NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- Fredonia faces a stiff test Friday in its bid to reach its first SUNYAC championship game.

The No. 3 seed Blue Devils (19-7) square off with the Geneseo Knights (19-6) at 5:30 p.m. here. The Knights are the No. 2 seed in the six-team bracket.

They might as well be No. 1 in all of NCAA Division III as far as the Blue Devils are concerned. Geneseo has won 17 straight meetings between the teams, including two this season, and leads the all-time series 53-13.

The 53 Fredonia losses are the most in program history against one opponent.

• The Knights won last year's SUNYAC Tournament and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Geneseo's 2015 title came one year after they dodged Fredonia's upset bid in a 2014 first-round game. Up by as many as seven points, the No. 6 seed Blue Devils were poised to knock off the No. 3 Knights on their home floor. Geneseo's Dana Cohan hit a pair of three-point baskets in the final minute to secure a 55-52 victory, but not before a long three by Fredonia's Becky Hebert rattled out as time expired.
•  Fredonia returns five players who appeared in the 2014 game. Senior forward Sabrina Macaulay (Newark, N.Y./Newark) and junior guard Alexis Chetham (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport).were starters while senior Katie Devine (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence), and juniors Kathryn Halloran (Angola, N.Y./Immaculata) and Jamie Curry (Ransomville, N.Y./Wilson) appeared as reserves.
•  Geneseo players who appeared in the 2014 game include Cohan and two other starters, Allison McKenna and Brigit Ryan, plus two reserves.
• Fredonia and Geneseo have met two other times in the SUNYAC Tournament: a 1984 quarterfinal won by Geneseo at Buffalo State, and a 2003 quarterfinal won by Fredonia at Geneseo. The 2003 game was noteworthy in that it is the only time in SUNYAC Women's Basketball Tournament history a No. 8 seed defeated a No. 1 seed. The only way it could happen again is if SUNYAC expands the tournament field from its current six teams.
• The Blue Devils enter Friday night's game on a five-game winning streak. The last time they won that many in a row was early in the 2009-10 season, when they strung together six straight wins. ... Geneseo is on a four-game winning streak.
• Fredonia boasts SUNYAC's No. 1 offense while Geneseo has the No. 1 defense. The Blue Devils are averaging 78.1 points per game while the Knights are holding opponents to just 48.1 points -- which is also seventh-best in the nation. On the flip side, Geneseo is No. 7 in SUNYAC in scoring offense (62.6) while Fredonia is No. 7 in scoring defense (64.3). Geneseo's scoring margin of plus-14.6 is best in the conference. Fredonia is third at plus-7.1.
• Macaulay is third in SUNYAC scoring (16.4 points per game) and first in field goal accuracy (57.7 percent). Her field-goal percentage ranks 17th in NCAA Division III.
• Oneonta meets New Paltz at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the other SUNYAC semifinal. The semifinal winners meet 4 p.m. Saturday at New Paltz for the SUNYAC crown and becomes an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.