The Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team will play two games this week. On Tuesday, the Owls will travel to Manchester, N.H. for a 5:30 p.m. showing with the Hawks of Saint Anselm. Then, on Saturday, the Owls will host Stonehill College at Moore Field House for a 1:30 p.m. tip off with the Skyhawks.

ALL-TIME VS. SAINT ANSELM
Southern Connecticut leads Saint Anselm in the all-time series, 16-7.
Last Meeting: The Hawks took the 68-51 victory at Moore Field House the last time these two teams met.
 
ALL-TIME VS. STONEHILL
The Skyhawks lead the all-time series with the Owls, 14-12.
Last Meeting: The last time these two clubs squared off was in the NE10 Quarterfinals last season, where the Owls took a 62-60 win in North Easton, Mass.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Africa Williams led the Owls in points with 15 in their 62-53 loss to Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday. She was the only Owl in double digits in the contest.
• The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Owls.
 
LEADERS OF THE SOUTHWEST
At the halfway point of the season, the Owls sit on top of the NE10 Southwest Division with a conference record of 6-2.

 A FINE END TO THE MONTH OF DECEMBER
• The Owls defeated No 8 nationally ranked STAC, Division I squad Rhode Island and NYIT during the final 12 days of December to cap off a great first half of the season.
• Abby Hurlbert broke a career-high in points (24) for the second straight game in the win over STAC.
• Kiana Steinauer collected her sixth (10 points, 14 rebounds) and seventh (11 points and 10 rebounds) double-doubles of the season against STAC and NYIT, respectively.
• Imani Wheeler broke her career-high in steals with five during the win over NYIT.
 
HURLBERT GARNERS NE10 WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Abby Hurlbert was named to the NE10 Conference honor roll on Jan. 2 after leading the Owls in points during the Owls last three matches of 2017. She collected a career-high 24 points in win over No. 8 STAC, 13 points in win over Division I squad Rhode Island and 12 points in win over NYIT.

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
The 24-point effort by Abby Hurlbert and 21-point showing from Africa Williams against STAC marked the first time this year that the Owls had two players score at least 20 points in the same game. The last occurrence took place back on Feb. 7 when Murphy Murad tallied 21 points and Maria Weselyj 20 in a game against AIC.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN
Africa Williams knocked down a half-dozen three-pointers in the win over STAC. It marked the first time this year that an Owl made six or more three-pointers in a game. The last time such a feat took place was on Dec. 10, 2016 when Taylor McLaughlin hit seven three-pointers in a win at LeMoyne.

NUMBER ONE
Kiana Steinauer is second in the NE10 with an average of 10.9 rebounds per game.

OWLS SEVENTH IN D2SIDA POLL
Southern Connecticut holds the No. 7 position in the most recent D2SIDA Regional poll, as voted on by the region's sports information directors. Wins over Division I Rhode Island and regional foe New York Tech allowed the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team to jump one spot in the poll.

HURLBERT NAMED TO WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Abby Hurlbert was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll for her performance in the Owls win over Felician on Dec. 13. Hurlbert led the Owls offense to a 70-64 win over the Golden Falcons. She shot 53.8% (7-13) from the field and 57.1% (4-7) from the three-point mark. Hurlbert collected the first double-double of her collegiate career with 11 rebounds and a career-high 21 points, while also tying a career-high in steals with four.

STEINAUER KEEPS AT IT
Sophomore Kiana Steinauer has enjoyed a fine start to the 2017-18 season. She was named to the NE10 Conference weekly honor roll and recognized for the fourth time this season by the conference after she averaged 10.5 points per game and 16.0 rebounds per game, while collecting 21 points and 32 rebounds in total in the games against AIC and Pace. She also tallied her fifth double-double of the year against AIC with 19 rebounds and 12 points.

DYNAMIC DUO
The pairing of Kiana Steinauer and Africa Williams has proven to be a force for the Owls early this season. Steinauer is averaging 10.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, while Williams has posted averages of 10.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

CAREER-NIGHT FOR PFOHL
Amanda Pfohl came off the bench to post a career-high 12 points in the Owls' contest against AIC on Dec. 5.

LENDING A HAND
Southern currently has six players with at least 19 assists this season, and five with at least 20.  Murphy Murad has 40 to lead the Owls.

STEINAUER NAMED NE10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kiana Steinauer averaged 19.0 points per game and 15.5 rebounds per game to earn NE10 Player of the Week honors on Dec. 4.
 
STEINAUER STAYS HOT
Kiana Steinauer broke three records in the Owls' 68-63 victory over Adelphi. She tallied 23 rebounds and broke an SCSU all-time single-game rebounds record set in 2015 by Jackie Beathea (22). Steinauer also broke two career-best records in rebounds (23) and points (23). Her career-high single game rebound total (15) was set on January 28, 2017, while her career-high single game point total (21) came on January 10, 2017. 

OWLS CONTINUE SURGE
While on the road for five games straight, the Owls were able to collect three conference wins and stretched their winning streak to six in a row. 

SURGING STEINAUER
Kiana Steinauer was named to the NE10 honor roll for the second week in a row on Nov. 27. Steinauer collected her third double-double of the year against Dominican on November 26, while tallying 28 points and 20 rebounds last week to earn a place on the honor roll. 

OWLS KEEP ROLLIN'
With a 65-43 win over Dominican on November 26, the Owls earned their fourth straight win to improve to a 4-2 overall.

STEINAUER TO WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Kiana Steinauer was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll for her play in the Owls games the week of November 12. She led the Owls with 29 points and 26 rebounds in two conference victories. 

DOUBLED UP
Sophomore Kiana Steinauer notched her first two double-doubles of the year in a 66-47 win over Saint Rose on Nov. 15 (13 points, 14 rebounds) and a 58-55 win over Le Moyne on Nov. 18 (16 points, 12 rebounds).
 
FIRSTS FOR FRESSLE
Sophomore Jessica Fressle tallied the first double-double of her collegiate career on November 12, where she collected a game-high 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in a 58-41 loss to Bridgeport. 
 
FITTING RIGHT IN
Senior newcomer Africa Williams wasted no time warming up to the NE10 conference after transferring from Wagner College as she led the offense in the season opener against UDC with 16 points on November 11.

NEW ARRIVALS
The Owls welcome two newcomers to the squad for the 2017-18 season - transfer Africa Williams and freshman Miranda Crenshaw.

WELCOME BACK
Southern Connecticut returns 15 players from last year's squad – seniors Murphy Murad, Chandler Williams, Abby Hurlbert, Paige Decker and Chloe Brinton, juniors  Jana Migliaro, Amanda Pfohl, Allie Smith and Erin Ryder and sophomores Imani Wheeler, Kiana Steinauer, Alyssa Irons, Bridget Sharnick, Maddie Brown and Jessica Fressle.

THE CAPTAINS
Southern Connecticut State University head women's basketball coach Kate Lynch has announced that seniors Murphy Murad and Chandler Williams will serve as team captains for the 2017-18 campaign. It's the second straight year that Murad will serve in this role.

OWLS TABBED TO FINISH FOURTH IN NE-10 PRESEASON POLL
The women's basketball team has been selected to finish fourth in the Southwest Division according to the league's coaches.

LOOKING BACK AT LAST SEASON
The Owls are coming off a campaign in which they finished with 12 victories and reached the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

TOUGH COMPETITION AWAITS
The Owls will face four teams in 2017-18 that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago - Adelphi, New York Tech, Bentley and Assumption.

MCLAUGHLIN, WESELYJ EARN NE10 HONORS
Taylor McLaughlin and Maria Weselyj earned Northeast-10 Conference regular season honors for their play in 2016-17. 

EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
Southern Connecticut had 12 student-athletes selected to the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for their work in the classroom during the 2016-17 academic year.

FIVE OWLS HONORED BY D2ADA
Paige Decker, Abby Hurlbert, Taylor McLaughlin, Murphy Murad and Bridget Sharnick were all named as 2017 recipients of the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award for their work in the classroom.

UP NEXT
The Owls will travel to Rindge, N.H. on January 17 to face Franklin Pierce. Tip off for that game is set for 5:30 p.m.