ERIE, Pa. - Coming off a hard-fought 68-65 win on the road over Clarion University on Wednesday evening to snap a five-game skid. The Mercyhurst women's basketball team returns home to square off with the Golden Bears of Kutztown University on Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
Game Information
Opponent - Kutztown Golden Bears
Date - Saturday, January 11
Time - 1 pm
Location - Erie, Pa. (Mercyhurst Athletic Center)
Series History - Kutztown leads 5-4, (Lakers won last meeting 74-70 at the MAC on 12/18/18)
Lakers Notes
Live Stats
Live Video
Tickets
Last Time Out
Mercyhurst led 19-15 after and 38-31 at the break on Wednesday at Clarion. However, runs of 6-0 and 8-0 throughout parts of the third quarter put the Golden Eagles in front by a slim 50-47 margin through 30-minutes. The Lakers would continue to trail in the fourth by as many as seven, before buckets for
Meghan Komendarek and
Stephanie Petery brought the deficit down to just one 56-55. That brought the Lakers some much needed life and spark as
Lauren Lapertosa and
Emily Shopene organized a 9-0 run in a 2:09 span to give them a 64-59 edge. From there they were able to hold on for the three-point win. Shopene led the way with a double-double scoring 11 and grabbing 11 boards.
Amber Renz (12),
Nicolete Newman (11), and Petery (11) completed double-digit scorers.
Scouting the Lakers (4-10, 4-4 PSAC)
Team Numbers
Mercyhurst holds a -7.2 scoring margin putting up 64.9 ppg, but allowing 72.1 to the opposition. Shooting from the field has been solid at 43% to go along with 27.8% outside the arc and 66.3% on the foul line. As a unit they are averaging 13.7 assists per game, while on the glass they are bringing down 35.9 rebounds per contest.
NCAA Ranks
As a team Mercyhurst ranks inside the Top-100 nationally in field-goal percentage (71st), blocked shots (50th), and blocked shots per game (59th). Individually, Renz is 50th in the country and fourth in the PSAC shooting 54.8%. Shopene and Lapertosa rank 11th and 80th in minutes per game with 37.00 and 34.06 respectively. Shopene and her 517.58 minutes played on the season puts her 13th nationally.
Protect the Ball
Mercyhurst had done a better job at protect the ball in recent games, however, in their last two contests they have turned it over a combined 38 times which has increased their season average back to 17 per game. Mercyhurst holds a -3.4 turnover margin and allow 17.1 ppg off of their turnovers, while converting their opponents 13.6 mistakes into 13.3 ppg.
Ball Hogs
The Lakers have had ten-plus steals in two of their last three games and now as a team have totaled 96 steals on the season, averaging 6.9 per game. Lapertosa (19) and Shopene (18) lead the way, followed by Newman with 15.
Kori Sidwell is next with 11, while Renz has eight and
Vivian Allison has chipped in seven.
Crash the Boards
Mercyhurst holds a +2.5 in rebound margin at 35.9 to 33.4. Lapertosa continues to lead the side with 5.7 rpg, followed by 5.2 for Sidwell. Newman, Renz and Shopene each average over four per game.
Balanced Scoring
Renz leads the Lakers double-digit trio 14.4, with Shopene and Newman tacking on 10.4 and 10.2 respectively.
Eliza Oswalt averages 8.3, while Lapertosa adds another 7.6.
Block Party
Komendarek has recorded a dozen of the Lakers 53 blocks who average 3.8 bpg as a team. Renz and Lapertosa each have nine. Sidwell has posted six, followed by Shopene and
Julia Buchman at five. Four other players have at least one.
Scouting the Golden Bears (8-6, 5-3 PSAC)
Kutztown had to come from behind in their last game overcoming Millersville on the road 86-79 in PSAC Eastern Division action on Wednesday. For the season the Golden Bears are shooting a flat 39% from the field, 31.5% from distance, and a solid 74.7% at the charity stripe. Rylee Derr and Casey Remolde are the leading scorers for Kutztown with 16 and 11.9 respectively. Karen Lapkiewicz along with Brianna Tarabocchia each average over eight per game. The threesome of Remolde, Derr, and Lapkiewicz are the leading rebounders pulling down over five each per game.
On Deck
The Lakers are back on the road on Wednesday, January 15 when they travel to Pitt-Johnstown for a 5:30 pm tip.
