Women’s Basketball Eyes Series Split with Assumption in Wednesday’s Trip to Worcester

Matchup	Merrimack (14-7, 7-7 NE10) at Assumption (11-10, 6-8 NE10)
Date/Time	Wednesday, February 6, 2019 // 5:30 p.m.
Venue	Laska Gymnasium // Worcester, Mass.
Multimedia	Live Stats // Watch // Twitter // Instagram

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – In a contest with significant postseason implications, the Merrimack College women's basketball team makes its return to Northeast Division competition on Wednesday night when the Warriors visit Assumption College for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off at Laska Gymnasium. The Warriors will look to best the Greyhounds in Worcester after Assumption won at overtime contest, 83-81, on campus at Hammel Court back in November.

Merrimack enters Wednesday with a one-game lead over Assumption for fifth place in the Northeast, with the top-five finishers advancing to the NE10 Championship in March. The Warriors have won eight of their last 10 overall ahead of tomorrow, with Assumption has losses in seven of its last 10 contests.

Five Things to Know:

• The Warriors won a pair of games last week to close out cross-division play with a 5-2 mark against the Southwest, elevating Merrimack's conference record to .500 (7-7). Merrimack's most recent game saw the Warriors better Saint Rose, 72-65, behind a 17-point, 18-rebound effort for junior Denia Davis-Stewart and a 13-point performance off the bench for freshman guard Kate Mager. Mager did not miss a shot, hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second half while hitting all four of her free throws
• Merrimack established a new single-season record for 3-pointers made with 184 through 21 games, breaking the 182 sank by the 2012-13 team. The Warriors are the NE10's leader in triples, scoring offense (74.2 ppg), and they rank 12^th in the Division II in total treys
• Merrimack's 3-point barrage features four players with at least 35 makes this year: senior Lindsay Werner (47), Mager (45), sophomore Alyssa Casey (37) and sophomore Mayson Kimball (35). The quarter are all in the top-15 league-wide in 3-pointers made. Werner leads the team with a scoring average of 15.1 points per game while Casey (13.5) and Kimball (12.2) are also averaging in double figures
• Davis-Stewart has risen to fourth in the NE10 in rebounding (10.7/game), while maintaining her NE10 and nationwide lead with 82 total blocks. The junior tied her career high set last season with her 82^nd rejection on Saturday. Senior point guard Karlee Alves collected nine more assists on Saturday, establishing a new career-best with 176 this year. The NE10's top distributor also is among the top seven in Division II in total steals (70) and steals per game (3.33)
• Assumption's recent run has seen the Greyhounds struggle against the opposite division, going 1-6 during cross-division play. Tomorrow's hosts snapped a five-game losing streak last Tuesday, before losing to nationally ranked Le Moyne in its most recent contest. Senior forward Morgan O'Donnell leads the team with 16.2 points per game 

Record Watch

• 1,000 Career Points – Werner needs 32 more points to become the 21^st player in school history to reach 1,000. Merrimack has not had a 1,000-point scorer since Chloe Rothman '15 four years ago
• Single-Season Assists – Alves is closing in on a new program assists record for a single season, needing seven more to reach 183 helpers
• 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:

• Alves led Merrimack's attacked with a career-best 19 points in the first meeting, adding seven assists, seven rebounds and five steals. O'Donnell totaled 39 points in the first meeting on 15-of-27 shooting, adding eight rebounds, to lead Assumption's attack back in November
• The Warriors held an eight-point lead at halftime, only to see to the Greyhounds charge back to force the extra session in the third and fourth quarters. O'Donnell hit the game-winning bucket with five seconds left in OT
• Assumption owns a 41-25 edge in the all-time series against the Warriors

Scouting the Opposition

Merrimack (14-7, 7-7 NE10)	Stat Category	Assumption (11-10, 6-8 NE10)
74.2	Points Per Game	63.7
63.8	Points Allowed Per Game	63.4
.435	Field Goal Percentage	.405
.367	Three-Point FG Percentage	.295
40.4	Rebounds Per Game	37.7
Lindsay Werner (15.1 ppg­)	Points Leader	Morgan O'Donnell (16.2 ppg)
Denia Davis-Stewart (10.7 rpg)	Rebounds Leader	Temi Falayi (6.2 rpg)
Karlee Alves (8.4 apg)	Assists Leader	Meghan Reen (3.2 apg)
Alves (3.3 spg)	Steals Leader	O'Donnell (1.1 spg)
Davis-Stewart (3.9 bpg)	Blocks Leader	Jordan Hawkins (1.0 bpg)

 
Up Next:
The Warriors return home this Saturday when Merrimack welcomes Saint Anselm to Hammel Court for a 1 p.m. tip-off. The contest will be celebrated as Alumni Day. All interested alumna who want to attend are asked to register here.