Women's Hoops Looks To Stay Undefeated At Home; Plays Molloy On Saturday
Game Notes (PDF)
Admisssion to the Warriors non conference game against Molloy on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. will be free of charge. For more information on Merrimack Athletics please visit www.Merrimackathletics.com.
THE PARTICULARS:
The Merrimack women's basketball team returns home for their third of five straight home games at Bert Hammel Court on Saturday afternoon against Molloy. The Warriors are coming off of a 61-58 victory over the Southern New Hampshire Penmen on Saturday afternoon to improve to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in NE-10 action. The Molloy Lions enter the contest after winning their last game against Goldey-Beacom by the score of 60-52. The Lions enter the game with a overall record of 3-4 and a conference mark of 0-2. The Lions were defeated by the lone NE-10 team they played this season, Saint Michael's, by the score of 89-48.
ABOUT MERRIMACK:
The Warriors offensive attack has been very spread out this season as they have had six players lead the team in scoring through eight games. The Warriors are led by their senior captain Kelly Schatzlein who recorded her third double-double in four games last time out and now averages 10.8 points and a NE-10 best 10.6 rebounds per contest. Sophomore point guard Chloe Rothman has continued to grow this season, averaging 10.5 points to go along with 5.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds a game. Seniors Jaclyn Lyons and Katie Ganser have enjoyed nice starts to the season as they both have started all eight games for Merrimack and average 8.8 and 5.3 points a game respectively. The bench has been a strenght of the Warriors all year as Ashley Weissmann leads the bunch off the bench, scoring 8.8 points per game. Melissa Miller has also impressed as of late as she is averaging 5.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
The Lions enter the contest after winning their last game. They are led offensively by freshman Alex Hampton who is averaging 11.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest. Christina Marra and Kelly Guerriero are also averaging double figures, 11.4 and 10.9 points respectively. As a team the Lions are averaging 8.3 three pointers a game while also recording 8.7 steals per game. They are also scoring 69.9 points per game, 4.4 more points a game than the Warriors.
ALL-TIME SERIES:
The Warriors are 0-1 against the Lions all-time, dropping the season opener last season to Molloy by the score of 63-51 at Bert Hammel Court, in head coach Monique LeBlanc's first game.
LAST GAME (MERRIMACK 61 - SNHU 58):
The Merrimack women's basketball team surpassed last season's win total with the victory over Southern New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors were led offensively by freshman Ashley Weissmann who finished with a career-high 16 points off the bench. Weissmann finished the game 5-9 from the floor and 4-5 from three point range. Sophomore Chloe Rothman continued to produce, scoring 15 points and adding a game-high seven assists while leading scorer, Kelly Schatzlein, finished with her third double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
SCHATZLEIN CONTINUES STRONG PLAY:
Senior Kelly Schatzlein has led the Warriors all season long and this was no different on Saturday. The senior finished with her third double-double in the last four contests as she recorded 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. She also racked up a season-high three blocks in 31 minutes of action for the Warriors. Schatzlein now leads the NE-10 in rebounding, averaging 10.6 boards per contest and if she can rack up 263 more rebounds this season she will be only the second Warrior ever to rack up 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career points.
WEISSMANN LEADS WARRIORS TO SIXTH WIN:
The Warriors have received big performances out of different players in almost every game this season and on Saturday it was Ashley Weissmann's turn to produce off the bench for Merrimack. Weissmann played 22 minutes off the bench and finished with a career and game-high of 16 points in the win. Weissmann finished the game going 5-9 from the floor including 4-5 from behind the three point line while grabbing two rebounds and racking up two steals. Weissmann faced the biggest pressure of her young Merrimack career with under five seconds to play as she had two free throws with the Warriors up one. Weissmann stayed cool and drained both free throws to secure the win.
WARRIORS CONVERT ON THEIR OPPONENTS TURNOVERS:
One of the keys to success this season for the Warriors has been turning the ball over less than their opponents and on Saturday this continued. Merrimack forced 21 Penmen turnovers which turned into 22 points for the Warriors. As a team, Merrimack only turned the ball over 11 times and Southern New Hampshire scored 12 points on those turnovers. The Warriors hold a 5-0 record this season when they turn the ball over less than their opponents
NINE WARRIORS SCORE IN TIGHT VICTORY SATURDAY:
So far this season the Warriors have proven that they can receive scoring from pretty much everyone on their roster. On Saturday, nine Warriors recorded at least two points. Weissmann led the way with 16 while Rothman and Schatzlein finished with 15 and 14 respectively. Melissa Miller had four points while Jaclyn Lyons and Allison Wagner finished with three points each.
MERRIMACK HOLDS HUGE MARGIN OF VICTORY IN SIX WINS:
Merrimack has surpassed it's win total from last season through only eight games this year and they are producing wins in a easy manner. The Warriors average margin of victory in their six wins this season is 14.2 points. The Warriors have recorded wins of 30 points, 20 points, 18 points and 11 points so far this season. The young Warriors are learning how to close out games which was a problem they could not overcome last year with the game in the balance, nearing the end of the game.
