Women’s Basketball Looks to Maintain Division Lead over SNHU Saturday Afternoon

Matchup	Merrimack (17-7, 10-7 NE10) at Southern New Hampshire (15-9, 9-8 NE10)
Date/Time	Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019 // 1:30 p.m.
Venue	Stan Spirou Fieldhouse // Manchester, N.H.
Multimedia	Live Stats // Twitter // Instagram
TV/Radio	Watch // Listen

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's basketball program will go for its seventh straight victory on Saturday afternoon when the fourth-place Warriors visit fifth-place Southern New Hampshire for a 1:30 p.m. contest at the Stan Spirou Fieldhouse in Manchester, N.H. Merrimack enters the contest with a 10-7 Northeast-10 Conference record, sitting one game out of second place in the Northeast Division with four games remaining in the regular season.

The contest will be broadcast nationally via Fox College Sports and available via audio feed on WGIR-610 AM.

Five Things to Know:

• Senior Lindsay Werner  and junior Denia Davis-Stewart combined for 47 points and freshman Kate Mager chipped in 12 points on four 3-pointers in the bench in Merrimack's 83-70 win at Franklin Pierce on Wednesday. Davis-Stewart added a double-double with 14 caroms, her ninth double-double in her last 16 games. The starting center as added a season-high four steals
• The win increased Merrimack's currently winning streak to six games, the longest of head coach Monique LeBlanc's career and the longest for the program since the 2004-05 season. That squad went on a nine-game run in the latter half of the season, and went on to win its second straight regional championship. Merrimack reached the Final Four in both the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
• In the standings, the Warriors have moved within one game of both Stonehill (11-6) and Saint Anselm (11-6) for second place. Since the NE10 reformatted to a two-division system, Merrimack has yet to finish among the top-three in the Northeast
• Senior point guard Karlee Alves will begin Saturday's game needing just two assists to reach 200. Already the all-time single-season assists leader in Merrimack history and owning the nation's assist lead, Alves needs to reach 214 to break into the top 15 in NE10 history. Davis-Stewart is also making an imprint in the conference record book, rising up to eighth in career blocks with 248. Her 87 rejections this year are a career high, lead the NE10 and rank third nationwide
• SNHU has won four of its last six games, but is just 1-2 in its return to divisional play entering Saturday. The Penmen boast one of the top post players in the conference in senior Kylie Lorenzen, who leads them in scoring and rebounding at averages of 18.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game

Record Watch

• All-Time Scoring – Werner moved into 20^th in school history on Wednesday, reaching 1,036 career points. If she posts another 20-point game, she will rise to 18^th after Saturday
• Single-Season Assists – After Alves set a new single-season record last week, she's now closing in on the 200-assist mark and a spot in the NE10 record book. The Ellington, Conn. native needs to reach 214 helpers to post one of the 15-best single-season assist totals in league annals
• Team Records – After already breaking the single-season 3-points made record, the Warriors are also on pace to break the single-season percentage record of .347 set during the 2003-04 campaign. The current group of Warriors are making their triples at a rate of 36.7 percent 

February Flashback:

• In a defensive battle, the Penmen outscored the Warriors by seven in the fourth quarter of the first meeting, defeating Merrimack by four (59-55) at Hammel Court
• Lorenzen posted a strong game, finishing with 31 points on 14-of-28 shooting while adding 16 rebounds. Merrimack had three players score in double figures: Werner (16), Davis-Stewart (12) and sophomore Mayson Kimball (12)
• Despite the loss, Merrimack still owns a seven-game lead in the all-time series, 33-26

Scouting the Opposition

Merrimack (17-7, 10-7 NE10)	Stat Category	SNHU (15-9, 9-8 NE10)
74.7	Points Per Game	72.7
63.6	Points Allowed Per Game	64.3
.439	Field Goal Percentage	.421
.367	Three-Point FG Percentage	.324
39.7	Rebounds Per Game	40.0
Lindsay Werner (16.1 ppg­)	Points Leader	Lorenzen (18.6 ppg)
Denia Davis-Stewart (10.7 rpg)	Rebounds Leader	Lorenzen (9.8 rpg)
Karlee Alves (8.3 apg)	Assists Leader	Brianna Camara (3.9 apg)
Alves (3.1 spg)	Steals Leader	Lorenzen (2.2 spg)
Davis-Stewart (3.6 bpg)	Blocks Leader	Sarah Deyo (0.8 bpg)

 
Up Next:
Merrimack will play its final two home games of the regular season next week, beginning with Stonehill on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. The contest will be celebrated as Merrimack's Play4Kay Game, helping generate awareness for breast cancer.