Women's Basketball Looks For Fourth Straight Win On The Road At #2 Bentley
Game Notes
THE PARTICULARS:
The Merrimack women's basketball team will head to Bentley on Tuesday night for a conference showdown with #2 Bentley. The Warriors enter the contest winning their last three games after winning both games this weekend. The Warriors defeated Dominican on Friday 65-45 and then downed Nyack 80-50 on Saturday. This is the first 3-0 start for the Warriors since the 2004-05 season.
ABOUT MERRIMACK:
The Warriors have received spread out offensive production so far this season as all 11 players are averaging at least 10 minutes of playing time a game. Seven Warriors are averaging at least six points per contest including Jaclyn Lyons who is averaging a team-high 10.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Fellow senior Kelly Schatzlein is averaging a team-best 8.7 rebounds and 8.0 points per contest while sophomore point guard Chloe Rothman is averaging 9.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per contest. Freshman Ashley Weissmann has performed well off the bench as she is averaging 7.7 points and 3.0 rebounds while fellow freshman Tia Scott is averaging 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game off the bench.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
The Falcons enter the contest with a 2-0 record and are ranked second in the country. They are led offensively by Lauren Battista who is averaging a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Courtney Finn is averaging 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest while Kelsey Roberson is shooting 53 percent from the floor and averaging 10.5 points. As a team the Falcons are averaging 77 points per contest while holding their opponents to 66.0 points and 37 percent shooting from the floor.
ALL-TIME SERIES:
The Warriors are 12-55 against the Falcons all-time and lost both matchups with them last season. The Warriors last win at Bentley was a 70-68 victory on January 31, 2009.
LAST GAME (MERRIMACK 80 - NYACK 50):
The Merrimack women's basketball team traveled to Dominican this weekend for two contests. On Saturday the Warriors came out with their biggest win of the season as they downed Nyack by 30 points, 80-50. The Warriors had four players score in double figures as Chloe Rothman led the way with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists. Kelly Schatzlein got on track as she finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds in the win. Jaclyn Lyons continued her solid play as she racked up 12 points and a career-high four assists while Melissa Miller scored a career-high 12 points in only 12 minutes of action.
678 and counting:Senior forward Kelly Schatzlein has turned into one of the best rebounders in the Northeast-10 conference over her four years at Merrimack and this continued this weekend. Schatzlein hauled in a game-high nine rebounds in the winning effort on Saturday and now ranks fifth in school history in rebounds with 678. She is only 21 rebounds shy of fourth place on the all-time list. If Schatzlein can rack up 322 more rebounds this season she will be only the second Warrior ever to rack up 1,000 career rebounds.
ALL WARRIORS PLAY 12 PLUS MINUTES:
The Warriors are one of the youngest teams in the Northeast-10 Conference this season as they have nine underclassmen and just three seniors on their squad. The youthful Warriors proved to the rest of the league that they are also a very deep team as all 11 players played at least 12 minutes in the Warriors win. Two Warriors played a team-best 23 minutes, Jaclyn Lyons and Ashley Weissmann, while two others broke the 20 minute plateau, Chloe Rothman and Tia Scott. Freshman Madison Ward played a career-high 19 minutes and scored a career-high nine points while Lia Nawn also saw a career-high 19 minutes of action and scored a career-high five points and grabbed five rebounds in the win.
MERRIMACK DOMINATES POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:
One of the biggest problems for the Warriors last season was allowing their opponents to score on turnovers. In Saturday's win, Merrimack dominated the points off of turnovers category as they won 21-7 including going 12-2 in the opening half. The Warriors turned 18 Nyack turnovers into 21 points which propeled them to the 30-point victory. Ashley Weissmann led the way with two steals on the afternoon that led to four quick points.
SECOND CHANCE AND POINTS IN THE PAINT LEAD WARRIORS:
The Warriors grabbed a season-high 21 offensive rebounds on Saturday which led to 18 second chance points compared to Nyack's six. The Warriors racked up 14 second chance points in the second half and also outscored the Warriors 34-24 inside the paint as Kelly Schatzlein racked up eight paint points herself. Melissa Miller also scored six paint points, all in the second half.
SPREAD OUT SCORING ATTACK PROPELS YOUNG WARRIORS:
Head coach Monique LeBlanc received spread out scoring from her team on Saturday afternoon as four Warriors scored 10 plus points in their third game of the season. Sophomore point guard Chloe Rothman led the way scoring for the Warriors as she finished with 14 points on 5-8 from the floor including 4-6 from three point range. Senior Jaclyn Lyons continued her strong play with 12 points including 2-5 from deep and Melissa Miller racked up 12 points in 12 minutes off the bench, going 4-8 from the floor and 1-3 from deep. Kelly Schatzlein finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in the win while freshman Madison Ward finished with a career-high nine points anfd five rebounds in 19 minutes of action. Tia scott stayed hot as she scored six points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out two assists.
