JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida women's basketball returns to the First Coast to prepare for back-to-back games against crosstown rival, JU, in the River City Rumble. UNF makes the trip to JU on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m., with another game played just two days later on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m., in UNF Arena.

Both Thursday and Saturday's conference matchups will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Updates for each game will be made through live stats, as well as on Twitter at OspreyWBB.

FROM THE JUMP

• First time playing JU twice in a span of three days since the 2020-21 season.
• Weekend rivalry series will start a four-game stint for UNF in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Ospreys looking to sweep the season series for the second time in three seasons.
• UNF split the games last year with their win coming against the Dolphins at their place.
• Kaila Rougier returns home for the first time since recording a career-high 23 points at Bellarmine.
• Rougier has paced the team in scoring since ASUN play started with 12.6 PPG.
• She also has been averaging 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in conference.
• On pace to be first player under head coach Darrick Gibbs to average more than 10.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 4.0 APG in the ASUN.
• Lyric Swann returned from injury against Eastern Kentucky last weekend after missing three games.
• She came off the bench at EKU and led the team in scoring with 10 points over 31 minutes played.
• The redshirt junior maintains a season scoring average of 14.8 PPG, which ranks fourth among all players in the conference.
• The Swann sisters have totaled for 58 of the 111 total made three-pointers this season, which accounts for just over 52% of the team production from beyond the arc.
• Emma Broermann continues to be a force on the boards with 115 total rebounds and 6.8 RPG.
• No other player on the team has more than 80 rebounds over the course of this season.

SCOUTING REPORT

• Jacksonville heads into rivalry weekend with an 8-9 overall record, as well as a 2-5 ASUN record.
• Like the Ospreys, JU heads into the pair of games on a three-game losing streak after recent losses to Liberty, Bellarmine and Eastern Kentucky.
• Both conference wins on the year have come at home to Bellarmine and Queens.
• Sports a stellar 7-1 record in home games this year but holds a 1-8 record on the road.
• Have played against three Power Five teams with road losses to Kansas, Iowa State and Ole Miss.
• The Dolphins have four players that average 10+ PPG, led by Seraphine Bastin with 12.9 PPG.
• Bastin also leads the team with 7.7 RPG, 4.1 APG and 1.9 SPG.
• Shynia Jackson, DeShari Graham and KayKay Hayes fill out the rest of the double-digit scorers for JU.
• Jackson is the lone Dolphin to not only play but start in all 17 games this season.
• Hayes leads the team with 1.0 BPG, while also having the best field goal percentage on the squad at 51.9%.

AN OSPREY WIN AGAINST JACKSONVILLE WOULD...

- Continue winning streak against the Dolphins on the road.
- Be fifth win against JU in the past six matchups.
- Break three-game losing streak in conference play.
- Secure first road victory since Queens on Jan. 5.

PROJECTED UNF STARTING FIVE (BASED ON LAST GAME)

G - Sarah Taub (4.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.9 APG)
G - Helena Rafnsdottir (2.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 0.9 APG)
G - Kaila Rougier (8.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.4 APG)
F - Elysa Wesolek (7.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.5 APG)
F - Emma Broermann (8.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 0.8 APG)

LAST TIME VS. JACKSONVILLE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - In arguably UNF women's basketball's most comprehensive win during ASUN play, the Ospreys (12-15, 5-10 ASUN) led for over 38 minutes in a 72-54 win at Jacksonville (15-11, 8-7 ASUN) Thursday, Feb. 24.

LAST 5 vs. THE DOLPHINS
Date    Result    Location
2/24/2022    W, 72-54    Jacksonville, Fla.
1/15/2022    L, 50-52    Jacksonville, Fla.
1/17/2021    W, 67-56    Jacksonville, Fla.
1/16/2021    W, 72-65    Jacksonville, Fla.
3/7/2020    W, 77-67    Jacksonville, Fla.

LOOKING AHEAD

UNF stays put in Jacksonville, Fla., next weekend as well when they host a pair of conference matchups against Stetson on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m., as well as FGCU on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m., in UNF Arena.

 

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OTHER SEASON NOTES

TEN
The Ospreys will man an 10-player roster throughout the 2022-23 season, which is the lowest it has been under head coach Darrick Gibbs.

NEWBIES
The Ospreys have plenty of new faces to go around with six transfers and three freshmen bringing their talents to Jacksonville, Fla.

Elysa Wesolek (South Carolina), Brianna Livingston (Monmouth), Selma Eklund (UNC-Wilmington) come directly from D-I programs, while Lyric Swann (CCBC Essex) and Jaelyn Swann (CCBC Essex) are additions from NJCCAinstitutions. The Swann sisters do have experience playing at the D-I level, as they previously played for UMBC before transferring to CCBC Essex.

UNF brings in three freshmen after only have one on the roster this past season (Kaila Rougier). Maddie Millar, the only in-state product on the team, and Sarah Taub are guards with stellar shooting abilities. Helena Rafnsdottir also joins as a freshman after playing for her club team in Iceland since she was five years old, as well as the Icelandic Women's National Team.

Assistant coach Myron Brown and director of operations Adrienne Jackson are also welcomed as a newcomers to the squad. Brown joins the Ospreys' coaching staff after being the head women's basketball coach for Thomas University since 2017. Jackson returns to UNF after playing under Darrick Gibbs from 2016-2020.

TWIN TIES
Lyric and Jaelyn Swann both transfer in from CCBC Essex in Maryland to join the Osprey roster. They are one of 15 sets of twins playing for the same Division I women's basketball team this season.

This is also the second consecutive year that UNF will sport a set of sisters on the squad, as Jazz and Jaida Bond both played for the Ospreys this past year.

INTERNATIONAL FACES
Helena Rafnsdottir (Iceland), Selma Eklund (Sweden) and Brianna Livingston (Canada) all join the Ospreys this season representing three different countries. Rafnsdottir and Eklund both have experience playing for the national teams of their respective countries.

It's the third straight season rostering three or more international players, while it also being the first time since 2014-15 that three or more players come from unique countries outside the United States.

INTERNATIONAL PLACES
UNF will make the trip out the Dublin, Ireland, to compete in the MAAC-ASUN Dublin Challenge, joining Eastern Kentucky as the fellow ASUN member playing against MAAC foes.

They are scheduled to compete against Rider on Friday, Nov. 18, at 2:30 p.m. EST, followed by a matchup against Marist the next day on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 9:30 a.m. EST.

SUNSHINE STATE
UNF plays 17 of their 29 games this season inside the state of Florida, including 13 of the 17 matchups played at UNFArena.

It will also be the first time since the 2014-2015 season that the Ospreys will open the season with two games inside their home arena.

ROAD RUNNERS
The Ospreys will visit six different states in their travel schedule on the year, along with their pair of games overseas in Dublin, Ireland.

UNF will visit Wisconsin, Ireland and Alabama before Christmas break, and will return with trips to North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Out of this year's road slate, the Ospreys will play against four Power Five opponents in Wisconsin, Miami (FL), Auburn and Alabama.

BROERMANN TIME
Emma Broermann leads this team as the unquestioned leader heading into the 2021-22 season. She enters he senior season as the only player on the team with more than one year of experience playing for UNF.

Last season, she was the only player on the team to start all 30 games played. The Okeana, Ohio, native also had the second-best field goal percentage (.602) and the ninth-most blocks (25) in the conference.

Broermann enters her senior season with the Ospreys sitting in the top spot for field goal percentage (.550), as well as the 10th-most blocks (37), in D-I program history.