Women's Basketball | 2/16/2024 9:46:00 AM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University women's basketball team ends the regular season this Saturday with the "Battle of the Beaks" against the Nazareth University Golden Flyers. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 P.M. at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym. 
 
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Last Time Out
The Cardinals saw their 18-game win streak end last Thursday at Houghton, 65-58. The program's first conference loss since 2021, the Cardinals fell behind in the second quarter and could not come back. Freshman forward Joleen Lusk scored 18 points with 15 rebounds in the defeat.
 
Know Your Foe
Separated by less than two miles, St. John Fisher and Nazareth have been natural rivals since both schools co-ed in the 1970s. Since their first meeting in the 1974-75 season, the Cardinals hold an all-time series record of 72-20, including a 30-13 record since 2006. Fisher beat Nazareth on the Golden Flyers' home court earlier this season, 69-62. 
 
Nazareth is led by Molly Benetti, who leads the Empire 8 with a .585 field goal percentage and in blocked shots per game (2.7). She also stands sixth in the conference with 14.2 points per game. Other notable players for Nazareth include Kiara Anglin (fourth in the conference with 7.5 rebounds per game) and Olivia Dobrovosky (second in the conference in field goal percentage with .498, second in assists per game with 3.3). 
 
Fun fact: Nazareth is the alma mater of former NBA coach and broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy. 
 
Road Wrap-Up
The Cardinals' regular season road schedule is in the books, and the team finished with a 10-2 mark. That record goes up to 14-2 when including neutral-site games. 
 
Yoink!
Senior guard Claire Kruszka leads the Empire 8 in total steals (67) and steals-per-game (2.7). In addition, while she has caused plenty of turnovers for Fisher opponents, she hasn't had many herself: she leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio, with 1.9 assists for every turnover. 
 
Player to Watch
As she nears the end of her first regular season as a Cardinal, freshman forward Joleen Lusk remains one of the top rookies in the conference. On Monday, the 6'2" graduate of Cherry Valley Springfield won her fifth Rookie of the Week award of the season after averaging 22 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and 1.5 steals in a pair of games. She continues to lead the conference in rebounds (244 total, 9.8 per game) and is third in field goal percentage (.470), fourth in points per game (14.8), and fourth in blocks per game (1.5)
 
Up Next/Conference Tournament Scenarios
Who and where the Cardinals play next depends on the season's final games throughout the Empire 8. Fisher has already clinched either the first or second seed in the Empire 8 tournament, meaning they will have a bye straight into the conference semifinals. The question remains whether the Cardinals will have a one-seed and thus a guaranteed home-court advantage throughout the tourney. 
 
Should St. John Fisher defeat Nazareth on Saturday, the math is simple: the Cardinals would be 15-1 in conference play and have the number one seed due to having the best record.
It becomes more complicated should Fisher lose on Saturday, as they and Nazareth would be 14-2 in conference play. A series of tiebreakers would then go into effect. The first tiebreaker, head-to-head, wouldn't matter, as the teams would have split their meetings, 1-1. 
 
The next tiebreaker- Empire 8 opponents besides each other- also wouldn't decide it, as both teams went 1-1 against Houghton and 2-0 against everyone else. Similarly, the squads would have identical road records in the Empire 8. 
 
Ultimately, the tiebreaker would only be broken by comparing the NCAA strength of schedule index within the region. As of Wednesday, the Cardinals are currently winning that with a strength-of-schedule of .504 to Nazareth's .499. While it is unlikely that Nazareth will be able to overcome Fisher, it also can't be ruled out, so the easiest way to ensure a top seed in the Empire 8 tournament remains to beat Nazareth on Saturday.
 
However, Fisher's next game will be Thursday, Feb. 22, regardless of the seeding, at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym. Game time will be 6:30p.m., against the winner of one of Tuesday's quarterfinal games. 
 
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