Saturday's previews and picks

Saturday's games

Lafayette (1-1) at Liberty (1-2), noon
Lady Flames won this matchup 90-55 last season. Still waiting for Devon Brown (foot) to be healthy enough to take the court. Also waiting for Liberty to take care of the ball - the Lady Flames have committed at least 26 turnovers in each of their games. Liberty 78, Lafayette 50


North Carolina State (2-1) at Richmond (2-1), 2 p.m.
Exciting opportunity for the Spiders against a quality ACC team. Richmond must slow a Wolfpack team that boasts two of the ACC's top scorers in Marissa Kastanek (19.7 ppg) and reigning ACC Player of the Week Amber White (18.7). Also, Newport New native Bonae Holston is a force inside. Even so, no one has been able to slow Spiders star Brittani Shells this season. Look for Richmond to keep things interesting in what should be a fun game for fans to check out (hint, hint, Spider Nation). N.C. State 88, Richmond 79

Preseason WNIT
Central Florida at James Madison (1-1), 7 p.m.
At least the Knights are used to playing at the Convocation Center - they qualified for this game by defeating Iona 59-48 in this same building Friday night. Banged-up Dukes still looking to find their form, so we doubt this one will be pretty. JMU 64, UCF 54

George Mason (1-1) at Wichita State, 2:05 p.m.
The third and likely the toughest of the Patriots' season-opening three-game road schedule as a week ago, the Shockers nearly took down Arizona before falling in overtime. We like this Mason team long-term, but we're not sure they're quite ready for this. Wichita State 78, George Mason 52

Comfort Inn and Suites Classic, at Morehead State
Norfolk State (2-0) vs. Central Arkansas (1-2), 7 p.m.
The typically potent Sugar Bears will be looking to assert themselves after being held in check Friday night by host Morehead State. This is by far NSU's toughest opponent so far, so even a reasonably competitive showing would represent progress. Central Arkansas 82, Norfolk State 55