Providence College Athletics
Providence College
Seton Hall
Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. Seton Hall
2/17/2022 3:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Friars head to Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J. to face Seton Hall on Friday, Feb. 18.
PROVIDENCE TIPS-OFF WEEKEND SLATE AGAINST SETON HALL... Providence will tip-off it's weekend slate against Seton Hall on Friday, Feb. 18 at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network via FloSports.
FRIARS AND PIRATES ALL-TIME... Providence and Seton Hall have met 73 times during the history of the two women's basketball programs. The Pirates lead the all-time series, 43-30, including victories in each of the last five games.
LAST TIME PROVIDENCE DEFEATED SETON HALL... Providence last defeated Seton Hall on Feb. 8, 2019. On that day, the Friars earned an 82-75 victory at Alumni Hall.
PROVIDENCE VS. SETON HALL AT WALSH GYMNASIUM... The Friars and Pirates have played 32 games at Walsh Gymnasium. Seton Hall leads the series against Providence on its home court, 22-10, including nine-straight wins heading into Friday's match-up.
LAST TIME PROVIDENCE DEFEATED SETON HALL AT WALSH GYMNASIUM... Providence last defeated Seton Hall at Walsh Gymnasium on Feb. 6, 2011. On that day, the Friars claimed a 58-55 win.
RECENT HISTORY... Seton Hall has posted an 18-2 record vs. Providence over the course of the last 20 meetings dating back to Feb. 20, 2013. During that stretch, the Friars' only two victories came at Alumni Hall / Mullaney Gymnasium in Providence, R.I. During the 20-game sample, Seton Hall swept all nine games at Walsh Gymnasium, claimed a 7-2 mark at Alumni Hall and a 2-0 record at neutral sites during BIG EAST Tournament action.
OLIVIA OLSEN EARNS HER WAY INTO THE STARTING LINE-UP... Freshman Olivia Olsen has been providing a spark for Providence off the bench this season, and finally cracked the starting line-up for the first time on Feb. 16 at Butler. In 25 games overall, she is shooting an efficient 58-percent from the field (72-124) and averaging 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Olsen has reached double figures in the scoring column in three of the last four games. During the four-game stretch, she is averaging 11.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.0 blocked shots and 1.0 assist per game, while shooting 19-34 from the floor (.559). She's been tough on the glass at both ends of the floor, as 14 of her 37 rebounds in the last four games have been offensive boards.
ROAD WARRIORS... The Friars will play four of their last five games on the road. Providence just faced Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Feb. 16, which started a stretch of three road games in five days. After facing Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J. on Friday night, Providence will remain on the road to face St. John's on Sunday.
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.
FRIARS HAVE RECORDED MOST WINS IN BIG EAST PLAY SINCE 2018-19... Providence enters Friday's game against Seton Hall with a 6-10 record in the BIG EAST. It marks the most league wins for PC since the 2018-19 campaign, when it claimed an 8-10 mark. Four of the Friars' 10 losses in BIG EAST play this season have been decided by single digits, including two games by three-points-or-less.
PROVIDENCE COMING OFF 69-41 WIN AT BUTLER... The Friars recently defeated Butler on Feb. 16 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, 69-41. It marked Providence's second-largest margin of victory this season (+28), having previously beaten Monmouth by 30 during non-conference action (64-34). Providence shot just 4-16 from the field in the first quarter (.250), but combined to shoot 21-40 (.525) over the final three quarters to run away down the stretch. Three Friars reached double figures in the scoring column, led by Janai Crooms' 17 points. Alyssa Geary added 11 points, while Grace Efosa contributed a career-best 10 points and grabbed a season-high five rebounds. Providence took advantage of 22 Butler miscues and out-scored the Bulldogs 24-5 in points off turnovers. Meanwhile, the Friars committed a season-low 10 turnovers.
JANAI CROOMS IN THE BIG EAST... Janai Crooms is the only player in the BIG EAST that is ranked inside the top-15 in the league in scoring (13th) and inside the top-10 in each of the following categories: blocked shots (4th), rebounding (5th), assists (7th), steals (7th). UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa is the closest to matching that type of statistical impact, but falls short in the scoring category (t-27). Otherwise, she ranks first in blocked shots, sixth in assists and steals and fourth in rebounding.
DEFENSE... The Friars have held seven opponents to 50 points or less this season, including four BIG EAST opponents: Villanova (47), Xavier (49), St. John's (49) and Butler (41). The Friars are 7-0 in those games overall, with a 4-0 mark in the BIG EAST Conference.Â
FRIARS RANK SECOND IN THE BIG EAST IN FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE... The Friars rank second in the BIG EAST in field-goal percentage defense (.369). They have held 16 of their 25 opponents below 40-percent from the field this season and have compiled a 10-6 record in those games.
CLEANING THE GLASS... Providence has recorded 40+ rebounds in 12 of its 25 games, including two games with 50+ boards. Last year, Providence eclipsed 40 rebounds in just one game (49 vs. Butler, 3/5/21).Â
DOUBLE-TROUBLE... Janai Crooms leads the Friars and is tied for third in the BIG EAST with six double-doubles. Mary Baskerville (2), Olivia Olsen (2) 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 fifth in the BIG EAST among active players.
FRIARS AMONG THE TOP SHOT-BLOCKING TEAMS IN THE NATION... The Friars lead the BIG EAST and rank third in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.2 bpg) and second in the nation in total blocks (155). Mary Baskerville leads the Friars with an average of 2.11 rejections per game. Five players on the team have cracked double-digits in blocked shots and have combined for 129 of the Friars' 155 rejections overall: Baskerville (38), Janai Crooms (30), Alyssa Geary (29), Olivia Olsen (23) and Emily Archibald (11).Â
FRIARS' HAVE RECORDED SECOND HIGHEST BLOCK TOTAL IN PROGRAM HISTORY... The Friars have recorded 155 blocked shots this season, with four regular-season games left on the schedule. The Friars' 155 blocked shots are the second-highest total in program history for a single season. The single-season record for blocked shots was set in 1977-78 (190).Â
190 Â Â Â 1977-78
155Â Â Â 2021-22
152 Â Â Â 1983-84
151 Â Â Â 2008-09
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... Mary Baskerville ranks 24th among NCAA Division I active career leaders in blocked shots, with 178. She also ranks second among active career leaders in the BIG EAST Conference, only trailing UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa (244).
MARY BASKERVILLE WORKING HER WAY UP THE FRIARS' ALL-TIME SCORING LIST... Mary Baskerville currently owns 1,052 career points and ranks 29th on the Friars' all-time scoring list. Baskerville needs just four points to take sole possession of 28th place, currently held by Mary Ellen Buchanan '79 (1,055).
MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS 14th ALL-TIME AT PROVIDENCE IN CAREER REBOUNDS... Senior Mary Baskerville ranks 14th all-time in career boards at Providence with 693. She needs 18 rebounds to take sole possession of 13th place, currently held by Mary Casey '79 (710).
JANAI CROOMS RANKS 12TH AT PROVIDENCE CAREER ASSISTS... Janai Crooms owns 325 career assists and ranks 12th on the Friars' all-time list. In 107 career games, Crooms is averaging 3.0 assists per game.Â
1,000-POINT MILESTONE LOOMING FOR CROOMS... Janai Crooms enters the weekend with 918 career points. She needs 82 points to become the 36th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. The Friars have four regular-season games and a minimum of one BIG EAST Tournament game remaining on the schedule. For Crooms to reach the milestone during the closing stretch, she would need to average 16.4 points per game. Crooms has one year of eligibility remaining after the 2021-22 season.
FLIRTING WITH THE PROGRAM'S FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE... Janai Crooms has narrowly missed out on a bid for a triple-double in four 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. Most recently, Crooms put up 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists against Butler (Feb. 11). In the program's 48-year existence, a Friar has never recorded a triple-double.
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 14 games for Providence and has played in 16 games overall. In a small sample size of the season, she has played a key role and currently ranks second on the team in scoring (10.8 ppg) and assists (2.4 apg) and first in steals (1.8 spg). She also contributes 3.6 rebounds per game. She has reached double digits in the scoring column eight 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. For the season, Sheppard is shooting 43.4-percent from the floor (62-143), including 40.4-percent from three (23-57).
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 complete their three-game road trip at St. John's on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network via FloSports.
