GAME QUICK FACTS
Cheyney (8-5, 3-1 PSAC East) at Millersville (13-4, 2-2 PSAC East)
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009 - 6 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

Mansfield (4-13, 0-4 PSAC East) at Millersville
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 - 1 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

COVERAGE
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ABOUT THE GAMES
•    Millersville looks to go above .500 in conference play after making a statement with convincing wins over Shippensburg and Bloomsburg.
•    The Marauders will play back-to-back home games for the first time since the beginning of January, when they hosted Indiana (Pa.) and California (Pa.) on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4.
•    Millersville has won 34 straight games against Cheyney dating back to 1990-91, which was head coach Mary Fleig's first season. Fleig is 34-1 versus Cheyney in her career at Millersville, with the only loss a 59-55 decision in that 1990-91 season.
•    The Marauders swept both games with Mansfield last season, but the Mountaineers did manage to take 1-of-2 from Millersville in both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.  The Marauders have dominated the series though, winning 30 straight games from 1990-91 to 2005-06 and compiling a 48-3 record against their PSAC East foes from northern Pennsylvania since 1981-82.
•    Wednesday night's home contest with Cheyney is also the first BLACKOUT of the 2008-09 season at Pucillo Gymnasium. All Millersville students and fans are encouraged to wear their black. Shirts will also be thrown into the stands at the game.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
•    Cheyney is coming off of a 73-63 win at East Stroudsburg and has won three of its last four games.
•    The Wolves are currently sitting at 8-5 overall, just three wins shy of their win total from last season (11-16).
•    Shooting efficiency and free throws have plauged Cheyney so far this season. The Wolves are near the bottom of the PSAC in foul shooting, making just 61-percent of their attempts at the line. Cheyney also has the second worst field goal percentage of any PSAC team at 38-percent.
•    One area that the Wolves have been particularly good in is rebounding. Cheyney pulls down an average of 40.3 boards per game, which ranks fourth in the PSAC.
•    Cheyney is also one of the PSAC's best in terms of takeaways, ranking third in the conference with an average of 13.2 steals per game.
•    The Wolves are paced by junior forward Angel Stephens, who is averaging a double-double. Stephens is scoring at a clip of 15.0 points per game and collecting 10.3 rebounds per game.
•    Cheyney relies on key contributions from fellow juniors Lutfiyya Muhammad and Stephanie Orji. Muhammad is second on the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game, while Orji gives the Wolves 6.6 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game.
•    Mansfield is in the midst of a seven game losing streak and has lost 12-of-13 after starting 3-1.
•    The Mountaineers struggles extend to both ends of the floor. The team is scoring a league-low 59.4 points per game and giving up the most points in the PSAC at 72.6 per game.
•    Trips away from Northern Pennsylvania have not been kind to Mansfield, as it has a record of 1-7 on the road this season. The Mountaineers only win came in their first road game of the season, a 77-61 victory over Houghton.
•    Mansfield is a youthful squad. The team has eight freshmen on the roster and six play over 10 minutes per game, with another, Katie McBroom, playing 9.9. The Mountaineers leading scorer, Mallory Moore (11.0 points per game), is also a rookie.
•    A Mansfield player has led the PSAC in 3-pointers made the last two seasons. In 2006-07 Mallory Hafer led the league with 75 and last season Alicia Espigh made a league-best 63. Surprisingly, both are back this season, but neither rank among the top 15 in the conference.

THE LAST TIME OUT
•    The Millersville women's basketball team took to the road and evened its PSAC East record at 2-2 with a convincing 74-56 victory over Bloomsburg on Saturday afternoon.
•    The Marauders (13-4, 2-2 PSAC East) set the tone early, jumping out to a 24-3 first half lead. Junior Jenna Craig was outstanding in the first half, scoring 12 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Craig finished the afternoon with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
•    Millersville used its defense to frustrate the Huskies (8-9, 0-4 PSAC East) throughout the opening 20 minutes. Bloomsburg committed 14 turnovers, while only shooting 22.2-percent (4-of-18).
•    After Bloomsburg cut the lead to 28-15 at halftime, Millersville put together a 15-2 run to start the second half.
•    The Marauders were dialed in from deep as senior Jenna Philo and junior Ashley Moyer took turns firing the long ball. Moyer connected on a season-high five three-pointers, on just seven attempts, racking up a team-high 17 points. Philo was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc in the second half and finished with nine points.
•    Millersville ran its lead to as many as 29 points in the second half, holding a commanding 61-32 lead with 6:41 to go.
•    Millersville got a solid contribution from freshman, Gabrielle Styles, who netted 12 points and six rebounds. The Marauders got 21 points in total from their bench on the afternoon. The Black and Gold was once again strong on the defensive end. Bloomsburg was held in check for a majority of the afternoon and leading scorer Colleen Kegerreis was held to just six points on 1-of-5 shooting.

STARTING STRONG
•    Millersville's 11-2 non-conference record marked its best start to a season since 2000-01, when the Marauders started 13-2. The 2000-01 squad finished with a 21-6 record, but fell in the PSAC Quarterfinals to West Chester.

CHARITY TROUBLES
•    Millersville is looking to change its fortunes at the charity stripe this season. The Marauders rank last in the PSAC in free throw percentage at .606 (226-for-373). In 2007-08, Millersville finished seventh in the conference, shooting close to 70-percent. The team has, however, hit 39 of its last 45 free throw attempts (.867).

MARAUDER MILESTONES
•    Millersville's women's basketball program began in 1918 and since then, it has compiled 696 wins, leaving it just four victories shy of 700 all-time wins. Under head coach Mary Fleig, the Marauders have compiled almost half of those victories with 336.
•    Last season, coach Fleig won her 300th game at Millersville in the season opener, an 81-38 drubbing of Alderson-Broaddus in the Millersville Tipoff Classic.

AROUND AT THE FINISH
•    Millersville has not had a player foul out in 14 of 16 games in 2008-09. Junior Aiesha Bellamy fouled out in a 60-56 loss to Kutztown on Jan. 17, marking the first time a Millersville player had done so in 15 games. Bellamy was also the last Marauder player to foul out of a game, prior to the end of the current streak on Jan. 17, when she did so in the final game of the 2007-08 season, a 70-54 loss to California (Pa.) on Mar. 14, 2008.
   
HAPPY NEW YEAR
•    Millersville has compiled a 107-66 record in the month of January since 1990-91. The Marauders own a winning percentage of .618 in the month. The only month the Marauders have performed better in is November (45-22, .672). MU has only had three losing records in the month of January in the 18 season time span. This January the Marauders are 5-3.

LOFTY EXPECTATIONS
•    After posting a 24-6 overall record and a perfect 12-0 mark in the PSAC East a year ago, the Marauders were pegged to finish second in the PSAC East this season in the preseason coaches poll. 
•    Shippensburg, a newcomer to the PSAC Eastern Division, was picked to finish at the of the division in 2008. Shippensburg made the switch to the East after the realignment of the PSAC to accomodate the additions of Gannon and Mercyhurst to the Western Division. Shippensburg qualified for the PSAC playoffs last season as the fourth seed out of the competitive Western Division. All-American and PSAC West Athlete of the Year Lauren Beckley heads a Lady Raider team that has reached the playoffs in 13 of the past 14 seasons.
•    West Chester, who qualified for the PSAC playoffs last season as the second seed, finished the season at 9-3 in the division and is picked to finish one spot behind Millersville in third.  Kutztown, who won just four games in the division last year, is picked fourth, while East Stroudsburg is fifth.
•    Forward Gladine St. Julien, an All-PSAC Eastern Divsion First Team selection last season, was named to the 2008 Preseason All-PSAC East Team.

POWER FORWARD
•    Forward Gladine St. Julien stepped up in a huge way last season after the loss of PreseasonAll-PSAC selection Ashley Romanoski due to injury.  St. Julien led the Marauders in scoring average (12.5) and was second on the team in rebounding, averaging 6.7 rebounds per game.
•    St. Julien was honored as the PSAC Eastern Division Athlete of the Week three times last season. 
•    St. Julien poured in a career-high 22 points on December 18, in the first of three losses on the season to California (Pa.).  She matcher her career high on February 23 in a four-point victory over East Stroudsburg.
•    The 6-0 forward scored in double figures in 21 of the team's 30 games last season and managed four double-doubles.  St. Julien led the Marauders in scoring 13 times and rebounding 11 times.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
•    Since Millersville began playing its home games in Pucillo Gymnasium in 1982, the Marauders are an impressive 250-76 at home in 26 seasons.  The team has never won less than seven games at Pucillo in a single season and has never had a losing record.  Millersville has recorded three losses or fewer at home in 18 of 26 seasons at Pucillo, including a stretch of seven straight seasons from 1996 to 2002.
•    Since the 2000-01 season, Millersville holds a .795 winning percentage at Pucillo.

NEW FACES
•    Despite returning three full-time starters from last year's team and two other players who saw significant action, the Marauders welcome eight new faces to this year's squad.
•    Coach Fleig has recruited seven freshman and a tranfer to fill out the 2008 roster that also includes nine returning players.  Chelsea Barsky, a transfer from St. Francis (Pa.), is in her junior season and despite playing mostly at the guard position while at the Division I Institution, the 5-11 transfer will be called upon to do most of her work in the post.
•    The incoming class is well balanced with four guards and five forwards.  With the addition of 2007-08 red-shirt Emily Balogh, the Marauders will have a very deep bench to spell the starters.
   
WHO NEEDS SPRING BREAK?
•    Extending the season into March is becoming commonplace at Millersville. In 2007-08, the Marauders earned their 12th straight appearance in the PSAC Tournament and seventh consecutive appearance in the conference semifinals.
•    Despite falling in the PSAC Tournament semifinals to California (Pa.), the Marauders entered the NCAA Division II Tournament as the No. 7 seed in the East Region.  Despite leading with under eight minutes to play in the opening-round contest, the Marauders eventually fell for the third time on the season to California (Pa.) to end their season.
•    The Marauders have appeared in the NCAA Tournament five times under the direction of Fleig and have posted a 2-5 record in those appearances.  Millersville defeated Pitt-Johnstown, 75-71 to advance to the regional semifinal in 1999 and the 2002 team knocked off Belmont Abbey, 84-60 to advance for the only two victories.

RECORD BREAKERS
•    In the season-opening 101-30 victory over Columbia Union, the Marauders eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.  In that season the Marauders ironically knocked off the same team (Columbia Union) by a score of 102-52.
•    The 101-point effort was helped in large part to the 60 first-half points scored by the Marauders which broke the school record of 54 set by the 1992-93 team in a lopsided win over Holy Family.
•    The 71-point margin of victory also broke the school record set  by the 1992-93 team that defeated Cheyney by a final score of 94-28. 

DEFENSIVE REIGN
•    Millersville allowed only 42 points against Indiana (Pa.) on Jan. 3, 2009, marking the lowest point total by IUP since 2004.
•     California (Pa.) finally put a chink in Millersville's defensive armor, when the Vulcans scored 76 points against the Marauders on Jan. 4. It was the highest point total surrendered by a Millersville team since Feb. 17, 2007, a span of 42
games.
•     After holding Slippery Rock to 48 points and Mercyhurst to just 44 this past weekend, Millersville has now held its opponents to less than 50 points in 9-of-17 games this season.

TWICE AS NICE
•     Millersville has put an even greater scoring lockdown on two opponents this season, holding each to just 30 points, a feat never before accomplished by a Marauder team under coach Fleig. 
•     The Marauders opened the season in convincing fashion by downing Columbia Union 101-30. On Nov. 19, just four days later, Millersville pulled the feat off once again, this time in a 69-30 victory over Goldey-Beacom. In the win, the Marauders held the Lightning to just two second-half field goals.