PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY: After extending its winning streak to three games, Seattle University returns home and welcomes Colorado State for a Sunday matinee at the Connolly Center. The Redhawks are looking for their second four-game winning streak of the season, while the Rams look to win back-to-back road games. Seattle U has already defeated one school from the Mountain West Conference this season.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
Seattle University
- G: #1 Sylvia Shephard - 5-10 - So. - 6.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.3 spg
- G: #5 Elle Kerfoot - 5-7 - Sr. - 8.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.2 apg
- G: #11 Talisa Rhea - 5-11 - Sr.- 13.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.6 apg
- F: #14 Ashley Ward - 5-11 - So. - 10.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 85.2% FT
- C: #41 Kacie Sowell - 6-2 - So. - 13.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 61.4% FG
THE IDAHO GAME: Overcoming a slow start, Seattle University extended its winning streak to three games with an 80-72 victory over the Idaho Vandals Thursday evening at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho. Five players scored in double figures for Seattle U, led by Kacie Sowell with 17 points and eight rebounds. Talisa Rhea finished with 13 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals, while Ashley Ward earned 12 points and five rebounds, Sylvia Shephard contributed 11 points, six rebounds, and three steals, and Daidra Brown came off the bench and added 10 points. Down by 11 with 7:40 left in the first half, Seattle U chipped away at the Vandal lead, going on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to close the gap to three at 28-25. Back-to-back three-pointers by Elle Kerfoot and Ward, plus a free throw by Ward, pulled the Redhawks into a 61-61 tie halfway through the second half. Alyssa Charlston and Ganeaya Rogers combined to score Idaho's next six points to put the Vandals back on top, 67-63, but Seattle U scored 10 unanswered points, half of them by Shephard, to take the lead for good.
SCOUTING COLORADO STATE: The Rams come into Sunday's game with a 4-10 overall record, snapping a three-game losing streak with a 65-63 victory at CSU Bakersfield Wednesday. That was Colorado State's first road victory of the season. The Rams are scoring 58.6 points per game and giving up 62.2 points per contest. As a team, Colorado State is shooting 41.5 percent from the field, including 28.8 percent from behind the three-point line, and 75.5 percent from the free throw line, 26th in Division I in that category. Kim Mestdagh leads the team with 14.0 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. Sam Martin is second on the squad in both scoring and rebounding with 13.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while Meghan Heimstra is contributing 8.1 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game. This will be the first meeting all-time between Seattle U and Colorado State.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Kacie Sowell is currently seventh in the nation in field goal percentage, hitting 61.4 percent of her field goal attempts. By hitting 85.2 percent of her free throw attempts, Ashley Ward is 51st in Division I in free throw percentage, while Talisa Rhea is tied for 23rd in the country in assists per game (5.6).
GETTING CLOSER: Elle Kerfoot is five three-pointers away from Seattle U's career record for made three-pointers, currently held by Ashley Payne with 168. Kerfoot is also 73 points away from becoming the 11th player in Seattle U women's basketball history to score at least 1,000 points in a career. She moved into 10th place on the school's all-time assists list with 276, passing Donna DeWald's total of 275.
SEEING DOUBLE: Kacie Sowell has scored in double figures in every game so far this season. Sowell has notched five double-doubles through the first 15 games of the 2011-12 campaign. Talisa Rhea has reached double figures in scoring in 13 games, including the last 10 contests, while Sylvia Shephard has scored in double digits in the last three games.