Saturday Showdown Features Women’s Basketball at St. Joseph (Conn.)

BOSTON – After tallying a mark in the win column to open 2017, the Suffolk women's basketball remains on the road and returns to GNAC competition Saturday, Jan. 7 as the Rams travel to St. Joseph (Conn.) for a 1 p.m. tilt.     

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LAST TIME OUT
Kelsey Schiebel had a career day, pouring in 29 points to lead the Suffolk women's basketball team to a 77-62 victory over Pine Manor at Brunelli Court Thursday afternoon.    

MORE READING: Schiebel Sends Women's Basketball Over Pine Manor, 77-62

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
Suffolk moved one game ahead of .500 with the 77-62 win over Pine Manor Jan. 5 to take a 6-5 overall record into Saturday's showdown with the Blue Jays. The Rams split their two conference contests this season, falling at Emmanuel, 75-63, and edging Johnson & Wales, 61-60, to bring a 1-1 league ledger to Connecticut. 

The Rams' magic number is 70 as the blue and gold has not dropped a contest when scoring 70-plus points this season. Suffolk's average is slightly lower, however, at 66.5 points per game, which lands third in the GNAC, on a 38.7 connection rate from the floor. When hot the Rams are potent with the long ball, producing a 34.1 percentage from three-point range and are consistent on the charity stripe shooting 67.0 percent on freebies. 

The senior tandem of Georgia Bourikas and Kelsey Schiebel lead the charge offensively for the Rams. The former puts in 11.1 ppg, while the later contributes 10.5 ppg. 

Suffolk continues to soar on the defensive end, outrebounding its opponents by a 6.4 margin, a number good for second in the league. The Rams' 38.2 rpg, meanwhile, sits fourth amongst their conference counterparts. Freshman Katelyn Rourke is Suffolk's main force on the glass grabbing a team-best 7.7 rpg with junior Caitlyn Caramello registering 7.4 boards per outing. 

BIT BOUT THE BLUE JAYS
St. Joseph is on a bit of a win streak as of late, taking its last three contests to move to .500 (5-5) on the season. The Blue Jays have not been as successful against conference competition, however, as they fell to Albertus Magnus, 89-66, and Emmanuel, 82-59, to remain winless in league play (0-2). 

USJCT brings in the third highest scoring offense in the GNAC into Saturday's meeting with 68.6 ppg on the league's best shooting percentage from the field, 40.8. Carlee Putnam is not only the Blue Jays top scorer, but the conference's with the senior guard producing 17.6 ppg. Her backcourt counterpart Rajeen Mayo is fifth in the league with 16.6 ppg with Kayla Guest also adding double figures in 12.4 ppg. 

The Blue Jays defense is not as successful as their offense as opponents have won the battle on the boards by a 5.5 margin. USJCT is grabbing 41.7 rebounds per game thanks to a team-high 7.8 rpg-effort from Guest. 

THE SERIES
Since the 1997-98 season, Suffolk has dominated the series with St. Joseph, owning a 17-2 record against the Blue Jays include a current 10-game streak. 

EYES ON THE GAME
  

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Suffolk's freshman class has dominated the GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week as of late with the Rams taking the last four weekly accolades. Overall, Alexis Hackett, who garnered the honor three times including back-to-back honors Dec. 12 and Jan. 3, and Katelyn Rourke, who picked up her first collegiate nod Dec. 5, have taken home 80 percent (4-5) of the conference's best rookie over a seven day stretch accolades this season.

MORE READING: Hackett Named GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week | Rourke Picks Up GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week Nod| Hackett Collects Second GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week | Hackett Grabs Third GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week Honor

BEST ROOK IN NEW ENGLAND
After collecting her second GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week accolade Dec. 12, Alexis Hackett added more hardware to her growing collection as the freshman was named New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) Rookie of the Week the same day the association announced.

MORE READING: Awards Roll in for Hackett, Named NEWBA Rookie of the Week

Suffolk Athletics has teamed up with Suffolk Free Radio to bring Ram Nation live broadcast events this year including multiple home and away women's basketball contests.

The pre-game shows are set to launch 15 minutes prior to tip-off of all contests and fans can follow along at mixlr.com/suffolkfreeradio/.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk closes out its 2017 opening road stretch Tuesday, Jan. 10 when the Rams visit Anna Maria for a 5 p.m. tip-off.