ERIE, Pa. - With the magical number of 11 games already past to be eligible for a potential NCAA Tournament the Mercyhurst women's basketball team looks to continue to build their case as they head to the New York state capital to square off with The College of Saint Rose out of the Northeast 10 Conference.
Game Information
Opponent - The College of Saint Rose Golden Knights
Date - Tuesday, February 16th and Wednesday, February 17th
Time - 4:30pm and 1pm
Location - Albany, New York (Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium)
Series History - Knights, lead 3-1 / Lakers Last Win: 55-53, (3/11/1995 NCAA 2nd rd) / Knights Last Win: 69-66, (12/29/2001 at home)
Fan Statement - Fans will not be allowed inside the Nolan Gymnasium.
Lakers Notes
Live Stats
Watch
Last Time Out - Cleveland State 84, LAKERS 56 (2/5/2021)
After having a game against Clarion postponed Coach Kohlheim and her team put together a game at Division I Cleveland State University. The first quarter started slowly for both sides with the hosts leading just 8-4. CSU opened it up in the second thanks to a 17-2 charge. An 8-0 Lakers push cut it to 35-20 at the break. Over the final two frames the DI side was able to keep the visitors at bay to secure the win.
Grace Centrulla had 12 points and eight boards to lead the team. Both
Nicolette Arnold and
Meghan Komendarek chipped in 10, while
Jayde Boyd paced the side on the glass grabbing 12.
Scouting the Lakers (7-4)
Trying to Build Momentum
Mercyhurst has hit a bit of a rough patch in their schedule as of late dropping three of four and four of six. If they have aspirations of heading to the NCAA Tournament they need to start making a statement starting with these two against St. Rose, before taking on Clarion twice. Hurst closes out the 2021 season with a pair of contests with crosstown foe Gannon.
Balanced Scoring
Boyd and Komendarek continue to lead the team in scoring with both putting up over 11 points per game.
Julia Buchman falls just off the double-digit pace dropping 9.2 per contest.
Emily Shopene,
Paige Woodford, Arnold and Centrulla each average over six to aid the offensive output.
Hitting the Glass
CSU held a 47-38 rebounding edge against the Lakers bringing their season rebounding margin to an even 0.0. They have been good at hitting the glass on the defensive end hauling in 32.4 per game, which is good for third in the nation. Komendarek and her 8.5 boards per game puts her at the top of the team. She is followed by the duo of Boyd and Centrulla who grab 6.2 and 6.3 respectively. The combination of Arnold and Shopene account for 10.2 per contest.
Consistency in Starters
Head coach
Brooklyn Kohlheim has gone with the same starting lineup nine of eleven games. That group of five has consisted of Boyd, Buchman and Shopene in the backcourt with Arnold along with Komendarek up front. The only exception came on January 9th against Miles and February 5th at Cleveland State when Woodford took over for Shopene who sat out with a lower-body injury.
Protect the Ball
The Lakers struggled with holding onto the ball against DI Cleveland State last time out committing 20 turnovers which was their third game of 20-plus this season. However, with that being said Mercyhurst had been doing a better job protecting the ball recently as they had recorded 15 or less miscues in their last three games up til then, which included a season-low 13 in the overtime loss at American International College on January 30th. The game at CSU has pushed their season average from 16.9 back to 17.2.
Block Party
The Lakers showed their agility and ferocity versus the Vikings as well added seven more blocks to the season total which now sits at 67 which leaves them eighth nationally, while the 6.1 average is good for fifth. Three players have double-digit blocks led by 19 from the freshman Centrulla, followed by Boyd (15) and Komendarek (14). The group of
Emma McDermott, Arnold, Buchman and Shopene all have over four each.
Stat Pack
Through 11 games the team is averaging 64.0 ppg and are allowing just 60.9 for a +3.1 scoring margin. They shoot 37.9% from the floor, 29.3% beyond the three-point line and 72.6% at the foul line. The Lakers tend to share the ball more than their opponent handing out 14.7 assists per game to the competition's 8.7. On the defensive end, the Lakers average 5.2 steals.
NCAA Leaders
As a team the Lakers are 34th in rebounds per game (42.5). At the defensive end they are now fifth in field-goal percentage defense (32.0). Individually, Shopene ranks 26th in assists per game (4.9). With her 19 blocks Centrulla ranks 39th, while the 15 by Boyd and 14 from Komendarek leaves them at 64th and 75th. Komendarek is inside the Top-100 in both rebounds per game (65th) and defensive rebounds per contest (56th).
Inside the Castle (0-0)
The College of Saint Rose will be playing their first game of the 2020-21 season after going 7-19 last year with a 2-17 mark in NE10 play ending the campaign on a 12-game losing strea. The Golden Knights did not enjoy much of a home court advantage at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium as they went just 2-10 in the state capital in 2019-2020. They return six players from last year's squad and have added seven freshmen along with a sophomore transfer. Out of the Knights returning to the castle are leading scorers Nina Fedullo and Becca Townes who averaged 12.0 and 9.8 points last season. Their next highest scorer is Shamim Wambere who chipped in 4.2. Fedullo also paces the team on the glass grabbing 9.0 per contest. As a team they averaged 56.5 points, but gave up 68.5 for a -12.0 scoring margin. St. Rose shot 38.5% from the field, 23.3% from long range and 67.8% on the line. Defensively, they put up 7.8 steals and 2.7 blocks. Head Coach Whitney Edwards is just beginning her time in the throne.
On Deck
The Lakers will return to action next Tuesday, February 23rd at 5:30pm when they visit PSAC foe Clarion University.
