Jan. 29, 2008

Women's Basketball Notes in PDF Format

THE MATCHUPS: Mercyhurst returns home to begin a four-game homestand, the final four home games of the season, Thursday and Saturday. The Lakers host Northwood Thursday at 6 p.m. and Saginaw Valley State Saturday at 1 p.m. Mercyhurst is 6-6 all-time against Northwood and snapped a four-game losing streak to the Timberwolves with a 72-71 win last year. The Lakers are 5-9 all-time against Saginaw Valley State and have lost each of the past three meetings with the Cardinals.
LAST YEAR AGAINST NORTHWOOD: Julie Anderson made four free-throws in the final 21 seconds of overtime as Mercyhurst outlasted Northwood 72-71 in Midland, Mich. a year ago. Anderson led the way with 22 points and eight rebounds and Katlyn Petit added 18 points. Stephanie Prischak had 16 points, five assists and five steals, and Paris Pugliese added 10 points.
LAST YEAR AGAINST SAGINAW VALLEY: Saginaw Valley jumped out to a 41-22 halftime lead and never looked back in a 76-55 win a year ago. Julie Anderson had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lakers and Stephanie Prischak added 12 points, three assists and two steals.
THE COACHES: Mercyhurst head coach Deanna Richard is in her first season at Mercyhurst, currently posting a 6-14 record. She has a career mark of 67-106, including a record of 61-92 in six seasons at Division III Olivet College. Northwood head coach Jeff Curtis is in his fourth season and has a career mark of 40-57. The team's 12 wins this year are already the most in his tenure at Northwood. Saginaw Valley head coach Vonnie Killmer is also in her fourth season at the helm and she sports a career record of 31-68.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst struggled in different facets of each game last weekend, losing to Hillsdale and Wayne State. The Lakers scored a season-low 37 points in a 71-37 loss to Hillsdale then gave up a season-high 93 in a 93-73 loss to Wayne State. Sophomore Mara Dreiser was the only Laker to score in double-figures in each contest, posting 10 points in both games. After having a season-low three points against Hillsdale, freshman Amy Achesinski put it all together against Wayne State, making 13-of-16 shots and scoring a career-high 38 points. As a team, the Lakers rate as the second-best three-point shooting team in the GLIAC, making 36.6 percent of their attempts.
SCOUTING NORTHWOOD: The Timberwolves are off to their best start in program history at 12-6. The squad is also well on its way to making the GLIAC playoffs with a 7-3 conference record. Northwood has rattled opponents into an average of more than 22 turnovers a game and ranks second in the GLIAC with 11.3 steals and a +3.5 turnover margin. Megan Starnes averaged 14.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. The Timberwolves also crash the offensive glass hard and Jodi Ostergren leads the GLIAC at 3.8 offensive boards per game.
SCOUTING SAGINAW VALLEY STATE: Although Saginaw Valley State enters the weekend with a record of 1-9 in the GLIAC, the Cardinals have done a good job taking care of the basketball. The squad ranks third in the conference with a +3.3 turnover margin per game. Senior LaTille Ross leads the way with 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. Junior point guard Tricia Everett has a conference-high 7.1 assists per game. Kara Kinzer leads the GLIAC at over 2.5 three-pointers made per game but is shooting only 33 percent from long range.
QUICK HITS
• Mercyhurst is playing its final season as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) before moving to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) next year. Mercyhurst went 3-1 against PSAC schools this year, picking up wins over Mansfield, Edinboro and Lock Haven, coupled with a loss to Slippery Rock.
• Freshman Amy Achesinski scored a career-high 38 points in the team's 93-73 loss to Wayne State. She was the first Mercyhurst player to score at least 30 in a game since Amy Galla scored 32 against Lake Superior State in 1991. The 38-point game was the highest scoring individual game for a Mercyhurst player in over 15 years.
• Achesinski ranks ninth in all of NCAA Division II in field goal percentage. She is the only freshman ranked in the top 75 in that category. Achesinski also has six double-doubles this season and has scored in double-figures in 18 of 20 games in her first collegiate season.
• As a team, the Lakers are on pace to break the single season school records for field goal percentage and three-point percentage. Mercyhurst is shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from three-point range this year, ranking second in the GLIAC in that category.
• Stephanie Prischak is the all-time leader in career free-throw percentage at Mercyhurst. At 83.1 percent (108-of-130), she ranks just ahead of Tricia Mahoney (82.7 percent from 1979-83).
• Mercyhurst has three players ranked among the top eight in the GLIAC in three-point shooting. Freshman Samantha Loadman is shooting 43.2 percent and Prischak follows at 42.1 percent. Sophomore Paris Pugliese has made 41.2 percent of her attempts this year.