Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. Stonehill

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FRIARS HOST STONEHILL AT ALUMNI HALL ON FRIDAY NIGHT... Providence College will host Stonehill College on Friday, Nov. 11 at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 p.m.

PROVIDENCE CLAIMS WIN IN SEASON OPENER... The Friars defeated Dayton, 69-60, it its season opener at Alumni Hall on Nov. 7. The Friars improved to 29-20 all-time in season openers and 33-16 all-time in home openers.

HOME-SWEET-HOME... The Friars will play eight of their first 12 games at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I., including back-to-back home games against Dayton (Nov. 7) and Stonehill (Nov. 11) to open the season. Providence also will host the Friar Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 25-27 and will welcome Hartford, Weber State and Bryant to Alumni Hall.

SCOUTING STONEHILL... Stonehill accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference and are in the midst of a transition to earn full NCAA Division I membership. The Skyhawks will be eligible for NEC postseason play beginning in 2024-25. Meanwhile, Stonehill made its Division I debut against Lehigh on Nov. 7 and fell to the Mountain Hawks, 60-43. Stonehill finished the 2021-22 season with a 16-9 record, including a 12-7 mark in the Northeast 10, and reached the conference championship game. The Skyhawks return six letter winners, including three members of the starting line-up from last year's squad. Mia Kelly (11 points), Emily Bramanti (11 points) and Maddie Loder (10 points) each reached double figures against Lehigh. Sophie Glidden recorded eight points and 12 rebounds.

PROVIDENCE VS. STONEHILL ALL-TIME... The Friars and Skyhawks met five times between 1975 and 1984. Providence claimed a 3-2 record in those games, including a 3-1 mark at Alumni Hall.

LOOKING BACK AT THE SEASON OPENER... Providence opened the season with a 69-60 victory over Dayton. The Friars led wire-to-wire in the victory and held a its biggest margin of the night (14 points) with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter. Providence outscored Dayton 20-6 in points off of turnovers and 9-2 in fast-break points. Janai Crooms paced four Friars in double figures with 20 points and also added a team-high nine rebounds. Olivia Olsen scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half and completed the night with seven boards. Grace Efosa and Brynn Farrell each recorded 10 points in the victory. Efosa matched her career-high in scoring, while Farrell made her debut with the Friars hit double digits for just the second time in her career.

FOUR FRIARS IN DOUBLE FIGURES... Four Friars reached double figures in the scoring column vs. Dayton on Nov. 7, including Janai Crooms (20), Olivia Olsen (15), Brynn Farrell (10) and Grace Efosa (10). The last time Providence had four or more players in double figures dates back to the 2020-21 season (Jan. 7, 2021 vs. Butler). On that day Chanell Williams (16), Mary Baskerville (13), Alyssa Geary (10) and Kyra Spiwak (10) all tallied double-digits in the scoring column.

JANAI CROOMS NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM... Senior guard Janai Crooms was among the list of 11 student-athletes named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, released at the league's annual media day on Oct. 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. Crooms is entering her second season with the Friars and her final season of NCAA Division I basketball. In addition to her time at Providence (2021-present), she also played two seasons at Ohio State (2018-20) and one season at Michigan State (2020-21). A year ago, Crooms was named All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention after leading the Friars in scoring (13.8 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg) and assists (3.5 apg).

1,000-POINT MILESTONE... Janai Crooms scored her 1,000th point in the Friars' season opener vs. Dayton on Nov. 7. She entered the game 14 points shy of the milestone and hit the mark with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter. Crooms is the 37th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Prior to tip-off against Stonehill, the Friars will honor Crooms with a commemorative ball.

CLIMBING THE LADDER... Janai Crooms ranks 11th on the Friars' all-time career assist list (340). With her two assists against Dayton on Nov. 7, Crooms passed Chrissy Vozab '02, who dished 338 assists for PC from 1998-2002. Crooms dished 171 of her 340 assists during her two seasons at Ohio State (2018-20), added 65 at Michigan State (2020-21) and has registered 104 with the Friars (2021-present). Through 113 career games, Crooms has averaged 3.0 assists per contest.

ALL GROWN UP... Last season, the Friars featured one of the youngest rosters in the BIG EAST Conference with six freshmen. Those six players entered the 2022-23 season having earned a wealth of experience, with each player seeing action in 20-or-more games as rookies. Audrey Koch and Olivia Olsen were two of only three players to compete in all 30 games a year ago. Additionally, Emily Archibald, Kylee Sheppard and Koch each started 15-or-more games.

NEWCOMERS... The Friars added two transfers and one freshman to the roster in 2022-23. Graduate student Logan Cook played four seasons at Iowa, during which time the Hawkeyes won two Big Ten titles (2019, 2022) and advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament (2022) and Sweet 16 (2019). She played 53 career games and averaged 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. Junior Brynn Farrell played two seasons at Florida, where she played 28 games for the Gators after being slowed by an injury. She averaged 2.9 points and 1.0 rebound per game and connected on 22-28 free throw attempts in two seasons (.786). Kammie Ludwig is the lone true freshman on the squad and attended Geneseo High School prior to arriving on campus. The 3A All-State selection and IBCA All-State honoree averaged 24.6 points per game as a senior and finished her career as Geneseo's all-time leading scorer (1,881 points).

2021-22 UNANIMOUS BIG EAST ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM HONOREE KYLEE SHEPPARD RETURNS FOR SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN... Kylee Sheppard missed a third of her rookie season with injuries, but still found a way to make a significant impact during her time on the court. She appeared in 20 of the Friars' 30 games and averaged 9.6 points, 3.2 rebounds. 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Sheppard finished the year ranked third on the team in scoring and second in assists and steals. She shot 40.2-percent from the field (68-169), including 24-68 from three-point territory (.353), and recorded eight double-digit scoring games. Sheppard notched 20+ points in two games as a rookie, and both came during BIG EAST regular-season play, including a career-best 22 points against DePaul (Jan. 7) on 9-12 shooting from the field.

HOPING TO PICK UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF... Sophomore Emily Archibald scored a career-high 21 points in the Friars' BIG EAST Tournament game against Georgetown, shooting 7-9 from the floor, including an impressive 6-8 performance from beyond the arc. Her 21 points marked the most by a Providence College freshman and also the most points by a Friar off the bench in a BIG EAST Tournament game since Jennifer Davis '97 scored 23 points against Boston College in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals in 1994.

RAISING THE BAR IN YEAR TWO... Olivia Olsen was one of just three players to appear in all 30 games last season. She averaged just shy of 20 minutes per game as a freshman but took advantage of her time on the court with an impressive stat line. She led the Friars in field-goal percentage and was the only player on the roster to convert better than 50-percent from the floor (.529, 83-157). Olsen finished fifth on the team in scoring (6.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.6 rpg). She compiled eight double-digit scoring games and three double-digit rebounding games last season, including two double-doubles. Six of her double-digit scoring games came during BIG EAST Conference play. The 6-3 forward also led the team in rebounding 11 times, including eight of the last nine games to finish the year. She ranked second on the team in offensive rebounds (60) and recorded a total of 169 rebounds overall. Olsen came off the bench during the first 24 games of the season before finally cracking the starting line-up in the closing stretch of the season.

PRESEASON TUNE-UP... The Friars hosted Southern New Hampshire in an exhibition game on Oct. 25 at Alumni Hall. Providence claimed a 91-43 victory and was led by sophomore forward Olivia Olsen's 23 points and nine rebounds. She shot 10-12 from the field and also added two blocked shots and one steal. Emily Archibald (15), Kylee Sheppard (14), Nariah Scott (10) and Brynn Farrell (10) also recorded double digits in the scoring column. Providence shot 63-percent from the field as a team (38-60), including 50-percent from three-point land (8-16).

BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES' POLL... The Friars were picked to finish eighth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, with 34 points. Connecticut is picked to win the league, having collected 10 first place votes and 100 points overall. Creighton (89 points) and Villanova (83 points; 1 first-place votes) round out the top three spots. Last season, the Friars finished eighth in the 2022 regular-season standings with an 11-19 overall record and a 6-14 mark in the BIG EAST.

FRIARS IN THE POSTSEASON... The Friars' last appeared in the postseason during the 2018-19 campaign. 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 will hit the road for a stretch of three games in seven days against Rhode Island (Nov. 14), Iona (Nov. 17) and Boston College (Nov. 20).

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