Feb. 5, 2008

Women's Basketball Notes in PDF Format

THE MATCHUPS: Mercyhurst will compete in its last two home games this weekend against GLIAC opponents Wayne State and Hillsdale. The Lakers host Wayne State Thursday at 6 p.m. and Hillsdale Saturday at 1 p.m. Mercyhurst is 9-16 all-time against Wayne State and the last win over the Warriors came in a 90-89 overtime victory in 2005-06. The Lakers are 4-20 all-time against Hillsdale and have lost each of the past 16 meetings with the Chargers dating back to a 76-66 win in the 1999-00 season.
LAST GAME AGAINST WAYNE STATE: Mercyhurst suffered a 93-73 loss to Wayne State on Jan. 26. Amy Achesinski had a career high 38 points and Mara Dreiser contributed 10 points and five rebounds. Achesinski was 13-of-16 shooting, 12-of-15 from the free-throw line, and added eight rebounds for the Lakers. The 38 points was the highest single game total for a Mercyhurst player in more than 15 years. Wayne State went on a 20-4 run to erase an early 16-14 deficit but the Lakers fought back to cut the gap to 10 points at 44-34 by the half. The Warriors came out of the gates roaring in the second half, pulling away from Mercyhurst and leading by as many as 29 points twice in the second half.
LAST GAME AGAINST HILLSDALE: The Mercyhurst women's basketball team could not keep up with the offensive pace of the Hillsdale Chargers and suffered a 71-37 defeat Jan. 24. Mara Dreiser was the only Laker to score in double-digits with 10 points, while three Chargers tallied 18 points or more. Mercyhurst committed 34 turnovers to the Chargers' 12.
THE COACHES: Mercyhurst head coach Deanna Richard is in her first season at Mercyhurst, currently posting a 6-16 record. She has a career mark of 67-108, including a record of 61-92 in six seasons at Division III Olivet College. Wayne State head coach Gloria Bradley is in her eighth season and has a career mark of 210-183. In defeating Mercyhurst last year, she recorded her 200th collegiate victory. Hillsdale head coach Claudette Charney is in her sixth season at the helm and also coached at Grand Valley State and Saginaw Valley State, where she is the all-time winningest coach. This past year, Charney reached the 400 win club while leading the Chargers to a 19-9 record and a trip to the GLIAC Conference Championship game.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst suffered two defeats to GLIAC opponents Northwood and Saginaw Valley State this past week. Mercyhurst fell short in an upset bid of Northwood in a 68-67 loss Thursday. The game came down to the final possession when the Timberwolves got an offensive rebound and a basket with seven seconds left to steal the win from the Lakers. Amy Achesinski led the Lakers with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Paris Pugliese also contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. The Mercyhurst women's basketball team held a 46-42 halftime lead over the Saginaw Valley Cardinals but could not put two halves together, losing 91-72 Saturday. Achesinski led Mercyhurst with 23 points. As a team, the Lakers rate as the second-best field goal and three-point shooting team in the GLIAC, making 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from the arc.
SCOUTING WAYNE STATE: Wayne State is fourth in the GLIAC South Division and is on the brink of securing a spot in the GLIAC playoffs. The Warriors have created more possessions by leading the conference in both turnover margin (+7.7 per game) and offensive rebounding (15.6 per game). Three players average at least 10 points per game, led by Chastidy Miller at 13.7. Jasmine McCall has caused havoc for the opposition, posting a GLIAC-best 75 steals, almost 4.0 per game.
SCOUTING HILLSDALE: At 17-3 overall and 10-2 in the conference, Hillsdale is one of the favorites to win the GLIAC this year. Four-time GLIAC Player of the Week Katie Cezat leads the way with 22.6 points and 12.6 rebounds. She averaged 38.0 points and 14.0 rebounds in wins over Grand Valley State and Wayne State last week. She leads the GLIAC in both stats, as well as ranking second in field goal percentage (behind Amy Achesinski at 58.5 percent) and third in blocked shots (1.45 per game).

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 fifth in all of NCAA Division II in field goal percentage (59.9 percent). She is the only freshman ranked in the top 60 in that category. She also ranks 45th in the country in scoring (17.5 points per game) and is third among all freshmen nationally, behind only Florida Southern's Chelsea Johnson (17.7 points per game) and Queens' Amanda Bartlett (17.5 points per game).
• 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 45.9 percent from the field and 37.4 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 83.3 percent (110-of-132), she ranks just ahead of Tricia Mahoney (82.7 percent from 1979-83).
• Mercyhurst has three players ranked among the top nine in the GLIAC in three-point shooting. Freshman Samantha Loadman is shooting 43.5 percent and Prischak follows at 42.2 percent. Sophomore Paris Pugliese has made 41.4 percent of her attempts this year.