Bulldogs look to stay unbeaten in NEC, host Red Flash Monday at 5 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - In the quest to make history, the Bryant University women's basketball team looks for its eighth-straight Northeast Conference win against Saint Francis U. on Monday at 5 p.m. from the Chace Athletic Center. 

THE SERIES
This contest will mark the 12th meeting between the Bulldogs and Red Flash with the series mark in Bryant's favor, 6-5. The Bulldogs won the last two meetings in the 2014-15 season, edging out the Red Flash by single-digit points on both occasions.

SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
The Red Flash remain second in the NEC at 5-2, losing to Central Connecticut, 66-51, in their most recent contest (Jan. 23). Saint Francis U. is strong offensively, scoring 76.6 points per game but give up 79.7 points to the opposition. The Red Flash also holds a negative margin on the boards, allowing their opponents to outrebound them by 8.9 per game. Saint Francis U. grabs an impressive 11.5 steals per game, while averaging 10.3 in conference play. The Red Flash are led offensively by nine-time NEC Rookie of the Week Jessica Kovatch, who averages 23.1 points per game, shooting 45 percent from the line, 40.4 percent from three and 83.3 percent from the charity stripe. The guard totals 416 points on the season, scoring 30.2 percent of the team's points in her 18 starts. The remaining four starters for Saint Francis U. average between 8.1 and 10.5 points per game, proving the Red Flash has an offensively strong unit.

TWO GAMES OUT
The Bulldogs currently sit atop the Northeast Conference with a two-game cushion, after beating Robert Morris, 71-65, along with Saint Francis U. falling to Central Connecticut, 66-51, on Jan. 23. The Colonials and Red Flash are tied for second in the NEC with two losses, respectively.

AMONGST THE FEW
Since joining the NEC, Bryant is now one of only four teams to reach a 7-0 start, including 2012-13 Quinnipiac, who went 18-0 in the conference and won the NEC Championship. The two other teams to go unbeaten in the first seven NEC contests are 2010-11 Robert Morris (7-0) and 2011-12 Sacred Heart (7-0).

LESS THAN 70+
When holding opponents to less than 70 points, the Bulldogs are 9-1 but when they allow more than the 70-point threshold, the team is 1-7, showing that Bryant is able to win games on the defensive side of the ball.

OUTSCORING THE OPPOSITION
After defeating Robert Morris (Jan. 23), the Bulldogs remain on the positive side of the point differential spectrum after reversing their negative point deficit set during nonconference games. Bryant now average +0.7 more points than their opponents after digging themselves out of a 36-point hole, following the first game of the season against Seton Hall (11/13/15). The Bulldogs were able to do so by dominating in league play, averaging 15.3 more points than their competitors.

CENTER STAGE
Bryant's game against Robert Morris marked the fifth time the Black and Gold appeared on ESPN3 in Division I, posting a 2-3 record on the broadcast. The Bulldogs' win over Robert Morris on Jan. 23 became the first time Bryant had overcome the Colonials in front of a national audience, after the Colonials previously handed the Bulldogs all three of their national broadcast defeats. The losses include the NEC Semifinal contests on March 12, 2014 (72-67) and March 11, 2015 (68-62). The Colonials' third win over the Bulldogs on ESPN3 came during the 2013-14 regular season, where they won, 73-62, in Smithfield. Bryant's only other national broadcast win came at Fairleigh Dickinson on Feb. 16, 2015, when the Bulldogs took it, 63-61.

THREE-BALL QUEEN
Despite her recent struggle from downtown, senior Tiersa Winder's three against St. Francis Brooklyn (Jan. 18) matched the program's Division I record for most career 3-pointers at 132. Winder ties Katie Whittington (2009-13), who shot 34 percent from behind the arc in her four years in Smithfield.