12/14 - Women's Basketball: Previewing Cruzin Classic

Immediately, December 14, 2003 Contact: Kevin Southard, SID

Lady Royal Basketball Notes
Previewing Games #5: vs. Colby College at Cruzin Classic in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Wednesday, December 17, 12:00 pm
Previewing Game #6: vs. Randolph-Macon College at Cruzin Classic in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Thursday, December 18, 12:00 pm

Team Records:
Colby College (3-2)
*Randolph-Macon (4-2)
The University of Scranton (4-0)

*Randolph-Macon will battle RPI on Tuesday, December 16, prior to Thursday’s game.

Probable Starters
Colby College “White Mules” (3-2)
No. Name Pos. Pts/Rebs
11 Sarah Kelly G 11.2/6.4
23 Cassie Green G 1.4/1.2
25 Wendy Bonner F 11.4/10.4
14 Alanna Balboni F 2.8/5.4
20 Kate Emery F 8.0/4.4

Randolph-Macon “Yellow Jackets” (4-2)
No. Name Pos. Pts/Rebs
11 Megan Silva G 20.2/5.2
20 Megan Senske F/G 6.7/3.3
24 Jennie Carter F/G 6.0/1.3
30 Emily Crider F/C 17.2/6.7
34 Michelle Orton C 13.8/12.8
or
4 Kristen Morgan G 8.2/1.8
or
52 Shannon Wighington F/C 1.7/2.3

The Univ. of Scranton “Lady Royals” (3-0)
No. Name Pos. Pts/Rebs
20 Katie Dougherty G 14.3/4.5
23 Kate Pierangeli G 16.0/3.8
42 Eileen Webster C 4.0/4.0
12 Taryn Mellody F 9.3/4.5
34 Tara Gemmel F 12.0/6.8

Coaching Profile:
Mike Strong – The University of Scranton
A 1967 graduate of Concord College in West Virginia, Strong is in his 24th year as head coach of the Lady Royals. His overall record and record at Scranton is 556-124 (.818). He led the Lady Royals to an NCAA Division III championship in 1985. He is assisted by Marc Kudrich (Scranton ’89, 5th year) and Deanna Klingman (Scranton ’86, 4th year).

Lady Royal Review: The Lady Royals haven’t played since an 84-61 victory over Lycoming College in the Freedom Conference opener for both teams on Wednesday, December 3, at the John J. Long, S.J., Center on campus. Senior guard Kate Pierangeli (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) poured in a game and career-high 26 points as Scranton won its fifth straight conference opener and its 22nd in 24 tries under head coach Mike Strong. Freshman forward Taryn Mellody (Dunmore, Pa./Bishop O’Hara) added 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals and junior forward Tara Gemmel (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua) contributed 13 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Royals, which held the Warriors to 33.9 percent shooting from the field and pressured them into committing 27 turnovers.

Moving On Up: The Lady Royals have moved up three spots in the national poll by D3hoops.com since the beginning of the season. Scranton, which was eighth in the pre-season poll, is now ranked fifth with 490 points behind first-place Trinity of Texas (614 pts), Rochester (587), Bowdoin (566) and Wisconsin-Stevens Point (549).

Six Is It! Kate Pierangeli enters Wednesday’s game against Colby needing six points to become the 20th player in Lady Royals’ history to score 1000 career points. Pierangeli, who has started 69 of 85 games in her career, has made her presence known in many other ways. She is now 8th all-time in Scranton history in assists (318), tied for 5th in steals (206), tied for 2nd in 3-point field goals made (142), 1st in 3-point field goal attempted (429), 8th in 3-point field goal percentage (.331) and tied for 5th in free throw percentage (.724).

Under Pressure: Scranton’s 4-0 start can likely be attributed to its ability to play pressure defense and get opponents into an up-tempo style of play. The Lady Royals are currently harassing opponents into an average of 27 turnovers a game while limiting them to .348 shooting from the field, including .288 from beyond the 3-point arc. Scranton is also out-rebounding its opponents by an average of nearly nine a game.

When Last We Met: The Lady Royals will be meeting the White Mules of Colby College for the second time on the hardwoods during Mike Strong’s 24-year tenure as Scranton head coach. The Lady Royals lost the initial meeting between the two teams by the score of 62-60 on November 18, 1990. During Strong’s tenure, the Lady Royals have never met Randolph-Macon.

Tall Order: On Thursday, the Lady Royals face a Randolph-Macon team that has six players who are 5-10 or taller. The Yellow Jackets, ranked 13th in a pre-season poll by the DIII News, have out-rebounded each of their first six opponents by nearly six a game and have held them to .390 shooting from the field. The Yellow Jackets’ two losses have come by a combined total of six points and one of them was in overtime.

Lady Royals-FDU-Florham Game Set for January 26: The University of Scranton’s Freedom Conference game against FDU-Florham that was postponed on Saturday, December 6, in Madison, New Jersey, due to a snow storm that hit the East Coast will be made up on Monday, January 26, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Upcoming Games:
FRI. JAN. 2 DIVERSIFIED INV.
LONG CENTER
6:00 PM PITT-GREENSBURG VS. HARTWICK
8:00 PM ROWAN VS. SCRANTON
SAT. JAN. 3 DIVERSIFIELD INV.
LONG CENTER
6:00 PM THIRD-PLACE GAME
8:00 PM CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Tue. Jan. 6 at 10th-ranked Messiah
Fri. Jan. 9 at Moravian Tournament
6:00 pm Scranton vs. The Co. of New Jersey
8:00 pm William Paterson vs. Moravian
Sat. Jan. 10 at Moravian Tournament
1:00 pm Third-Place Game
3:00 pm Championship

--ROYALS--