Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (4-0) vs. Chestnut Hill (0-5)
Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 - 6 p.m.
Hollinger Fieldhouse, West Chester, Pa.

Millersville vs. Lincoln (Pa.) (1-4)
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 - 2 p.m.
Hollinger Fieldhouse, West Chester, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN
Live Stats

THE WEEK AHEAD
•    Millersville is off to a 4-0 start for the third straight season and matches up with a pair of struggling teams this weekend. Chestnut Hill and Lincoln enter play this weekend with just one win between them.
•    Both games this weekend will be held at West Chester's Hollinger Fieldhouse as part of the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament. The Marauders took place in the tournament last season and routed both of the squads they face this weekend.
•    In the game against Chestnut Hill last year, MU jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead and continued to surge in the second half, as it downed the Griffins 74-46. The Marauders responded the next day by handing Lincoln a 30-point defeat, 79-49.
•    Millersville is looking to build upon its recent string of early season successes. Two seasons ago the Marauders opened up with wins in each of their first five games. In 2008-09, the team won six straight before falling at Southern Florida. With a pair of wins this weekend, Millersville can match that 6-0 start from a season ago. The last time an MU squad won more than six straight to start a season was in 1972-73, when Marjorie Trout's bunch started 7-0.
•    Chestnut Hill and Lincoln are a pair of relatively new opponents for the Marauders. Last season's 74-46 victory over Chesnut Hill was the first ever meeting between the two schools. MU has taken on Lincoln just five times. The Marauders and Lions first met in 1979-80, but there was a hiatus that lasted from the 1981-82 season until 2007-08. Millersville has won the two meetings this decade by a combined 58 points.

SCOUTING CHESTNUT HILL
•    A jump up in division has not been kind to the Griffins. After competing at the NCAA Division III level  for a number of seasons, Chestnut Hill jumped to Division II in 2007-08. The school has compiled a 10-49 record in two-plus seasons of D-II basketball. In the CACC, CHC has just six wins in 31 games.
•    The transition has been tough for second year head coach Kiesha King. King helped the Griffins triple their win total from 2007-08 in her first year on the sidelines. The improvement has not carried over into Chestnut Hill's early season schedule in 09-10, as it comes in with an 0-5 mark.
•    While it's been tough to increase the number in the win column, Chestnut Hill has remained competitive. Three of the team's five losses have come by 12 points or less, including a six-point defeat against Philadelphia on Nov. 18 and a 10-point defeat at Kutztown on Nov. 30.
•    Scoring has been an issue for Chestnut Hill, as it averages just over 53 points per game on the offensive end. Leading scorer Jessica Pruiti averages just under 10 points per game (9.6), but the top three scorers combine to score nearly 26 points per contest. In addition, the team is shooting just 28-percent from the floor, 29-percent from beyond the arc, and 61-percent from the line over its first five games.
•    The Griffins are also lacking a dominant inside presence. 5-foot-8 Aiesha Smith is the team's leading rebounder at 5.8 per game. CHC has blocked just seven shots to its opponents 23.
•    Getting off to a quick start will be key against this Chestnut Hill squad. They have been outscored by 43 points in the first half this season (175-132).

SCOUTING LINCOLN (PA.)
•    The Lions, an exploratory member of Division II, are facing the same uphill battle as Chestnut Hill. Lincoln is coming off of a 2-25 season and is three seasons removed from its last winning campaign.
•    Sixth year head coach Andy Haman, a Cheyney grad, has stuck with the program throughout its transition. The Lions are just 42-76 under Haman, but he did lead the team to a 19-8 record in 2006-07, which included an Association of Division III Independents Northeast Region Tournament title.
•    Lincoln squeaked by with a 49-46 win over Concordia College in its season-opener, but has since lost four straight. The Lions last three defeats have come by an average of 21.3 points.
•    Lincoln is led on offense by DeJuana Mosley, who is also a member of LU's softball team. Mosley averaged just under 14 points per game last season and this season she's scoring at just over 14 a game. Sharay DuBose, a sophomore guard, was another one of Lincoln's go-to scorers a season ago and currently sits second on the team in scoring, dropping in 12.6 points per night.
•    If there is an area where the Lions excel, it's in the turnover department. They have not held on to the ball well themselves, but have forced 122 turnovers in five games.
•    The two-headed attack of Mosley and DuBose extends beyond just points, as they are the team's leaders in rebounds per game (both at 6+).
•    Secondary scoring and rebounding has come in the form of freshman shooting guard Danielle Smallwood. The Philadelphia, Pa., product is averaging 7.0 points and 5.8 boards per game.
•    Lincoln has not fared well against PSAC East schools. The Lions are 0-9 against Millersville and its conference rivals dating back to the 2006-07 season.

LOOKING BACK
•    Four players posted double-figure scoring days and the Millersville women's basketball team used a stifling defense to run away from Philadelphia University, 68-41, last Saturday afternoon at Pucillo Gymnasium.
•    The story of the day was team defense, as the unbeaten Marauders held the visiting Rams to just 25-percent shooting for the game. Philadelphia's starters were a combined 5-of-18 in the opening half and the team committed 19 turnovers. Millersville took advantage, scoring the first seven points of the game and opening up a double-digit lead, 16-6, on Jenna Craig's layup midway through the period.
•    Millersville outscored Philadelphia 24-4 in the paint and turned the Rams' 19 turnovers into 20 of its 36 first half points to take a 36-18 lead to the break. The Black and Gold shot just under 47-percent from the floor in the half (15-of-32), with its only real struggles coming from 3-point range (1-of-7).
•    Ashley Moyer led the Marauders' charge out of the locker room, starting off the second half with a 3-pointer and a steal, as MU ripped off the first six points to extend its lead to 42-18. Comfortably ahead throughout the remainder of the game, the Millersville bench was able to come alive. Seven of the 10 players off of Mary Fleig's bench recorded points in the contest.
•    Philadelphia's shooting woes worsened in the final 20 minutes. The Rams shot just 6-of-28 (21.4-percent) in the frame, never giving themselves a chance to come back. The team finished without a double figure scorer, with Kate Brennan collecting a team-high nine points. The Marauders, on the other hand, were able to spread the wealth all afternoon. Craig scored just two points in the second half, but finished with a game-high 13 to go along with her 10 rebounds. The double-double was the 15th of the senior's career. Green, Moyer, and Dominique Stroman each finished with 10 points apiece. The last time Millersville had four players score 10 points or more was Feb. 18, 2009, when all five starters put up double-figures in a 72-58 win at Cheyney.

LIFE OUTSIDE THE PSAC EAST
•    Non-conference games have been good to the Black and Gold in recent years. MU was 12-4 outside the PSAC East a season ago. Against non-PSAC West opponents, the Marauders were 8-2. That trend has continued early on in 09-10, as MU is 4-0 in non-conference play heading into the weekend.
•    Millersville has compiled a 36-16 record against non-conference opponents since 2006-07.
•    MU has only had a losing record in non-conference play once in the last seven seasons. In 2005-06, the Marauders were 7-10 outside of the PSAC East.

DOUBLING UP
•    Senior Jenna Craig has increased her double-double total in each of the three seasons she has been in the program. As a freshman, Craig picked up just one double-double. That number jumped to four as a sophomore and nine as a junior. She picked up her first as a senior in last Saturday's 68-41 victory over Philadelphia. Her 13 points and 10 rebounds were both game-highs.
•    Outside of Craig's 15 career double-doubles, members of the 2009-10 team account for just three more. Raquel Green has twice registered a double-double in her career with the Black and Gold, while Aiesha Bellamy notched her first career double-double last season against Kutztown on March 3.

PRE-SEASON PRAISE
•    The Marauders were picked to finish second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division when the conference's coaches released their pre-season poll on Oct. 29.
•    Millersville received three first place votes, the same amount as division-favorite, West Chester. Last season the Marauders and Golden Rams finished as regular season co-champions of the Eastern Division after compiling 11-3 records in PSAC East play.
•    Craig, a 2008-09 All-PSAC East Second Team selection, was named to the 2009-10 PSAC East Preseason All-Conference Team.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
•    Craig was a dominant rebounder at both ends of the floor last season, but her 100 offensive rebounds marked an impressive feat. She became the first Marauder to register triple-digit offensive boards in a season since Destinne Parker-Stewart and Kristy Garner both pulled down 104 in 2004-05.

'BELL' COMING ON STRONG
•    Graduate guard, Aiesha Bellamy, started to show her scoring prowess over the last several games of 2008-09. Bellamy was a double-figure scorer in five of the team's last seven games, with a high of 16 points coming against California (Pa.) on March 6 during that stretch.

HOME COOKING
•    Since Millersville began playing its home games in Pucillo Gymnasium in 1982, the Marauders are an impressive 263-78 at home in 27+ 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 19 of 27 seasons at Pucillo, including a stretch of seven straight seasons from 1996 to 2002. The team has already registered three more wins and sits at 3-0 in games played at Pucillo in 2009-10.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
•    The Marauders have started the season with a win in 17-of-20 Mary Fleig-coached openers. MU has won its last four openers, including this season's 69-33 blowout win over the University of the District of Columbia. The last season-opening loss for MU came at the hands of the College of St. Rose, 81-75, in 2005-06. The program is 39-15 in openers dating back to the 1956-57 season.

WORTH THE WAIT
•    After redshirting during the 2008-09 season, many Marauder fans didn't know what to expect from 5-foot-7 guard Mashira Newman. Newman burst onto the scene with three strong games to start the season, giving the program just a taste of what's to come. She started her career by posting 13 points and eight steals in the Marauders 69-33 win over UDC. A day later, she followed it up wit ha 22-point, nine rebound performance, which included five assists and four more steals in a stat-stuffer of a game. Her hot start was recognized by the conference when she was named PSAC East Athlete of the Week on Nov. 23.

SECOND CHANCE
•    Senior forward Raquel Green was in the midst of an impressive 2008-09 season, before having it cut short after 15 games. At the time she was averaging 7.5 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game and was amongst the team leaders in blocked shots. Green has come back strong in 2009-10 and provided much needed depth to this Millersville team. She has put together a pair of double-figure scoring, six-rebound games in her last two outings and is back to her shot blocking ways, leading the team with seven denials.

VARIETY SCORING
•    12 of the 14 players that saw action in Millersville's season-opening win over UDC found their way onto the scoresheet. The trend continued against Lock Haven when all 10 participants scored at least a point. 10 or more players have registered points in three of four contests this season. The only time Millersville didn't have 10 players register a point was at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia on Nov. 23, when nine players scored.