STORRS, Conn. - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team readied itself for tomorrow's matchup with top-seed 1/1 UConn in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday. The Hawks and Huskies will tip at 7 p.m. Tuesday with the game televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU depending on viewing region.
- Saint Joseph's NCAA Tournament Second Round Notes
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GAME STORIES . . .
• Ninth seed Saint Joseph's is facing top seed Connecticut in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament's Lincoln Region with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
• The Hawks advanced to the Second Round with a 67-57 win over eighth seed Georgia on Sunday.
• Sunday's win was just the seventh in 13 appearances in the NCAA Tournament for the Hawks, with the Second Round being the furthest any SJU team has ever reached.
• SJU's previous NCAA Tournament win came in 2000 with a 69-48 win over Texas. The Hawks have made it to the Second Round also in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1997 and 1999.
• Senior guard Erin Shields posted a game-high 18 points in Sunday's win, including four three-pointers to set a new single-season mark with 92 this year to surpass the previous record of 91 set by Kristen Sullivan in 1995-96.
• Coming off a 13-point, seven rebound and four assist performance versus the Bulldogs, junior Natasha Cloud will enter Tuesday's game only four assists shy of matching the Hawks' single-season record for assists, 241, set by Angela Zampella in 1999-00
• Tuesday's matchup with Connecticut is the seventh meeting between the two teams.
• The Huskies hold a 4-2 edge in the all-time series and won the last four contests, including an 87-34 win in the previous contest on December 21, 2003 at The Palestra.
• Tuesday also marks the eighth time the Hawks have faced the top-ranked team in the nation. Saint Joseph's is 0-7 in the previous seven games, with the most recent loss coming to the Huskies on December 21, 2003.
• All-time, the Hawks are 33-117 against nationally ranked opponents.
SAINT JOSEPH'S AND CONNECTICUT BONDS
As previously mentioned, there are several bonds that link Saint Joseph's and Connecticut together. Below are a several of those connections.
• The biggest connection is the Huskies' head coach Geno Auriemma was an assistant at SJU for the 1978-79 season. Additionally, once at UConn, Auriemma recruited Hawks' head coach Cindy Griffin.
• While a coach a Bishop McDevitt High School Auriemma coached Griffin's sister, Kim Anderson '79.
• Erin Shields' mother, Renie (1978-82) was a freshman at SJU when Geno Auriemma was an assistant coach for the Hawks.
• Saint Joseph's men's basketball head coach Phil Martelli is friends with Auriemma, dating back to when Martelli had Auriemma on his staff for the Bishop Kenrick High boys' basketball team.
• SJU director of basketball operation, Katie Gardler, is the sister-in-law of former UConn standout Meghan Gardler, while her father-in-law, Buddy, coached Auriemma at Bishop Kenrick High School.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
Tuesday's game features two of the better teams in the nation that take care of the basketball. The Hawks are currently 12th overall in turnovers per game at 12.3, while Connecticut is tied for fifth at 12.0. Additionally, the Hawks are on pace to set the single-season record for fewest turnovers. Currently at 395 turnovers this year, this team should challenge the record of 408 set by the 1993-94 Hawks.
FIVE HAWKS TO MATCH SINGLE-SEASON GAMES RECORD
Seniors Kelsey Berger, Ilze Gotfrida and Erin Shields, along with sophomores Ciara Andrews and Sarah Fairbanks need to only play a second on Tuesday to join the short list of Hawks to have played in 33 games in a year. The five current Hawks have played in all 32 contests so far this year and would join members of the 2003-04, 2006-07 and 2011-12 teams. Shields is already a member of this record-holding group, playing in all 33 games in 2011-12.
REPRESENTING THE ATLANTIC 10
The Hawks are the lone remaining team from the Atlantic 10 to still be playing in the NCAA Tournament. Saint Joseph's joined fellow at-large recipient Dayton and A-10 Tournament champions Fordham in the NCAA Tournament field this year. Both the Flyers (83-69 los to Florida) and the Rams (64-63 loss to California) fell in their First Round matchups.
HIGH-FLYING OFFENSE
This year's scoring average is one for the ages at Hawk Hill as Saint Joseph's enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 72.1 points per game. It has been 24 seasons since the Hawks averaged that much, posting 78.2 points per game in 1989-90. For perspective, SJU head coach Cindy Griffin and Director of Basketball Operations Katie Gardler were playing for the Hawks that season, while no current SJU student-athlete had been born.
SHIELDS SETS CAREER GAMES PLAYED RECORD
Erin Shields will add to her record come Tuesday as the senior guard owns Saint Joseph's all-time record for career games played with 129. Having played all 129 straight games dating back to her freshman campaign, Shields surpassed former teammates, Michelle Baker (2008-12) and Ashley Prim (2009-13), who held the previous record of 127.
SHIELDS AND CLOUD AMONG ALL-TIME ASSIST LEADERS
The pair of junior guard Natasha Cloud and senior guard Erin Shields have formed arguably one of the most unselfish backcourts in Hawk history. In under two seasons, Cloud has climbed to ninth all-time in assists (379), while Shields is in 10th place with 364.
SHIELDS AMONG TOP SINGLE-SEASON SCORERS
Tallying 480 points so far this year, senior guard Erin Shields ranks among the top single-season scorers in Hawk history. She enters the Tuesday 16th and could pass Katie (Curry) Gardler (481) and Dale Hodges (497) into 14th place.
SAINT JOSEPH'S VERSUS UCONN, AGAIN
The Hawks and Huskies are meeting for the second time in the NCAA Tournament. On the men's side, Connecticut topped Saint Joseph's, 89-81, in overtime in a Second Round contest.
