Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. St. John's

FRIARS TO HOST A PAIR OF BIG EAST OPPONENTS THIS WEEKEND... The Friars will host a pair of BIG EAST opponents this weekend at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. On Friday, Jan. 14, Providence welcomes St. John's at 1:00 p.m. On Sunday, Jan. 16, the Friars will take on Seton Hall at 1:00 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network via FloSports.

PROVIDENCE VS. ST. JOHN'S ALL-TIME... Friday's game between Providence and St. John's will mark the 75th meeting all-time between the two programs. The Red Storm lead the all-time series, 43-31. In each of the last three years, the two teams have split the season series.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR... The Friars and Red Storm split the season series, with each team winning on its home court. On Dec. 19, 2020, Providence earned a dominate 76-53 win over St. John's at Alumni Hall. The Friars 76 points were the most the team has scored against St. John's since dropping 93 on the Johnnies during the 2006-07 season. On Feb. 21, 2021, the Red Storm avenged their early-season loss to the Friars with a 65-47 victory at Carnesecca Arena.

GEARY AND BASKERVILLE VS. THE RED STORM IN 2020-21.... Alyssa Geary and Mary Baskerville each had solid stat lines vs. the Red Storm during the 2020-21 season series. Geary averaged 13.5 points per game against St. John's on 12-24 shooting from the field (.500), including a 3-6 showing from beyond the arc. She also contributed 3.5 assists, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.5 steals per game. Baskerville was just shy of averaging a double-double on 10.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. She also shot 50-percent from the field over the two games (10-20) and added 1.5 assists, 1.5 blocked shots and 2.5 steals per game.

HOME COOKING... Freshman point guard Kylee Sheppard returned to her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio with her Friar teammates and led the squad to a 54-49 BIG EAST victory over Xavier on Jan. 11. Sheppard recorded a team-high 13 points on 4-8 shooting, including a 3-5 performance from three-point territory. She also added four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 32 minutes of action. She also showed she can be cool under pressure, sinking a pair of free throws with 22-seconds left in the game to provide a three-point cushion en route to the Providence victory (54-49).

ROOKIE IMPACT... Fellow freshman Emily Archibald played a key role in the Friars' victory over Xavier, scoring five of her eight points in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. Archibald matched her classmate Kylee Sheppard by also making a pair of clutch free throws to make it a two-possession game with three seconds left in regulation (54-49).

ALYSSA GEARY RECORDS HER TEAM-BEST 11TH DOUBLE-DIGIT GAME OF THE SEASON... Senior Alyssa Geary recorded her team-best 11th double-digit game of the season against Xavier on Jan. 11. She finished the night with 10 points on 4-9 shooting and added three boards, one assist and four blocked shots.

SHARING THE SUGAR... Providence College has done well to share the basketball in each of their last two games vs. Xavier and DePaul. In the Friars' 54-49 BIG EAST win over Xavier on Jan. 11, the Friars recorded 15 assists on 18 made field goals. On Jan. 7, the Friars dished a season-best 22 assists on 32 field goals (32-59, 0.542) against DePaul. It marked the first time that Providence eclipsed 20+ assists in a game since dishing 21 against Butler on Dec. 5, 2020.

MAKING IT COUNT AT THE LINE... The Friars are 6-0 this season when making more free throws than their opponent.

FULL STRENGTH... In the Friars' most recent game on Jan. 11 vs. Xavier, the Friars suited an entire roster of healthy players for the first time this season. Four different players on the roster have missed seven-or-more games on the year due to injury.

CLEANING THE GLASS... Providence has recorded 40+ rebounds in nine of its 14 games, including two games with 50+ boards. Last year, Providence only eclipsed 40 rebounds in one game (49 vs. Butler, 3/5/21). As a team, the Friars rank fourth in the BIG EAST on the boards, averaging 40.1 rebounds per game. The Friars hauled in a season-best 51 rebounds against Brown.

FRIARS RANK 10th IN THE NATION IN DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING... Providence leads the BIG EAST and ranks 10th in the nation in defensive rebounds, averaging 30.5 per game. Tennessee leads the NCAA in defensive rebounding (33.4 drpg).

DOUBLE-TROUBLE... Janai Crooms leads the Friars and ranks second in the BIG EAST with six double-doubles. Alyssa Geary and Mary Baskerville also have recorded double-doubles for the Friars this season, with one each. Additionally, Baskerville has 18 double-doubles in her career, which ranks third in the BIG EAST among active players.

JANAI CROOMS IS ONE OF TWO PLAYERS IN THE BIG EAST CURRENTLY AVERAGING A DOUBLE-DOUBLE... Janai Crooms is one of just two players in the BIG EAST currently averaging a double-double on the season, with 13.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. DePaul's Aneesah Morrow is the other (18.6 ppg / 11.9 rpg).

BLOCK PARTY... The Friars currently lead the BIG EAST and rank eighth in the nation in blocked shots (93) and fifth nationally in blocks per game (6.6 bpg). No other team in the BIG EAST Conference has more than 59 blocked shots this season. Mary Baskerville leads the Friars with an average of 2.7 rejections per game. Five players on the team have cracked double-digits in blocked shots and have combined for 76 of the Friars' 93 rejections overall: Baskerville (19), Crooms (17), Alyssa Geary (17), Olivia Olsen (13) and Emily Archibald (10).

MORE REJECTION... The Friars recorded a season-high 11 blocks against Xavier on Jan. 11. It marked the second time this year that the team has registered double-digit blocks. Prior to this season, the last time the Friars recorded double-digit blocks in a game was on Nov. 12, 2013 against Bryant.

MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS AMONG NCAA DIVISION I ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS IN BLOCKED SHOTS PER GAME... Mary Baskerville ranks 21st among NCAA Division I active career leaders in blocks per game (1.77 bpg). In 90 career games, Baskerville has swatted 159 shots, including two seasons of 50+ blocked shots.

FLIRTING WITH THE PROGRAM'S FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE... Janai Crooms has narrowly missed out on a bid for a triple-double in three games this season. On Nov. 20 against Boston College, she finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Against Hartford on Dec. 1, she logged 25 points, 11 boards and eight assists. On Dec. 8 against Brown, Crooms put up 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. In the program's 48-year existence, a Friar has never recorded a triple-double.

1,000-POINT MILESTONE ON THE HORIZON... Mary Baskerville has scored 989 points with the Friars in 90 career games. She is on pace to become the 35th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone and needs just 11 points to achieve the feat.

MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS 18th ALL-TIME AT PROVIDENCE IN CAREER REBOUNDS... Senior Mary Baskerville ranks 18th all-time in career boards at Providence with 641. She is within striking distance of 17th place, currently held by Rhode Island-native and former All-BIG EAST First-Team selection Chelsea Marandola '10, who finished her career with 651 (2005-10).

JANAI CROOMS CRACKS THE TOP-15 IN CAREER ASSISTS... Janai Crooms owns 298 career assists and ranks 15th on the Friars' all-time list heading into the weekend. Crooms leads the Friars and ranks fifth in the BIG EAST this season with 4.8 assists per game.

KYLEE SHEPPARD NOTCHES CAREER-HIGH 22 POINTS VS. BLUE DEMONS... Freshman point guard Kylee Sheppard recorded a career-high 22 points in the loss to DePaul. In just her fourth game of the season, she shot 9-12 from the floor and added two rebounds and a team-best six assists and two steals.

MARY BASKERVILLE DRAINS AN EFFICIENT 15 POINTS VS. DE PAUL... Mary Baskerville came off the bench to play 17 minutes in the Friars' loss to DePaul on Jan. 7. She was a perfect 6-6 from the field, including 1-1 from three point range. Her first career three-pointer came on an inbounds play with two seconds left on the shot clock. Baskerville also contributed five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal, without committing a turnover.

OLIVIA OLSEN PROVIDING A SPARK... Freshman Olivia Olsen has provided a spark off the bench this season, and has done so in an efficient manner. She has played all 14 games off the bench and is averaging 6.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 block per game. She is shooting a blistering 67.2-percent from the field (39-58), including a clip of 77.3-percent during BIG EAST play (17-22).

MARY BASKERVILLE NAMED TO ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM AT THE CONCLUSION OF 2020-21 SEASON... Last season, Mary Baskerville led Providence College in scoring (12.7 ppg), rebounding (6.5 rpg), blocked shots (1.8 bpg), steals (1.4 spg) and field-goal percentage (.538, 112-208). For her efforts, she was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. It marked her first postseason honor since earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and BIG EAST All-Freshman Team accolades in 2019.

CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF... The NCAA cleared Janai Crooms to play during the 2021-22 season on Nov. 4, prior to the Friars' exhibition game against Bentley. Crooms was a four-star recruit and ranked No. 36 in 2018 class by Prospect Nation coming out of St. Andrew's (Barrington, R.I.). She played two seasons at Ohio State (2018-20) before transferring to Michigan State for the 2020-21 campaign. Crooms has two years of eligibility remaining, including the current 2021-22 seasons.

FRIARS SET TO MAKE THEIR RETURN TO THE DUNKIN' DONUTS CENTER... The Friars will host a game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center for the first time since 2010 when they welcome Connecticut on Sunday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is set for 11:00 a.m. It marks the first time Providence has played a game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center since Feb. 6, 2010 against West Virginia.

PROVIDENCE PICKED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES' POLL... The Friars were picked to finish eighth in the 2021-22 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released at the league's annual media day at MSG in New York City. The Friars recorded 32 points in the poll and sit above Georgetown (27), Xavier (18) and Butler (17). Connecticut was a unanimous selection to win the league for a second-straight season.

JANAI CROOMS NAMED TO BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL FOR SECOND TIME... Janai Crooms earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll accolades for the second time this season on Dec. 13. The junior guard averaged 19.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in wins over Brown and Quinnipiac. Crooms recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two blocked shots at Brown on Dec. 8. She closed the week with 24 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, one steal and one blocked shot against Quinnipiac (Dec. 11). For the week, she shot an impressive 59.2-percent from the floor (16-27). Her 24 points against the Bobcats marked the second 20+ point game this season and was one-point shy of her season high.

ALYSSA GEARY NAMED TO BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL... Alyssa Geary earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll accolades on Dec. 6, following her performance against Villanova and Georgetown in conference play. She averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Geary also collected her first double-double of the season - and second of her career- against Villanova on Dec. 3 with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. She combined to shoot 43-percent from the field (9-21) and 85-percent from the foul line (11-13).

JANAI CROOMS NAMED TO BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL... Janai Crooms was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, Nov. 15. In two games last week to start the 2021-22 season, she averaged 18.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.5 blocked shots per game. In the Friars' game against Maine (Nov. 13), Crooms exploded for 18 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots and two steals.

FRIARS IN THE POSTSEASON... The Friars' last appeared in the postseason during the 2018-19 campaign, when their current senior class came on to the scene as freshmen. Providence's 2019 WNIT selection marked the program's 15th post-season appearance overall and first since 2010. In 2019-20, NCAA and WNIT Championships were canceled to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Friars did not qualify for postseason during the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. Complete post-season breakdown follows (records in parentheses):

2018-19 WNIT Round of 16 (2-1)
2009-10 WNIT Quarterfinal Round (3-1)
1991-92 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1990-91 NCAA Tournament Second Round (1-1)
1989-90 NCAA Tournament East Regional (1-1)
1988-89 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1986-87 National Women's Invitational Tournament (1-2)
1985-86 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1981-82 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1980-81 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1979-80 EAIAW National Tournament (3-1)
1978-79 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1977-78 EAIAW Regional Tournament (1-1)
1976-77 EAIAW Regional Tournament (2-2)
1975-76 EAIAW Regional Tournament (1-2)

WHAT'S NEXT... The Friars return to the court on Sunday, Jan. 16 against the Seton Hall Pirates at 1:00 p.m. The game will be played at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. and will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network via FloSports.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Archibald

Mary Baskerville

Janai Crooms

Alyssa Geary

Olivia Olsen

Kylee Sheppard

Providence College Athletics