Providence College Athletics
Providence College
Connecticut
Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. No. 10/9 Connecticut
1/29/2022 11:08:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Friars will host the Huskies at Alumni Hall on Sunday night on SNY.
FRIARS SET TO HOST THE TOP-10 HUSKIES AT ALUMNI HALL... The Friars return home after three-straight road games to host No. 10/9 UConn at Alumni Hall on Sunday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised live on SNY. It marks Connecticut's first trip to Providence since Feb. 12, 2013.
FAMILIAR FOE... The Friars and Huskies have met 62 times during the history of the two women's basketball programs. Sunday's meeting marks just the second between the two teams since Feb. 12, 2013. The Huskies returned to the BIG EAST Conference during the 2020-21 campaign after seven seasons in the American Athletic Conference.Â
ALL-TIME SERIES... Connecticut leads the all-times series against the Friars, 41-21, including victories in each of the last 29 meetings. The Huskies hold a 36-11 record vs. Providence in BIG EAST regular-season action and a 4-2 mark in the BIG EAST Tournament.
LAST TIME THE FRIARS DEFEATED CONNECTICUT... Providence last defeated Connecticut on March 7, 1993 in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament held at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. On that day, the Friars claimed an 87-73 victory.
LAST TIME THE FRIARS DEFEATED A RANKED OPPONENT... The last time Providence defeated a nationally-ranked opponent dates back to Jan. 23, 2013. On that day, the Friars earned a 65-60 overtime victory against No. #RV/25 Villanova in Providence, R.I.
LAST MEETING... Providence and Connecticut met just once during the 2020-21 season. The Huskies claimed an 87-50 victory on Jan. 9, 2021 at Gampel Pavilion. The Friars trailed by just one (19-18) after the first 10 minutes, but the Huskies used a 53-19 scoring advantage over the next two quarters to take control of the game. Alyssa Geary paced the Friars with 10 points and five rebounds. Mary Baskerville was limited to 17 minutes and recorded eight points and two boards. Five players scored in double figures for UConn, led by Paige Bueckers (23).
ONE AND ONLY... Providence defeated UConn to win its first [and only] BIG EAST Championship on March 5, 1990. The Friars, who were the No. 2 seed, earned an 82-61 win over the top-seeded Huskies at Gampel Pavilion.
MARY BASKERVILLE TO BE HONORED PRIOR TO TIP-OFF... Prior to Sunday's tip-off against UConn, senior forward and Connecticut native Mary Baskerville will receive a commemorative basketball for eclipsing the 1,000-point milestone. She achieved the feat against St. John's on Jan. 14, as she converted a lay-up with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter.
FRIARS FALL AT CREIGHTON IN MOST RECENT GAME... The Friars are coming off a 95-71 loss to Creighton on Friday night in Omaha. Both teams shot north of 50-percent from the field, but Creighton gained a significant advantage by scoring 27 points off of 19 Providence turnovers. The Bluejays also were lethal from the three-point line, hitting 16-34 attempts. Janai Crooms led the Friars with 16 points, while Alyssa Geary added 14. Freshman Audrey Koch scored a career-high 13 points, hitting double figures for the first time as a Friar. Lauren Jensen led four Bluejays in double figures with a game-high 20 points.
FRIARS CLAIM OVERTIME VICTORY AT GEORGETOWN... Providence evened the season series with Georgetown, claiming a 66-58 overtime win at McDonough Arena on Jan. 23. It marked the Friars first victory at McDonough since 1996, snapping a streak of 16-straight losses on the Hoyas home court. Kylee Sheppard, Alyssa Geary and Janai Crooms combined to score 48 of the Friars' 66 points. Sheppard paced the effort with 21 points, including seven in the overtime session. She helped seal the win with a 5-6 performance from the charity stripe in the final 40-seconds. Geary netted 15 points and Crooms added 12. Mary Baskerville grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and matched her career highs in steals (six) and blocked shots (six).
FRIARS IN OVERTIME... Providence is 2-1 in overtime games this season. Both of their wins during overtime have come on the road against Maine (66-61) and Georgetown (66-58). The Friars lone loss in OT came at home against Yale (63-57) in the 2021-22 season opener.
PROVIDENCE IS 4-2 ON THE ROAD... The Friars have posted a 4-2 record this season on the road, including a 2-2 mark in BIG EAST regular-season play.Â
FULL STRENGTH... On Jan. 11 against Xavier, the Friars suited an entire roster of healthy players for the first time during the 2021-22 season. Four different players on the roster have missed seven-or-more games on the year due to injury, including Mary Baskerville, Kylee Sheppard, Nariah Scott and Grace Efosa. Providence has remained at full strength for each of the last six games.
DEFENSE... The Friars have held six opponents to 50 points or less this season, including three BIG EAST opponents: Villanova (47), Xavier (49) and St. John's (49). The Friars are 6-0 in those games, including a 3-0 mark in the BIG EAST Conference.Â
FRIARS LEAD THE BIG EAST IN FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE... Providence leads the BIG EAST and ranks 36th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense among 348 teams (.361). The Friars have posted an 9-4 record this season when holding it's opponents below 40-percent from the field.
CLEANING THE GLASS... Providence has recorded 40+ rebounds in 11 of its 19 games, including two games with 50+ boards. Last year, Providence only eclipsed 40 rebounds in just one game (49 vs. Butler, 3/5/21) .Â
FRIARS RANK 22nd IN THE NATION IN DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING... Providence leads the BIG EAST and ranks 22nd (of 348)in the nation in defensive rebounds, averaging 29.3 per game. Tennessee leads the NCAA in defensive rebounding (33.1 drpg).
DOUBLE-TROUBLE... Janai Crooms leads the Friars and ranks second in the BIG EAST with six double-doubles. Mary Baskerville (2), Olivia Olsen (1) and Alyssa Geary (1) also have recorded double-doubles for the Friars this season. Additionally, Baskerville has 19 double-doubles in her career, which ranks third in the BIG EAST among active players.
FRIARS AMONG THE TOP SHOT-BLOCKING TEAMS IN THE NATION... The Friars currently lead the BIG EAST and rank third in the nation in blocked shots (121) and blocks per game (6.4 bpg). Mary Baskerville leads the Friars with an average of 2.8 rejections per game. Five players on the team have cracked double-digits in blocked shots and have combined for 97 of the Friars' 119 rejections overall: Baskerville (33), Crooms (21), Alyssa Geary (20), Olivia Olsen (14) and Emily Archibald (11).
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 AND BLOCKS PER GAME... Mary Baskerville ranks 22nd among NCAA Division I active career leaders in blocks per game (1.82 bpg). In 95 games at Providence, Baskerville has recorded 173 blocked shots. Her career total also ranks second among active BIG EAST players, trailing only UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa. Baskerville also ranks 24th among active NCAA career leaders it total blocks.
MARY BASKERVILLE WORKING HER WAY UP THE FRIARS' ALL-TIME SCORING LIST... Mary Baskerville currently owns 1,028 career points and is tied for 32nd on the Friars' all-time scoring list with Sonya Lewis '94 (1,028).
MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS 15th ALL-TIME AT PROVIDENCE IN CAREER REBOUNDS... Senior Mary Baskerville ranks 15th all-time in career boards at Providence with 673. She is 16 rebounds shy of taking sole possession of 14th place, currently held by Nadine Malcolm '97 (688).
JANAI CROOMS RANKS 14TH AT PROVIDENCE CAREER ASSISTS... Janai Crooms owns 306 career assists and ranks 14th on the Friars' all-time list heading into Sunday's game against UConn. Crooms leads the Friars with 3.9 assists per game.
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.
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 19 games off the bench and is averaging 6.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. She is shooting an impressive 58.3-percent from the field (49-84). She came off the bench to record her first career double-double on Jan. 16 against Seton Hall, with 10 points and a career-high 12 boards.
ROOKIE IMPACT... Freshman point guard Kylee Sheppard missed nine of the Friars first 11 games while battling injury. She has appeared in each of the last eight games for Providence and has played in 10 games overall. In a small sample size of the season, she has played a key role as a rookie. She currently ranks second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) and assists (2.4 apg) and ranks first in steals (2.0 spg). She also contributes 3.6 rebounds per game. Sheppard is shooting 48-percent from the field (41-86), including a 13-33 clip from beyond the arc (.394). She has reached double digits in the scoring column five times, including a career-best 22 points against DePaul. She eclipsed the 20-point mark for a second time in Providence's victory over Georgetown on Jan. 23. Sheppard drained 21 points against the Hoyas, including seven in overtime.
AUDREY KOCH CRACKS DOUBLE FIGURES... Audrey Koch came off the bench in the Friars most recent game against Creighton (Jan. 28) and cracked double digits in the scoring column for the first time as a Friar. In just 20 minutes of action, she netted 13 points on 5-7 shooting, including a 2-3 effort from beyond the arc.Â
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.Â
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.
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.
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 go back out on the road next weekend to face Marquette (Feb. 4) and DePaul (Feb. 6). Providence tips off against the Golden Eagles at 8:00 p.m. (ET), marking the first meeting of the season between the two teams. The Friars face DePaul for a second time this year, and will face the Blue Demons at Wintrust Arena at 3:00 p.m. (ET).
