Tipoff: 7 p.m., DeGol Arena, Loretto

Records: Chicago State University (2-17, 2-4 NEC) at Saint Francis (5-14, 3-3 NEC)

TV: NEC Front Row (Pat Farabaugh and Bernie Jubeck)

Live stats: https://sfuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Notable: Tonight marks the third overall meeting in the series since the inaugural meetings last season. The Red Flash and the Cougars will meet again on Jan. 29 as the second half of the Northeastern Conference schedule gets underway. SFU will travel to New Haven on Sunday before returning home to face the Chargers again on Jan. 31. … Marcus Tankersley paces the team with Chicago State with 13.5 points per game, while Doyel Cockrill (13.3 ppg) and CJ Ray (12.0 ppg) are also averaging 10+ points per game. … Saint Francis ranks third in the NEC in turnover margin (+0.32), fourth in steals (7.79 spg), fourth in 3-pointers made (7.89 pg), fifth in scoring (69.5 ppg), fifth in free throw percentage (69.8), fifth in assists (13.53 apg), and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.06). The Red Flash leads the NEC in 3-pointers made (8.83) and ranks second in steals (7.67 spg), second in turnover margin (+3.83), third in scoring offense (71.7 ppg), and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35) in league play.

Prediction: Saint Francis 72, Chicago State 67.

Mirror prediction record: 16-3

­– Dan Isenberg

Poor first quarter sinks Lady Lions

SEATTLE — A slow start in the first quarter too much to overcome for the Penn State women’s basketball team which fell to No. 25 Washington, 81-65, inside Alaska Airlines Arena on Wednesday night.

The Lady Lions, who trailed 21-11 after one quarter, dropped to 7-13 overall and 0-9 in the Big Ten, while the Huskies improved to 15-4, 5-3 in the Big Ten.

Despite four lead changes and four tie scores, Washington used a strong third quarter effort to build its lead and seal the victory, despite Penn State getting back in the game at halftime, trailing only by one, 38-37.

Redshirt junior center Gracie Merkle led the Lady Lions offensively with 19 points on nine-of-14 shooting from the floor. The Kentucky-native added eight boards, an assist, a steal and a block to round out her stat sheet.

Sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller followed in the point column with 11 points. Merkle’s eight rebounds alongside Shaelyn Steele’s eight tied for the team-high in boards. Tia Cliante and Steele both dished out four assists to tie for a Penn State team-high and Steele’s pair of steals led the team outright.

Penn State is at Oregon on Saturday.

PENN ST. (7-13): Merkle 9-14 1-2 19, McFadden 3-6 0-0 7, McMiller 5-17 0-0 11, Murray 0-3 0-0 0, Steele 4-8 0-0 8, Mendelson 0-3 0-0 0, Okokoh 0-0 0-2 0, Cleante 4-11 0-3 9, Ranisavljevic 1-2 2-2 5, Santana 2-3 0-0 6, Totals 28-67 3-9 65

WASHINGTON (15-4) Grabovskaia 2-3 2-2 6, Howell 4-9 2-3 13, Ladine 3-11 1-2 7, Sellers 10-15 4-4 24, Stines 3-8 0-0 6, McGaughy 7-12 0-0 14, Briggs 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Coppinger 2-3 3-4 9, Harvey 1-3 0-0 2, Totals 32-66 12-15 81

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn State……………………………………………………………………………… 11 26 14 14 — 65

Washington 21 17 22 21 — 81

3-Point Goals–Penn St. 6-19 (McFadden 1-2, McMiller 1-3, Murray 0-3, Steele 0-1, Cleante 1-5, Ranisavljevic 1-2, Santana 2-3), Washington 5-14 (Howell 3-7, Ladine 0-2, Sellers 0-2, Coppinger 2-2, Harvey 0-1). Assists–Penn St. 14 (Cleante 4, Steele 4), Washington 11 (Sellers 3). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds_Penn St. 29 (Merkle 8, Steele 8), Washington 49 (Howell 12). Total Fouls–Penn St. 16, Washington 15. Technical Fouls–None. A–2,096.

Slow start too much for Saint Francis

CHICAGO — The Saint Francis women’s basketball team fell behind 24-13 after one quarter of play Thursday night on the way to a 73-64 Northeast Conference loss at Chicago State in area college action.

The Red Flash (2-16, NEC 2-5) got 18 points from Shelby Ricks, 14 points from Aleah James and 13 points from Sonia Sato. Ricks also added 11 rebounds.

The Red Flash had the game tied at 50-all at one point but were outscored 23-14 down the stretch to lose.

Chicago State (4-16, NEC 3-4) was led by Keona McGee’s 20 points.

Saint Francis will host New Haven on Saturday.

SAINT FRANCIS (64): Ward 2-4 2-4 6, Sato 4-11 3-3 13, Thornhill 0-1 0-0 0, Walker 2-4 3-5 7, Ricks 8-14 2-5 18, James 6-16 0-0 14, Minnis 0-2 0-0 0, Assefa 0-4 2-2 2, Hawthorne 1-2 0-0 2, Eke 1-1 0-0 2. Totals — 24-59 12-19 64.

CHICAGO STATE (73): Sisco 1-2 0-0 3, Allen 5-9 3-5 13, Bass 5-8 1-2 12, McGee 7-11 6-10 20, Hill 1-3 0-0 2, Gant 4-12 1-2 11, Champagne 3-6 2-2 10, Urlacher 1-4 0-0 2, Mount 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 27-55 13-21 74.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Saint Francis 13 19 20 12 — 64

Chicago State 24 14 19 16 — 73

3-point goals: SFU 4-16 (Sato 2-4, Thornhill 0-1, Walker 0-1, Ricks 0-1, James 2-4, Minnis 0-2, Assefa 0-2, Hawthorne (0-1). Chicago State 6-19 (Sisco 1-2, Allen 0-2, Bass 1-2, McGee 0-1, Hill 0-1, Gant 2-7, Champagne 2-3, Urlacher 0-1). Rebounds: SFU 35 (Ricks 11); Chicago State 36 (Allen 11). Assists: SFU 16 (2 tied with 4); Chicago State (14 (Allen 4).

Pitino going for victory No. 900

NEW YORK — Rick Pitino is on the cusp of another coaching milestone. And get this — his first shot at 900 wins comes against his own son.

In a family circle twist of fate, Pitino has 899 career victories on the college basketball court as he leads St. John’s into Saturday’s game at Xavier, where Richard Pitino is in his first season as Musketeers coach.

“What’s the chances of that happening?” the elder Pitino said this week. “So I think that’s a big treat for me, and the family. Either way we know we’re going to have a difficult game against them because of their style of play. He’s doing a fabulous job.”

Rick Pitino is 3-1 in coaching matchups versus Richard, including a Red Storm victory over New Mexico at Madison Square Garden last season. But their Big East contest Saturday marks the first time they’ll square off in conference play.

So what does the 73-year-old Hall of Famer think about winning No. 900 at the expense of his boy?

“I think he will do everything humanly possible to stop it,” Rick Pitino said with a smile.

Sitting just outside the AP Top 25 this week and riding a five-game win streak, St. John’s (14-5) holds second place in the Big East standings at 7-1. Xavier (11-8) is tied for sixth with two other teams at 3-5.

“It’s like any other game,” Richard Pitino, 43, said Wednesday night following an agonizing 94-93 loss at Creighton. “I know there’s the storyline of my dad and this and that. But for me it’s a home game versus one of the best teams in the country.”

After capturing national championships at Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013), Rick Pitino is looking to join just a handful of coaches who have won 900 games like Bobby Knight and Roy Williams.

“I can’t spell Coach Knight (902 wins). He’s one of the greats of all time. I probably just coached a lot longer than him,” a deferential Pitino said.

Next on the wins list is Williams with 903. But the NCAA record book recognizes only 776 victories for Pitino after stripping him of 123 because of infractions at Louisville.

Regardless of all that, St. John’s plans to commemorate and celebrate the achievement whenever Pitino earns No. 900. He is 899-316 overall in 38 seasons as a college head coach, beginning with six games in an interim role at Hawaii in 1976.

Pitino also made stops at Boston University, Providence and Iona, sandwiched around NBA jobs with the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, plus a stint with Greek team Panathinaikos.

Now in his third season with St. John’s, the reigning AP national co-coach of the year has been to seven Final Fours and is the lone coach to take six schools to the NCAA Tournament.

After five decades on the bench, Pitino said it’s “amazing” to him that his 900th win could come against his son, previously one of his assistants. Rick Pitino joked Tuesday night about pressing Xavier’s staff for a better walkthrough schedule this weekend, and how much Richard loves to needle his dad.

“He has a sense of humor like nobody else,” Rick Pitino said. “I’m really, really proud of Richard.”

But once their teams tip off on Saturday, it’s not about mom or milestones or any of that.

Just winning.

“This is going to be a lot of fun. Great game,” Rick Pitino said. “If we lose, I’ll leave my team in Cincinnati.”