Providence College Athletics
Providence College
Connecticut
Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. No. 7/8 Connecticut
2/26/2022 5:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Friars conclude the regular-season schedule at Gampel Pavilion to face the Huskies on CBS Sports Network.
FRIARS CONCLUDE REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE WITH SHORT TRIP TO GAMPEL PAVILION... Providence College will conclude the regular-season schedule against the No. 7/8 Connecticut Huskies at Gampel Pavilion. The Friars will take the 50-mile trip to Storrs, Conn. for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off. The game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.
FAMILIAR FOE... The Friars and Huskies have met 63 times during the history of the two women's basketball programs. Sunday's meeting marks just the third game 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, 42-21, including victories in each of the last 30 meetings. The Huskies hold a 37-11 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.
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.
FIRST MEETING OF THE 2021-22 SEASON SERIES... Junior guard Janai Crooms scored a career-high 27 points in the first meeting of the season between Providence and Connecticut on Jan. 30 at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. Despite Crooms' offensive outburst and a solid defensive effort from the Friars overall, Connecticut held on for a 69-61 victory. Crooms shot 73-percent from the field (8-11), including a 3-4 performance from three-point territory. She also hit 8-10 free throws in the game. Freshman Nariah Scott added nine points, five rebounds and three steals for the Friars. Senior Mary Baskerville and Alyssa Geary were saddled with foul trouble during the game, and combined for a total of seven points. Christyn Williams paced UConn with 19 points and seven rebounds. The Friars outscored the Huskies in points off of turnovers (20-10), points in the paint (28-24) and second-chance points (11-7). Providence committed a season-low 12 turnovers in the game, while forcing the Huskies into 16 miscues. Connecticut held a 31-29 advantage in rebounding. Twelve of the Friars' 29 boards came off of the offensive glass.
JANAI CROOMS IN THE BIG EAST... Janai Crooms entered the weekend as the only player in the BIG EAST who is ranked inside the top-15 in the league in scoring (11th) and inside the top-10 in each of the following statistical categories: rebounding (5th), assists (8th), steals (9th), blocked shots (4th), offensive rebounds (5th) and defensive rebounds (6th). UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Villanova's Brianna Herlihy are the only other players that meet those statistical standards/rankings, with the exception of scoring. Nelson-Ododa ranks 29th (9.8 ppg) and Herlihy ranks 25th (10.8 ppg).
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 are ranked second in the BIG EAST in field-goal percentage defense (.366), trailing only UConn (.364). Providence has held 18 of their 28 opponents below 40-percent from the field this season and have compiled a 10-8 record in those games. Additionally, the Friars ranks 47th in the nation (among 348 ranked teams) in field-goal percentage defense.
GETTING TO THE FINISH LINE IN CLOSE GAMES... The Friars are 4-8 this season in games decided by 10 points or less, including three-straight losses by 10-or-less in the last three games.
CLEANING THE GLASS... Providence has recorded 40+ rebounds in 13 of its 28 games, including three games with 50+ boards. Providence hauled in a season-high 53 rebounds against St. John's on Feb. 20. 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 ranks fourth 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 (6.0 bpg) and second in the nation in total blocks (168). Mary Baskerville leads the Friars with an average of 2.0 rejections per game. Five players on the team have cracked double-digits in blocked shots and have combined for 138 of the Friars' 168 rejections overall: Baskerville (42), Janai Crooms (31), Alyssa Geary (31), Olivia Olsen (25) and Emily Archibald (11).Â
FRIARS' HAVE RECORDED SECOND HIGHEST BLOCK TOTAL IN PROGRAM HISTORY... The Friars have recorded 168 blocked shots this season. The Friars' 168 blocked shots are the second-highest total in program history for a single season. The record for blocked shots was set in 1977-78 (190).Â
190 Â Â Â 1977-78
168Â 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 23rd among NCAA Division I active career leaders in blocked shots (182) and 25th blocks per game (1.75). She also ranks second among active career leaders in the BIG EAST Conference, only trailing UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
MARY BASKERVILLE WORKING HER WAY UP THE FRIARS' ALL-TIME SCORING LIST... Mary Baskerville currently owns 1,075 career points and ranks 28th on the Friars' all-time scoring list. With her eight points against Marquette on Feb. 25, Baskerville passed fellow Connecticut native Symone Roberts '13 (1,074 points).
MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS 13th ALL-TIME AT PROVIDENCE IN CAREER REBOUNDS... Senior Mary Baskerville ranks 13th all-time in career boards at Providence with 718. With her nine boards against Marquette on Feb. 25, Baskerville passed Mary Casey '79 (710).
JANAI CROOMS RANKS 12TH AT PROVIDENCE CAREER ASSISTS... Janai Crooms owns 333 career assists and ranks 12th on the Friars' all-time list. In 110 career games, Crooms is averaging 3.0 assists per game.Â
1,000-POINT MILESTONE LOOMING FOR CROOMS... Janai Crooms enters the final game of the 2021-22 season with 956 career points. She needs 44 points to become the 37th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. 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.
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 will begin BIG EAST Tournament action on Friday, March 4 as part of the first round. The tournament will be held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Providence will claim either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the tournament, which places them in the 11:00 a.m. game on Friday.
