NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. –
Kelly Morrone and the Merrimack women's basketball team have exceeded all expectations.
The Warriors (16-11, 13-5 in MAAC), who still have two regular-season games remaining at Lawler Arena, have locked up the third spot in the MAAC standings. The only teams with a better conference record are first-place Fairfield (18-1) and second-place Quinnipiac (17-1), known as the heavyweights in the league and two of the top teams in all of Division I.
"The women's side of the MAAC has been crazy and for us to just have joined (last year), and be behind those really developed teams, is unbelievable," Morrone said. "It's been magical what we've been able to do."
The Warriors were picked the finish eighth in the preseason coach's poll before the start of the season. And last season, their first campaign in the conference, Merrimack was picked to finished 12
th. They concluded sixth en route to a berth in the conference semifinals.
"They've over exceeded everyone's expectations," Morrone said. "Nobody was ready for us to be third."
The Warriors have done so as a result of contributions from up and down the lineup. Merrimack ranks first in the MAAC in blocked shots, second in rebounds, fourth in scoring and fourth in assists.
Senior guard Lydia Melaschanko has developed into one of the country's most effective 3-point shooters. Melaschanko ranks sixth in the NCAA in made 3-pointers. She's not the only one gained recognition atop the country's leader board, though. Merrimack grad student
Oralye Kiefer ranks ninth in blocks per game while junior
Madison Roman has the 11
th-most double-doubles in Division I.
"Those national rankings are so impressive," Morrone said.
Morrone believes the Warriors played their best basketball over the last month, highlighted by a five-game winning streak in which they dismantled both Rider and Siena.
"A good sign of how well we're playing is were getting everybody's best basketball. We have a target on our back, which hasn't always been the case," Morrone said. "We definitely have talked about holding our standards and worrying about, 'Have we gotten better for the next 40 minutes?'"
Merrimack closes out its regular season against Canisius on Thursday (7 p.m. ET) and Niagara on Saturday (12 p.m. ET). Both games will be held at Lawler Arena where the Warriors have won nine of their 12 home games. From there, the Warriors will try to keep it rolling into the MAAC Tournament where they will face the No. 6 seed on March 8.
