Women's Hoops Hosts UMass Lowell In Their Annual Pink Game on Saturday
Game Notes (PDF)
THE PARTICULARS:
The Merrimack women's basketball team returns to Bert Hammel Court on Saturday to take on the UMass Lowell Riverhawks for the last time in school history. Saturday will also be the Warriors "Pink" game for Breast Cancer Awareness. The Warriors enter the game with a 7-4 home record after dropping their last two home contests. The Warriors defeated Saint Anselm in their last game by the score of 73-48. The River Hawks enter the game with a 16-6 record after losing their last conference game to Stonehill by the score of 103-93.
ABOUT MERRIMACK:
The Warriors offensive attack has been very spread out this season as they have had six players lead the team in scoring. The Warriors are led by their senior captain Kelly Schatzlein who leads the NE-10 in rebounding averaging 10.4 rebounds per contest after finishing the Warriors last game with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Schatzlein also is averaging 11.6 points per contest for the Warriors while sophomore point guard Chloe Rothman has continued to grow this season, averaging a team-high 12.1 points to go along with 4.8 assists and 3.0 rebounds a game. Seniors Jaclyn Lyons and Katie Ganser have enjoyed nice starts to the season as they are averaging 10.1 and 4.4 points per game so far. The bench has been a strength of the Warriors all year, Ashley Weissmann leads the bunch off the bench, scoring 8.7 points per game and Tia Scott is averaging 5.0 points and 2.4 assists while starting the last three contests. Shelby Secor has been solid all year in her starting role averaging 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
The River Hawks enter the contest with a overall record of 16-6 and a conference mark of 13-5 after losing their last conference matchup with Stonehill. Offensively the River Hawks are led by conference leading scorer, Bianca Simmons who is averaging 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists per contest while shooting 51 percent from the floor. Danielle DePierro is also averaging 7.9 points per contest.
ALL-TIME SERIES:
The Warriors are 15-24 against Umass Lowell all-time including losing to the River Hawks on the road earlier this year by the score of 80-67.
LAST GAME (MERRIMACK 73 - SAINT ANSELM 48):
The Merrimack women's basketball team ended their six game losing streak on Wednesday night as they defeated the Saint Anselm Hawks by the socre of 73-48 on the road. The Warriors forced a season-high 30 turnovers which they turned into 30 points of their own as they improved to 10-1 this year when forcing more turnovers than their opponents. Leading the way for the Warriors was senior Kelly Schatzlein who finished with her 10th double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 boards while also racking up a career-high six steals and three blocks in the win. Jaclyn Lyons continued her solid play for the Warriors as she finished with 13 points while Allison Wagner scored a season-high nine points off the bench, going 3-for-4 from three point range.
SCHATZLEIN RACKS UP TEAM BEST 10th DOUBLE-DOUBLE:
Senior Kelly Schatzlein has led the Warriors all season long and this was the case again on Wednesday as she recorded her 10th double-double of the season to lead the Warriors to victory. Schatzlein finished the game with a team-high 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while also racking up a career-high six steals and three blocks for the Warriors. Schatzlein now ranks second in the NE-10 in double-doubles with 10.
WAGNER LEADS WARRIORS BENCH WITH NINE POINTS:
The Warriors bench had a huge influence on the outcome of the game on Wednesday as they contributed 31 points in the win. Allison Wagner led the Warriors bench players with nine points on 3-for-4 from three point range while Ashley Weissmann finished with seven points and Chloe Rothman scored six off the bench. The Warriors improved to 9-6 on the year when their bench outscores their opponents.
LYONS RANKS THIRD IN NE-10 IN THREE POINT PERCENTAGE:
Merrimack senior Jaclyn Lyons has been the most consistent player on the court for the Warriors all season long as she ranks third on the team in points per game averaging 10.1 points. Lyons scored 13 points last game including going 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Lyons now ranks third in the NE-10 in three point percentage as she is shooting at a 43.3 percent clip so far this season.
SCHATZLEIN SECOND IN NE-10 IN REBOUNDING:
Senior Kelly Schatzlein continued her solid play on Wednesday as she grabbed a team-high 10 boards and scored 15 points in the win. Schatzlein now ranks second in the NE-10 in rebounding, averaging 10.4 boards and 11.6 points per contest and is one of two players in the conference to average a double-double. If she can rack up 120 more rebounds this season, she will be only the second Warrior ever to rack up 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career points.
MERRIMACK HOLDS HUGE MARGIN OF VICTORY IN 12 WINS:
Merrimack already has more than doubled the amount of wins that they had all last season, through 22 games. The Warriors average margin of victory in their 12 wins this season is impressive. The Warriors win their games by a average of 17.3 points. The Warriors have recorded wins of 48, 30 points, 25 points, 20 points, 18 points twice, 15 points, 11 points and eight 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, winning three games by five points of less.
