Basketball Game Preview: Bishop Kenny Crusaders vs. Rickards Raiders

The Bishop Kenny Crusaders will face off against the Rickards Raiders at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. Bishop Kenny is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.2 points per game this season.

Bishop Kenny is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: Bolles, who was ranked 17th at the time (Bishop Kenny was ranked 22nd). Bishop Kenny took a 40-36 hit to the loss column at the hands of Bolles. The Crusaders' loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Kathleen Crawley, who posted 13 points. That was a full 36.1% of Bishop Kenny's points, marking the third time in a row she's scored more than a third of the team's points. Abby Baker was another key player, putting up eight points and nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, Rickards entered their tilt with Columbia on Thursday with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. They breezed by the Tigers to the tune of 55-27. The Raiders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 28 points or more this season.

Rickards' win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-2. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.9 points per game. As for Bishop Kenny, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 16-4.

Bishop Kenny didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Rickards in their previous matchup back in February of 2019, but they still walked away with a 59-53 victory. Does Bishop Kenny have another victory up their sleeve, or will Rickards turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.