Women's Basketball Aims For Upset Against #2 Bentley On Wednesday
Wednesday's women's and men's basketball games will be free admission for all fans. Donations will be accepted and the proceeds from the game's will go directly to the life-saving efforts of the American Cancer Society to fund research (suggested donation: $5 - adults; $3 - youth; $1 - students). There will also be free Coaches vs. Cancer orange t-shirt's handed out to the first 100 people in attendance at both games.
Full game notes (PDF)
THE PARTICULARS:
The Merrimack women's basketball team returns home on Wednesday night looking to snap a four game losing streak. The Warriors enter the game with a 7-3 home mark but have lost two straight at Hammel Court. The Warriors lost their last contest at Assumption by the score of 86-62, their biggest defeat of the season. The Falcons enter the game with a 19-0 record and a 15-0 conference mark. Bentley is coming off of a 94-52 win over the Southern Connecticut State Owls.
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 10.7 rebounds per contest after grabbing only two rebounds in her last game against Assumption. Schatzlein also is averaging 11.9 points per contest for the Warriors while sophomore point guard Chloe Rothman has continued to grow this season, averaging 12.5 points to go along with 5.0 assists and 3.2 rebounds a game. Seniors Jaclyn Lyons and Katie Ganser have enjoyed nice starts to the season as they are averaging 10.3 and 4.6 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 9.1 points per game and Tia Scott is averaging 4.6 points and 2.1 assists. Shelby Secor has been solid all year in her starting role averaging 5.9points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
The Falcons enter the contest with a perfect 19-0 overall record and a 15-0 conference mark while coming in #2 in the national rankings. Bentley is outscoring their opponents by a average of 16.6 points per contest so far this year. Lauren Battista leads the Falcons offensively scoring 14.7 points and grabbing 6.6 boards while shooting 51 percent from the floor. Courtney Finn is having a good year averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds while Jacquie Brugliera is averaging 9.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game so far.
ALL-TIME SERIES:
The Warriors are 12-56 against Bentley all-time including losing 73-61 to the Falcons earlier this season despite leading at half by two.
LAST GAME (MERRIMACK 62 - ASSUMPTION 86):
The Merrimack women's basketball team could not stop their three game skid on Saturday afternoon as they were downed by the Assumption Greyhounds by the score of 86-62, their biggest defeat of the season. The Warriors were not able to win the rebounding battle as they were outrebounded 43-20. The Warriors allowed the Greyhounds to secure 20 offensive rebounds and they lost the turnover battle as well, 18-16. The lone bright spot offensively for the Warriors was freshman Ashley Weissmann who came off the bench for the Warriors and scored 12 points, grabbed three boards and recorded two steals. Chloe Rothman only saw 22 minutes of action but she scored nine points, three rebounds and three assists while Allison Wagner scored eight off the bench in 17 minutes.
OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS PROPEL GREYHOUNDS OVER WARRIORS:
One of the keys to success for the Warriors has been keeping their opponents off the offensive glass but on Saturday the Greyhounds grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. Their offensive rebounds led to 21 second chance points compared to the Warriors four second chance points. For the game, Assumption grabbed as many offensive rebounds as the Warriors grabbed total rebounds.
WEISSMANN LEADS ALL WARRIORS IN SCORING OFF BENCH:
Freshman Ashley Weissmann has been a pleasant surprise all season long as she is fourth on the team in points, averaging 9.1 per contest despite coming off the bench. Weissmann continued her strong play on Saturday as she finished with a team-high 12 points, three rebounds and two steals in the Warriors lopsided loss. Weissmann has started four games this season and is leading all Warriors bench players in scoring.
TURNOVERS HURT WARRIORS FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT GAME:
One of the keys to every Merrimack win this season has been forcing their opponents to turn the ball over more than they do. The Warriors hold a 9-0 record when they force more turnovers but on Saturday Merrimack lost this battle and eventually lost the game. The Warriors turned the ball over 18 times compared to 16 Greyhound turnovers. Assumption converted on their forced turnovers scoring 16 points of their own on Merrimack mistakes.
SCHATZLEIN CONTINUES TO LEAD NE-10 IN REBOUNDING:
Senior Kelly Schatzlein only was able to score two points and grab two rebounds on Saturday in the loss but she still leads the Warriors with eight double-doubles on the season. Schatzlein leads the NE-10 in rebounding, averaging 10.7 boards and 11.9 points per contest and is one of two players in the conference to average a double-double. If she can rack up 145 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 11 WINS:
Merrimack already has more than doubled the amount of wins that they had all last season, through only 19 games. The Warriors average margin of victory in their 11 wins this season is impressive. The Warriors win their games by a average of 16.2 points. The Warriors have recorded wins of 48, 30 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.
