Women's Basketball Opens Up 2013 With Conference Showdown With Stonehill On Saturday
Game Notes (PDF)
THE PARTICULARS:
The Merrimack women's basketball team returns home in 2013 for their fifth straight home game as they take on conference foe Stonehill at Hammel Court on Saturday. Merrimack has won their previous four home games and are 5-0 at home so far this season. The Warriors are coming off of a 90-42 victory over non conference foe St. Thomas Aquinas on December 19 at Hammel Court. Meanwhile the Skyhawks enter the contest with a 9-1 overall record and a 5-1 conference mark after downing Georgian Court by the score of 69-51 on the road on December 29.
ABOUT MERRIMACK:
The Warriors offensive attack has been very spread out this season as they have had six players lead the team in scoring through ten games. The Warriors are led by their senior captain Kelly Schatzlein who leads the NE-10 in rebounding averaging 11.0 rebounds per contest. Schatzlein also is averaging 10.7 points per contest for the Warriors. Sophomore point guard Chloe Rothman has continued to grow this season, averaging 11.0 points to go along with 5.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds a game while shooting 42 percent from the floor. Seniors Jaclyn Lyons and Katie Ganser have enjoyed nice starts to the season as they are averaging 9.0 and 5.5 points per game so far. The bench has been a strenght of the Warriors all year, Ashley Weissmann leads the bunch off the bench, scoring 8.4 points per game. Shelby Secor also has played well in her starting role as she is averaging 6.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest while shooting 39 percent from the floor.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
The Skyhawks enter the game with a 9-1 overall mark and a 5-1 conference record. They won their first eight games on the season and have went 1-1 over their last two. Mary Louise Dixon leads the Skyhawks offensive attack averaging 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest while Tori Faieta is averaging 11.6 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game. Asia Ewing is enjoying a nice start averaging 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per start.
ALL-TIME SERIES:
The Warriors are 10-60 against Stonehill all-time including losing both contests to the Skyhawks last season.
LAST GAME (MERRIMACK 90 - ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 42):
The Merrimack women's basketball team stayed hot at home winning their fifth straight home contest on Wednesday December 19 as they defeated St. Thomas Aquinas by the score of 90-42. Merrimack was led all afternoon by their sophomore point guard Chloe Rothman who scored a game-high 18 points on 6-9 from the floor including a career-high five three pointers made to go along with four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Cassi Amenta came off the bench for the Warriors and scored a career-high 10 points on 5-6 from the floor while also grabbing four boards and dishing out a career-high four assists in the victory. Kelly Schatzlein continued to lead the Warriors on the glass as she hauled in a game-high 14 boards and scored nine points in only 20 minutes of action.
SCHATZLEIN LEADS NORTHEAST-10 IN REBOUNDING:
Senior Kelly Schatzlein continued to play well in her last game against St. Thomas Aquinas as she nearly recorded her fifth double-double of the season. Schatzlein just missed a double-double as she finished with 14 rebounds and nine points for the game. Schatzlein now leads the NE-10 in rebounding, averaging 11.0 boards per contest and if she can rack up 238 more rebounds this season she will be only the second Warrior ever to rack up 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career points.
AMENTA COMES UP BIG OFF THE BENCH IN THE WIN:
The Warriors have been waiting for sophomore Cassi Amenta's hard work to pay off and it did in the Warriors last contest as she finished with a career-high 10 points. Amenta came off the bench and went 5-6 from the floor, grabbed four boards and dished out a career-high four assists in only 20 minutes of action in the win. All 10 of Amenta's points came in the paint, where she dominated all afternoon long.
WARRIORS BENCH DOMINATES SPARTANS:
The Warriors improved to 6-1 on the young season when their bench outscores their opponents bench with the win over St. Thomas Aquinas. The Warriors racked up 48 bench points compared to the Spartans 14 in the victory. Jaclyn Lyons led the way off the bench with 11 points while Cassi Amenta recorded 10 and Madison Ward finished with eight to go along with five boards. Allison Wagner scored a season-high eight points while Lia Nawn scored a career-high six points in the win over the Spartans.
WARRIORS WIN TURNOVER BATTLE AGAIN:
One of the keys to success this season for the Warriors has been turning the ball over less than their opponents and against the Spartans this trend continued. The Warriors forced a season-high 27 turnovers, marking the fifth straight game of causing at least 19 turnovers from their opponents. The Warriors took the 27 turnovers and turned those into 29 points of their own. Merrimack improves to 7-0 on the season when they turn the ball over less than their opponents.
MERRIMACK HOLDS HUGE MARGIN OF VICTORY IN EIGHT WINS:
Merrimack already has three more wins than they had all last season, through only ten games. The Warriors average margin of victory in their eight wins this season is impressive. The Warriors win their games by a average of 14.8 points. The Warriors have recorded wins of 48, 30 points, 20 points, 18 points, 15 points and 11 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.
