Women’s Basketball Looks to Secure Postseason Berth Wednesday vs. Stonehill

Matchup	Merrimack (17-8, 10-8 NE10) vs. Stonehill (17-7, 12-6 NE10)
Date/Time	Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2019 // 5:30 p.m.
Venue	Hammel Court // North Andover, Mass. (Tickets)
Multimedia	Live Stats // Watch // Twitter // Instagram

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Needing just one win to secure a berth in next week's Northeast-10 Conference Championship, the Merrimack College women's basketball program will host its final two home regular season games of the year this week beginning on Wednesday night against Stonehill College. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. from Hammel Court.

Merrimack enters the game in fifth place in the Northeast Division, but also trails second-place Stonehill by just two games with three games to go in the regular season. The Warriors own a three-game edge over sixth place, meaning one win over the remainder of the season (three games) will clinch a third straight playoff berth for Merrimack.

Promotions:

• Merrimack will play its annual Play4Kay game on Wednesday, honoring the legacy of legendary women's basketball coach Kay Yow and contribute towards the fight to end breast cancer
• Wednesday will also be another giveaway game, with 3-point foam fingers distributed to the first 100 fans in attendance. One giveaway will be given to each Merrimack student with a valid Mack Card. Giveaways are available while supplies last

Five Things to Know:

• For the second straight season, the Warriors force overtime at Southern New Hampshire with a last-second 3-pointer. Senior Lindsay Werner drained a right-wing trey with two second left on Saturday, but the Penmen outlasted the Warriors in overtime, 74-73, to win the season series with Merrimack. Werner scored 18 points, senior Karlee Alves netted 17 – her second highest output of the season – and junior Denia Davis-Stewart recorded her 12^th double-double of the season and 10^th in the last 17 games with 12 points and 16 caroms
• Merrimack enters Wednesday with 17 wins, tied for the most in the eight-year tenure of head coach Monique LeBlanc. Merrimack already has the tied the most wins for the program in a season since 2004-05, a year that saw the program reach the Final Four for the second straight season
• In the standings, Merrimack can still finish as high as second in the Northeast Division. The Warriors trail Southern New Hampshire and Saint Anselm by one game and the Skyhawks by two with three games left before the start of the NE10 Championship next Friday (March 1)
• Merrimack's offense continues to lead the NE10, averaging 74.6 points per game. That average currently matches the 2003-04 Warriors as the top scoring offense in school history. Merrimack also leads the NE10 in 3-pointers made (217), which ranks 11^th nationwide. Four Warriors have hit at least 40 3-pointers this year led by Werner's 61. Freshman Kate Mager boasts 54 makes, the most of any rookie in the NE10
• Stonehill has won four of its last six games including back-to-back contests entering Wednesday's matchup with Merrimack. The Skyhawks utilize one of the top newcomers in the NE10 in freshman Kayla Redmond; she leads the team with 15.3 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game

Record Watch

• All-Time Scoring – Werner currently sits 20^th in school history in scoring, and needs just four points on Wednesday to vault to place into 18^th all-time at Merrimack. She also sits on 181 career 3-pointers, needing eight more to tie the school record
• Single-Season Assists – Alves saw her nation-leading assist total eclipse 200 on Saturday. The floor general needs 10 more to move into the top 15 in NE10 history in single-season assists
• Team Records – In addition to a potential new single-season scoring mark, Merrimack is hitting 3-pointers at a school-record pace. The Warriors are currently making 36.2 percent of their treys, which is on track to break the 03-04 percentage (34.7) as the best in school history

February Flashback:

• A low-scoring first matchup, Stonehill won in Easton back in November, 62-57
• Three Warriors scored in double figures, including a 14-point nine-rebound performance for Davis-Stewart. Werner and sophomore Mayson Kimball netted 13 points apiece    
• Redmond led the Skyhawks with 19 points while junior Gabrielle Reuter notched a double-double of 12 points and 12 boards

Scouting the Opposition

Merrimack (17-8, 10-8 NE10)	Stat Category	Stonehill (17-7, 12-6 NE10)
74.6	Points Per Game	67.5
64.0	Points Allowed Per Game	58.5
.438	Field Goal Percentage	.417
.362	Three-Point FG Percentage	.325
39.6	Rebounds Per Game	40.9
Lindsay Werner (16.2 ppg­)	Points Leader	Kayla Redmond (15.3 ppg)
Denia Davis-Stewart (10.9 rpg)	Rebounds Leader	Redmond (5.9 rpg)
Karlee Alves (8.2 apg)	Assists Leader	Jennifer Worden (4.0 apg)
Alves (3.0 spg)	Steals Leader	Worden (1.1 spg)
Davis-Stewart (3.6 bpg)	Blocks Leader	Gabrielle Reuter (2.1 bpg)

 
Up Next:
The Warriors host Bentley University on 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Not only will the contest be Merrimack's "Pack The Mack" game, with all students in attendance receiving a free white t-shirt to white out Hammel Court, it will also be marked as Senior Day. Alves, Werner and classmate Lexi Martin will be recognized during the pregame ceremony.