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The Game
Stonehill closes out a stretch in which it has played five of six games on the road in Northeast Conference play with its longest road trip of the season as it visits Saint Francis (Pa.) University for an NEC matchup tonight. The Skyhawks are looking to rebound from a 66-61 setback at first place Sacred Heart on Saturday, while the Red Flash are in the midst of a four-game homestand and aim to build off a 63-57 victory over Central Connecticut State here at DeGol Arena on Saturday.  

Media Information
Tonight's game will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row. Preston Shoemaker (play-by-play) and Bernie Jubeck (analyst) will have the call for Saint Francis. The broadcast can be accessed via stonehillskyhawks.com through its NEC Front Row portal (necfrontrow.com/schools/SC) or through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku via the NEC On the Run App.

Last Time Out
Sacred Heart held off a fourth quarter comeback effort from Stonehill to secure a 66-61 victory and keep pace atop the Northeast Conference standings at the William H. Pitt Center. Freshman Ny'Ceara Pryor scored 13 second half points, shaking off first half foul trouble to finish with a team-high 17 points for Sacred Heart, converting 9-of-11 free-throws as she drew 11 fouls herself, adding six rebounds, six assists and four steals. She scored 11 points in the fourth quarter alone, aided by 7-of-8 free-throw shooting, drawing eight fouls in the final frame. Fifth-year Emily Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) led all scorers in the game with 25 points for Stonehill, including 14 in the second half to fuel the comeback effort, on 7-of-14 shooting, including 5-for-11 from three-point distance, with two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Classmate Sophie Glidden (Scarborough, Maine) posted a double-double with ten points and a game-high 12 rebounds (four offensive), with three assists.

Against the Red Flash
Tonight marks the second regular season meeting of the year between Stonehill and Saint Francis as well as just the second meeting all-time between the two programs. The Red Flash won the inaugural meeting between the two with a 56-52 decision in Easton, Mass., on January 6. Thursday night marks the Skyhawks first-ever visit to Loretto and head coach Trisha Brown is 0-1 in her career against Saint Francis, while Red Flash head coach Keila Washington is 1-0 against Stonehill after the January win.   

Last Time They Met
Saint Francis held Stonehill to 26-percent shooting in the second half and turned back a fourth quarter comeback to secure a 56-52 victory in their first NEC clash of the year at Merkert Gym in Easton, Mass., on January 6. Layla Laws came off the bench to lead a balanced Saint Francis effort with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, with six rebounds and two steals. Her second half triple gave the Red Flash a nine-point cushion (45-36) with 1:20 to play in the third quarter. Fifth-year Emily Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) was the lone double-figure scorer for Stonehill with a game-high 17 points, including 11 in the second half, as she converted 7-of-8 free-throws to go with four rebounds, an assist and blocked shot.   

Prime Performer
Fifth-year Emily Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) earned Northeast Conference Prime Performer status for a team-leading eighth time this season on Monday. She led all scorers at Sacred Heart on Saturday in Stonehill's lone game of the week, with 25 points, including 14 in the second half to fuel a Skyhawks comeback effort from a 14-point third quarter deficit, on 7-of-14 shooting, including 5-for-11 from three-point distance, with two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Bramanti, who has collected all eight of her Prime Performer selection, as well as a pair of NEC Player of the Week honors, over the last nine weeks, is one of four Skyhawks to be named an NEC Prime Performer in Stonehill's first season in the Conference. She has been joined by postgrad Maddie Loder (Independence, Minn.), fifth-year Sophie Glidden (Scarborough, Maine) and senior Mia Kelly (South Hadley, Mass.) in earning the recognition with two selections apiece.

NEC Prime performers:
Nov. 14: Maddie Loder
Nov. 28: Sophie Glidden
Dec. 5: Emily Bramanti & Mia Kelly
Dec. 12: Emily Bramanti
Dec. 19: Emily Bramanti
Dec. 26: Emily Bramanti & Mia Kelly
Jan. 3: Emily Bramanti & Sophie Glidden
Jan. 9: Emily Bramanti
Jan. 18: Maddie Loder
Jan. 23: Emily Bramanti
Jan. 30: Emily Bramanti

Counting Down
Stonehill fifth-year Emily Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) enters tonight's game having scored 975 points in 100 career games played as she aims to become the program's 34th 1,000-point scorer. She looks to become Stonehill's first 1,000-point scorer since former teammate and All-American Kayla Raymond '22 reached the milestone against Saint Anselm at Merkert Gym on February 5, 2022. Bramanti is also three three-point field goals from cracking Stonehill's career top ten list in that category having made 142 three-pointers over her career - trailing Kelly Martin, '18 (145) for tenth all-time.

100 games, 100 steals
Stonehill fifth-year Emily Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) collected her 100th career steal in her 100th career game at Sacred Heart on Saturday, finishing with a pair in the contest. She leads the Skyhawks with her 20 steals this season.

They Are Free. Throws.
Stonehill ranks third among NEC free-throw leaders in Conference play, converting at 71-percent in its eight NEC games to date. The Skyhawks rank third among Conference leaders overall at 71.1-percent for the season. Postgrad Maddie Loder (Independence, Minn.) ranks fifth among NE10 leaders, shooting 82.4-percent at the line (42-51), while senior Mia Kelly (South Hadley, Mass.) ranks eighth at 72.1-percent (44-for-61), and fifth-year Emily Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) ranks tenth at 69.9-percent (51-for-73) - fourth among NEC players with 50-plus made free-throws this season. Loder and Bramanti are both ranked second for free-throw percentage in NEC play, each having converted 82.1% (23-28) in league action.

"So You Want to be a Coach?"
Stonehill fifth-year Emily Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) was named as a member of the WBCA's 20th "So You Want To Be A Coach" class the organization announced on Tuesday. Bramanti is the first student-athlete in program history selected to participate in the program and the lone Northeast Conference representative among the 62 selections across all levels of women's college basketball. In its 20th year, the "So" program increases the understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women's basketball, increases the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching, introduces female basketball players to coaches and administrators, and raises awareness of the existing talent pool of female basketball players who have a passion and interest in coaching the game of women's basketball. Each participant is selected based on her academics, contributions to women's basketball on and off the court, professional resume and a written recommendation from their head coach. The "So You Want To Be A Coach" program, in partnership with WeCOACH, will be held over two days during the 2023 WBCA Convention in Dallas, Texas, March 30-31.

In Transition
Stonehill announced it had accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference and commence a four-year transition to full NCAA Division I membership on April 5. The Skyhawks started their four-year transition on July 1 and will earn full NCAA Division I membership in 2026-27. At the June NEC meetings, the Conference presidents announced a shift in the waiting period for automatic qualifier sports from competing for NEC postseason championships from four to two years, making Stonehill eligible to compete in the NEC postseason starting in 2024-25.

Getting Social
Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics have multiple social media outlets to get updates on all 21 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @GoStonehill on Twitter and @stonehillskyhawks via Instagram!  Stonehill women's basketball is also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StonehillCollegeWomensBasketball, Twitter and Instagram by following @stonehillwbb. You can even follow head coach Trisha Brown on Twitter via @CoachTB_SC.

Up Next
Stonehill is right back in action back in Easton, Mass., on Saturday to host St. Francis Brooklyn for its Equity and Inclusion Awareness Game to help tip off Black History Month with the College's Athletics Task Force to Address Racial Injustice at Merkert Gymnasium at 2 p.m.