RICHMOND, Va. - Coming off its most balanced victory of the season, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team travels to VCU Sunday for a matchup with the Rams. The game, set for a 5 p.m. tip, will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
• Saint Joseph's Game Notes
• Live Stats
• Live Audio
GAME STORIES . . .
• Sunday's contest is the first of two meetings between SJU and the Rams this year, with the pair meeting again on February 1 at Hagan Arena.
• The Hawks enter Sunday's contest having won the previous matchup with VCU, 55-50, on February 6, 2013 at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
• Despite the most recent win for the Hawks, they are still 2-4 all-time against the Rams.
• Saint Joseph's and VCU are meeting for the fifth-straight season, despite being in the same conference for only two years.
• The Hawks and Rams faced each other three-straight years in the Postseason WNIT from 2010-2012, with Saint Joseph's winning the second of the three matchups.
• The Hawks are coming off a 72-35 victory over Rhode Island on Wednesday in front of 2,451 fans as SJU held its annual “Field Trip to Hawk Hill” for area school children.
• The 37-point victory on Wednesday was the largest gap in a win this year for Saint Joseph's, while the 35 points given up were the fewest allowed.
• Sophomore guard Ciara Andrews made her first career start against Rhode Island and finished with a game-high 13 points.
• The SJU trio of Andrews sophomore Sarah Fairbanks (12 points) and senior Erin Shields (12 points) combined to outscore Rhode Island, 37-35.
• Senior forward Ilze Gotfrida is averaging 11.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per A-10 game.
Series History - Saint Joseph's vs. VCU
All-Time Series: VCU Leads 4-2
Last Meeting: 2/6/13, SJU, 55-50
Last SJU Win: 2/6/13, 55-50
Last VCU Win: 3/18/12, 67-65 OT
Current SJU Streak: W-1
THE FAST BREAK
• Senior Erin Shields is seven points shy of passing Audrey Codner (1,092 points) for 17th all-time in scoring and can soon pass Kristen Sullivan (209), Melissa Coursey (210), Jenna Loschiavo (214) and current director of basketball operations Katie Gardler (216) to reach second place all-time in three-pointers as she enters Sunday with 206.
• Junior guard Natasha Cloud has more assists so far this season, 116, than a SJU season leader in that category 10 times.
• The Hawks posted three straight wins against teams that won their league last year. Liberty was the reigning Big South champs, while the Princeton captured the Ivy League title last year and Quinnipiac won the NEC. Additionally, the Hawks topped Florida Gulf Coast, who won the Atlantic Sun regular season title a year ago, but lost in the conference tournament.
• SJU's 28-point victory over Mount St. Mary's was the third-largest differential in a season-opening win for the Hawks. SJU topped Lehigh 91-34 (57 points) to start the 1977-78 season and bested the Mountain Hawks with a 79-37 (42 points) win in 1986-87.
