Women's Basketball Hits The Road For Contest Against American International on Saturday
Game Notes (PDF)
The Particulars:
The Merrimack women's basketball team will hit the orad for a weekend contest with the American International Yellow Jackets on Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mass. Merrimack is coming off of an 68-62 loss at the hands of the Saint Rose Golden Knights on Tuesday night. AIC enters the contest after winning their last game at Stonehill by the score of 58-46.
About Merrimack:
The Warriors are led by Gennifer Roy who is averaging a team-high 16.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per contest this season. Roy is coming off of a 13 point outing against Saint Rose, shooting 5-17 from the field. Kelly Schatzlein is second on the team in scoring averaging 14.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest. Schatzlein is coming off of her ninth double-double of the season, scoring 22 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. The freshman guard duo of Chloe Rothman and Allison Wagner have performed well so far with Rothman averaging 9.9 points and 4.9 assists and Wagner averaging 6.5 points and hitting a team-high 21 threes.
About The Competition:
The Yellow Jackets enter Saturday's contest with a 7-9 overall record after winning their last game at Stonehill by the score of 58-46. American Int'l is led offensively by Michelle Lanfond who is averaging 14.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Rhea Pascal is averaging 11.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game so far this season. Marie Li Sicard is contributing with 8.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game this season while starting only two contests. The Yellow Jackets are shooting a very high percentage from three point range as they are shooting 36.6 percent compared to their opponents 25 percent on the season.
All-Time Series:
The Warriors are 13-36 all-time against American Int'l. The Warriors split two meetings with the Yellow Jackets last year. The Yellow Jackets defeated Merrimack in the first round of the NE-10 Tournament by the scor of 61-51.
Last Game (Merrimack 62 - Saint Rose 68):
The Merrimack women's basketball team was defeated on Tuesday night in front of the home fans at Hammel Court by the score of 68-62. The Warriors were not able to holdonto the ball for the third consecutive game as they turned it over 21 times leading to 18 Saint Rose points. The Warriors won the battle in the paint by the score of 34-24 and the second chance category 12-9 but they were not able to pick up the victory. Kelly Schatzlein led the way once again for the Warriors as she scored a game-high 22 points and hauled in 14 rebounds. Genn Roy continued her solid senior season as she finished the game with 13 points and six rebounds in the loss.
Roy Continues To climb All-Time Scoring Charts:
Senior guard Gennifer Roy put together another steady performance for the Warriors on Tuesday. Roy finished the game with 13 points on 5-17 from the field including 2-2 from the free throw line. Roy also rabbed a season-high six rebounds. With her performance on Tuesday Roy moved into 6th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,265 career points. Roy is just three points shy of entering the top five on the Merrimack womens basketball scoring charts. The senior has led the team in scoring seven times this season. Roy is averaging 16.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game this year.
Schatzlein Tallies Ninth Double-Double:
Junior forward Kelly Schatzlein continued her steady play for the Warriors as she recorded another double-double in the loss. Schatzlein scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on 10-17 from the field and 2-4 from the free throw line. Schatzlein is second in the conference in rebounds with 10.2 per contest and second in blocks per contest with 1.7 a game. She is also fourth in the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 55.8 percent. Schatzlein is now averaging 14.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per contest this season. Schatzlein has racked up a team-high nine double-doubles through fifteen games this year and has led the team in rebounding in 13 of 15 games.
Points Off Turnovers And Bench Scoring Kill Warriors:
One of the biggest problems for the Warriors team all year has been allowing their opponents to get on the offensive glass. The Warriors allowed 11 offensive rebounds on Tuesday but they were not able to protect the ball as they turned it over 21 times. The Golden Knights turned the 21 turnovers into 18 points as they outscored Merrimack 18-12 in points off turnovers. Another key to the Merrimack loss was bench scoring. The Golden Knights outscored the Warriors 12-5 in bench scoring as Emilt Trapp led the way with seven bench points for Saint Rose. Katie Ganser and Valerie Avebe were the only Warriors to score off the bench as they played a combined 32 minutes in the loss. The Warriors were able to win the points in the paint and second chance scoring categories in the loss.
Rothman Continues Strong Point Guard Play:
Freshman point guard Chloe Rothman continued her solid play running the team on Tuesday night as she recorded 16 points in the loss. Rothman went 5-10 from the field including 1-4 from three point range and 5-8 from the free throw line. Rothman also chipped in grabing four defensive rebounds and dishing out six assists in 39 minutes of action.
Merrimack's New Head Coach Monique LeBlanc:
Monique LeBlanc is enterng her first season as head coach of the Merrimack Warriors. LeBlanc brings over seven years of division I coaching experience to North Andover. LeBlanc spent the last three seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Northern Arizona University.
