MERCYHURST (12-15, 12-4 NEC) vs STONEHILL (11-16, 7-9 NEC)
Saturday, February 28 – 1:00 p.m.
TV: NEC Front Row
 
The Mercyhurst women's basketball team plays its penultimate regular season game Saturday at the Mercyhurst Athletics Center, hosting Stonehill for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff. Prior to tipoff Mercyhurst will honor its graduating class of four seniors.
 
Senior Day
Lauryn Stover is in her second season with the Lakers, appearing in 42 games. Since coming to Mercyhurst, she's posted career-highs in points, rebounds, and assists in a game. After graduating with a degree in criminal justice, Lauryn plans to go to law school or pursue a master's in forensic psychology. In the classroom, she's earned a 4.0 GPA in each semester at Mercyhurst.
 
Quinn Borroni is in her third season with the Lakers, appearing in 35 games while making 11 starts. Majoring in finance and accounting, she's earned Dean's List recognition each semester of her college career. She's also served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the last two years. After graduation, Quinn plans to work at the Bank of New York Mellon as a financial analyst and pursue a master's in tax and later attend law school.
 
Sophia Kelly is a four-year member of the program, appearing in 39 games. As a cyber security and data science dual major, she plans to finish her master's degree and pursue Air Force officer training after graduation. Sophia was named to the 2024-25 NEC Academic Honor Roll and the Commissioner's Honor Roll.
 
Jenna Van Schaik is in her fourth season with the program, appearing in 99 games while making 54 starts. She was named to the Preseason All-NEC Squad and has racked up three Prime Performer awards and one Player of the Week honor in her senior season. As a business and competitive intelligence major, Jenna has maintained a 4.0 GPA, earning Dean's List recognition each semester of her college career. After graduation, she plans to get a job in the intelligence field and join the basketball coaching staff at her high school.

The Opponent
Stonehill has secured its spot in the NEC Tournament with a 7-9 record in conference play coming in to Saturday's game. The Skyhawks narrowly beat Saint Francis 58-55 Thursday in Loretto. Stonehill is 3-5 on the road during conference play.  After Saturday's game, they finish out the regular season at home against Chicago State Thursday.

Junior Brooke Paquette is second in the NEC in scoring average, posting 14.8 points per contest. Paquette averages 2.0 3-point makes per game while assisting on 3.0 baskets.
 
Last Time Out
The Lakers earned their fourth victory in a row, downing Central Connecticut State, 75-66. Jenna Van Schaik and Sofia Wilson each posted 21 points in the win. Wilson added six assists while draining five 3-pointers.

Mercyhurst took an early lead in the first quarter and pulled away in the fourth, outscoring the Blue Devils 18-13 in the final frame. 
 
Playoff Picture
Mercyhurst has clinched home court advantage for the quarterfinals of the NEC Tournament. The Lakers can rise to the two seed if they win out and LIU loses at least one of its final three games and Wagner remains in the four seed.
 
Win Out 
Mercyhurst has the chance to secure their best conference winning percentage since the 2016-17 season with wins in their final three games. If  the Lakers win out in the regular season, they would finish with a 14-4 record for a 77.7 winning percentage, besting their 77.2 percent clip in 2016-17 when they went 17-5 in PSAC play.

The Lakers sit at 12-4 coming into the final three games, a 0.75 winning percentage.
 
Ranking Nationally
Mercyhurst is averaging just 12.0 turnovers per game in conference play. That mark is tied for 11th in the nation with Texas. 

The Lakers have turned the ball over fewer than 10 in six games this season. It's the most games with 10 or fewer turnovers since the 2018-19 season when they did it in seven games.
 
Get to the Line
Getting to the free throw line is key for the Lakers. When Mercyhurst has more free throw makes than its opponent, the Lakers own a 10-4 record this season and a 23-9 record over the last three seasons combined