the league standings. FDU has achieved at least seven NEC wins in eight of Peter Cinella's 11 previous seasons. The Knights are 3-8 in NEC openers, with the last win coming in the 2015-16 season at home vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (65-61).
 
POSSESSION IS KEY
The Knights are one of the best teams in both the NEC and NCAA in limiting turnovers, ranking first in the league in turnover margin (+4.4) while also ranking 28th in Division I in fewest turnovers and 41st in turnover margin. Consequently, the Knights are also good at forcing turnovers, leading the league (48th in DI) in steals per game with 10.5 pilfers. Senior Natalie Zamora leads the conference with 2.5 steals per game, and senior Peniel M'Bikata ranks third in the league with 1.8 pilfers per game after recording five steals vs. Georgian Court.
 
BLOCK PARTY
The Knights are also the premier shot-blocking team in the NEC, leading the league with 4.4 rejections per game. Stanley is fifth in the league with 1.0 block per game (11 total), while freshman Lindsey Mack is tied for the most blocks among NEC freshmen with nine this season. Francillon (9, 0.8 per game) and senior Madelynn Comly (6, 0.5 per game) also rank inside the top 15 in the league in blocks.
 
SERIES SCORE
Saint Francis U leads the all-time series with FDU, 42-22, in a rivalry that started back in 1985. The Red Flash have won each of the previous five matchups, including all three games last season, most recently defeating the Knights by a score of 89-70 in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals. The Knights last defeated the Red Flash on February 1, 2016 (73-72) in the Rothman Center, and the Knights' last win in Loretto was January 31, 2015 (78-65). The Knights are 7-17 against Saint Francis U overall in Cinella's tenure as head coach.
 
SCOUTING SAINT FRANCIS U
The Red Flash (3-9) ended non-conference play with a 78-75 overtime loss at Pittsburgh on December 21. The defending conference champions has lost five of six games entering NEC play and has allowed at least 75 points in 11 of 12 games this season. Senior Jessica Kovatch, the reigning NEC Player of the Year, leads the team and the league with 20.1 points per game, and senior forward Courtney Zezza averages 8.4 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game and a league-best 2.7 blocks per game. The Red Flash were picked second in the NEC preseason poll.
 
AROUND THE NEC
All 10 teams in the NEC begin conference play on Saturday. Robert Morris, FDU's next opponent, hosts Mount St. Mary's, who concluded non-conference play with a win over Radford to post the only above-.500 record (6-5) among NEC teams in non-league games. Other matchups include LIU Brooklyn at Bryant, Central Connecticut at Sacred Heart and Wagner at St. Francis Brooklyn.