Le Moyne at SFU men

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

Records: Le Moyne (5-8, 0-0 NEC) at Saint Francis (2-11, 0-0 NEC)

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

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

Notable: The Red Flash begin 2026, and NEC conference play, against Le Moyne in the 10th overall meeting dating back to 1948-49 and the fifth since the Dolphins joined the Northeast Conference in 2023-24. SFU seeks its third-straight win over Le Moyne dating back to last season. The win on Feb. 20, 2025, sparked last season’s run to the NEC tournament championship. … Le Moyne’s Shilo Jackson, a transfer from Texas A&M Corpus Christi, leads the team with 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Trent Mosquera (14.4 ppg.), Deng Garang (13.1 ppg.) and Jakai Sanders (10.6 ppg.) are also averaging 10+ points per game. … SFU redshirt senior Skylar Wicks is averaging 21.0 points per game in his last three games after netting 22 points against Temple on Dec. 14 and against No. 23 Florida on Dec. 17 before tallying 19 points and eight rebounds against Robert Morris on Dec. 20. .

Mirror prediction: Le Moyne 78, Saint Francis 70

Mirror prediction record: 11-2

— Dan Isenberg

Women: SFU at Le Moyne

Tipoff: 6 p.m., Ted Grant Court, Syracuse, N.Y.

Records: Saint Francis (0-11, 0-0 Northeast Conference); Le Moyne (2-11, 0-0 Northeast Conference)

TV: NEC Front Row

Notable: This is the start of Northeast Conference play for both teams. … Saint Francis begins its last NEC season as it is moving to Division III next year. … The teams have split the two previous meetings. … SFU’s Shelby Ricks was named an NEC prime performer for the week of Dec. 15-21 after averaging 12.5 points and 11 rebounds in two games. It was the third time the graduate player earned the honor this season. The Red Flash’s Cassandra Hawthorne posted a career-high 24 points in the loss to Fordham on Dec. 21. … This will only be the Dolphins fourth game at home this season as they played nine on the road. … Le Moyne hit 20-of-23 foul shots in the win over SUNY Geneseo.

Mirror prediction: Le Moyne 72, Saint Francis 60

Mirror prediction record: 10-1

— Nate Ritchey

Big Ten women

Lady Lions routed by No. 4 UCLA

UNIVERSITY PARK — Lauren Betts scored 25 and surpassed 1,500 career points in leading No. 4 UCLA to a 97-61 rout of Penn State on Wednesday.

Gianna Kneepkens added 17 points, Kiki Rice scored 16 and Sienna Betts 10 for the Bruins (13-1, 3-0 Big Ten), who won their seventh in a row after leading for all but 31 seconds.

The Bruins, who entered averaging just over 95 points per game since their lone loss to the No. 2 Texas Longhorns on Nov. 27, found their offense immediately inside a quiet Rec Hall.

Lauren Betts finished 11 for 19 from the floor. She sunk a layup in the opening seconds to spark the first of a handful of lopsided runs for the Bruins.

Kneepkens and Rice added back-to-back 3-pointers moments later before Kneepkens hit another long ball to put UCLA up 13-2 less than three minutes in.

Penn State (7-7, 0-3) responded with a pair of buckets, but Kneepkens drained her third 3-pointer of the quarter and UCLA closed out the first on a 14-5 run shooting 58% from the floor.

The rout was on from there for the Bruins, who led by as many as 37 with 6:41 in the fourth quarter. They led 46-23 at halftime.

Gracie Merkle had 15 points and Kiyomi McMiller scored 13 for Penn State, which fell to 1-15 against AP Top 10 teams since coach Carolyn Kieger’s first season in 2019.

Up next

UCLA: Hosts No. 17 Southern California on Saturday night. The Lady Trojans are 10-3 overall, 2-0 in the conference and 1-1 on the road.

Penn State: Visits Wisconsin on Sunday. The Lady Badgers are 10-4 overall on the season, 2-1 in the conference and 8-0 at home so far this season.

UCLA (13-1): Jaquez 2-6 4-5 8, Lauren Betts 11-19 3-4 25, Kneepkens 6-9 0-0 17, Leger-Walker 1-3 0-0 2, Rice 5-9 5-6 16, Sienna Betts 4-8 2-2 10, Dugalic 2-5 2-2 8, Muse 2-3 0-0 4, Bilic 1-4 0-0 2, Grant 0-0 0-0 0, Karamouzi 2-2 0-1 5, Totals — 36-68 16-20 97

PENN ST. (7-7): Mendelson 2-5 3-4 7, Cleante 2-6 0-0 4, McMiller 6-17 1-2 13, Murray 3-10 0-0 9, Smith 4-7 0-0 8, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Okokoh 0-1 0-0 0, Merkle 6-6 3-5 15, McFadden 0-0 0-0 0, Ranisavljevic 1-2 2-2 5, Santana 0-1 0-0 0, Steele 0-0 0-0 0, Totals — 24-55 9-13 61

SCORE BY QUARTERS

UCLA 29 17 25 26 — 97

Penn State 12 11 13 25 — 61

3-Point Goals–UCLA 9-18 (Jaquez 0-2, Kneepkens 5-7, Leger-Walker 0-2, Rice 1-2, Dugalic 2-4, Karamouzi 1-1), Penn St. 4-19 (Cleante 0-2, McMiller 0-3, Murray 3-9, Smith 0-2, Ranisavljevic 1-2, Santana 0-1). Assists–UCLA 27 (Leger-Walker 8), Penn St. 14 (Cleante 7). Fouled Out–Penn St. Mendelson. Rebounds–UCLA 35 (L.Betts 7, Jaquez 7), Penn St. 29 (Smith 7). Total Fouls–UCLA 16, Penn St. 22. Technical Fouls–None. A–2,189.