Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (18-4, 8-1 PSAC East) vs. Shippensburg (12-13, 5-4)
Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 - 6 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN
Live Stats

SPECIAL EVENT
WBCA Pink Zone™ Night

ABOUT THE GAME
•    Millersville moved into the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II Coaches' Poll last Tuesday. The Marauders, now ranked 25th, are in the poll for the second time this season.
•    The Marauders have won 11 of their last 12 and tonight match-up with a Shippensburg squad that they defeated 67-45 back on Jan. 20 in Shippensburg.
•    Millersville's defense controlled the first meeting between the two teams. The Black and Gold held Lauren Beckley, the PSAC's leading scorer to just six points. It was —and still is — a season-low for Beckley. The six points were also the second fewest of the senior's career.
•    Shippensburg leads the all-time series by a slim 35-30 margin. Millersville has emerged with three straight wins, however. The Marauders swept Ship in PSAC East play last season and already have the one victory to their credit thsi season. The three consecutive MU wins have come by an average of 22 points.
•    Millersville University and the school's athletic department are continuing to aid in the fight against Breast Cancer. Tonight the school is holding its annual WBCA Pink Zone™ event in an effort to raise money and awareness towards combating Breast Cancer and enhancing Breast Cancer research.

SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG
•    Shippensburg's roller coaster season has continued late into PSAC Eastern Division play. The Lady Raiders started out 1-3 in division play, but have since won four of their last five to move into a three-way tie for the fourth and final playoff spot. Shippensburg is currently battling Cheyney and West Chester for the coveted position.
•    Not that they are the exception, by any means, but Shippensburg will need to find its offense if it hopes to earn its first win in two years against the Marauders. In their three straight losses to the Black and Gold, Shippensburg has not scored more than 53 points in any of the contests. Twice they've been held under 50.
•    Senior forward Lauren Beckley leads both the team and the PSAC in scoring at over 21 points per game. Despite her six-point outing against Millersville back in January, Beckley has rebounded and sits just 26 points away from becoming the PSAC's all-time leading scorer. Beckley was the PSAC West Rookie of the Year as a freshman, PSAC West Player of the Year as a sophomore, and PSAC East Player of the Year as a junior. With Ship switching from the West to the East between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, Beckley became the first known player to win Player of the Year in both divisions.
•    Kasey Gardner gives Ship a powerful one-two punch. Gardner, a guard, is averaging 17.8 points per game, which ranks third in the PSAC. Gardner went over 1,000 points for her Ship career in the Lady Raiders' 58-55 loss against East Stroudsburg back in January. She was the only player able to provide sufficient offense for Ship when the teams first met. Gardner scored 16 on 6-of-12 shooting in the game at Heiges Field House.
•    Beckley and Gardner are also the team's leading rebounders. Beckley is pulling down 9.5 per game, while Gardner is bringing in 7.0 a night. Gardner has team-highs of 76 assists and 53 steals and Beckley has a team-best 25 blocks.
•    After the dynamic duo of Beckley and Gardner, there is a steep drop-off in production at the offensive end, a main reason that Ship is just 12-13 on the season. Kerry Conroy is the only other Lady Raiders averaging more than five points per night. If Millersville's defense creates problems for Beckley, Gardner, or both, Shippensburg will have to rely on scoring from areas where it has not come this season.

LOOKING BACK
•    Senior guard Ashley Moyer poured in a career-high 23 points and the No. 25 Millersville women's basketball team rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to upend Kutztown, 70-62, at Keystone Hall on Saturday afternoon.
•    Ironically it was the Millersville (18-4, 8-1 PSAC East) defense that struggled early on. The Golden Bears benefited from numerous open looks against the nation's second-best scoring defense. Kutztown's (15-7, 6-3 PSAC East) leading scorer, Melissa McQuade, had just six points in the two teams' earlier meeting this season, but she was able to better that total in the opening 20 minutes with seven. McQuade's Golden Bear teammates —namely, Vivian Melvin— followed her lead, staking the home squad to a nine-point advantage, 26-17, with 5:42 remaining in the period. Melvin scored nine first half points to lead the squad.
•    Despite being outrebounded 21-17 and having KU drop four 3-pointers in the half, Moyer spawned a late spurt that kept the Black and Gold within striking distance. She paced Millersville with 10 first half points and scored five of the Marauders' last nine in the stanza. Aiesha Bellamy nailed a jumper in the lane with six seconds to go, cutting the Kutztown lead to six, 32-26, at the break.
•    Millersville opened second half play with a lay-up from Jenna Craig, but Kutztown responded with eight of the next 10 points, building its first double-digit lead of the day with 17:52 left. Chipping away at the lead, the Marauders finally tied the game at 49 on a jumper by Raquel Green eight minutes into the half. The two squads would swap the lead six times before MU jumped in front for good with 2:47 to go on a pair of Craig free throws.
•    Trailing by three, KU's Rachel Wisemiller was picked clean by Mashira Newman and Moyer laid one in on the ensuing possession to give Millersville a five-point lead at the two minute mark. The Golden Bears were hoping to leave their gym with a share of first place in the PSAC East, but three points over the final 6:38 sealed their fate. The Marauders grabbed a two game lead in the division with the win, reducing their magic number to four in an effort to bring home a third straight division title.
•    Moyer's career day was an unconventional one for her. Known as a strong 3-point shooter over the course of her career, she knocked down just one on Saturday. Instead she did her damage at the free throw line. The 5-foot-9 Lebanon, Pa., product calmly sank a career-high 10 foul shots on just 11 attempts. As a team Millersville was 22-of-32 from the charity stripe. The 22 free throws made were the most by the Marauders since last season's PSAC Tournament when the team knocked down 26-of-33 in a quarterfinal win over Kutztown on Mar. 3.
•    Millersville, which has won 11 of its last 12 games, also rode the contributions of Craig for a second straight games. Coming off of a 19-point, 11-rebound effort against West Chester last Sunday, the senior forward backed it up with a 13-point, nine-rebound performance against the Golden Bears. Green and Bellamy each scored eight. Green and Dominique Stroman both grabbed six rebounds for MU, which owned a commanding 21-11 advantage on the glass in the second half.
•    McQuade had team-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds for Kutztown, which lost for the 20th time in its last 22 meetings with the Marauders. Melvin added 12 and Meredith Starr finished with eight.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION
•    Millersville's defense is allowing the second-fewest points in the nation at the Division II level. The Marauders are giving up 51.1 points per game and rank behind only Holy Family of the 271 teams competing at the Division II level.
•    The Black and Gold also ranks third nationally in steals per game (16.0) and fifth in turnover margin (+7.8).
•    Mashira Newman's 3.6 steals per game puts her sixth in that category amongst her NCAA Division II counterparts. Three of the top 10 players in steals per game are from the PSAC. California (Pa.)'s Brooque Williams is fifth and Cheyney's Stephanie Orji is eighth.

LUCKY 7's
•    No Millersville team in the history of the program had ever put together two separate winning streaks of seven games or more until this season. With their 68-45 win over Bloomsburg on Jan. 23, 2010, this Marauder squad has become the first to do just that. The team opened the season with seven straight victories, before dropping three straight. MU got back on the right track with a 53-52 upset win over No. 10 California (Pa.) on Jan. 3, and reeled off six more wins before falling at Cheyney on Jan. 27.

GROUP EFFORT
•    When you look up and down the list of the PSAC's scoring leaders, you'll have to go quite far down the list under you find a Marauder. Raquel Green is the team's leader at 11.1 points per game, which ranks beyond 20th in the conference. The fact that there is only one MU player in the top 30 in the league in scoring is further proof of just how well-rounded the Marauders are. 90-percent of Millersville's offense (56.4 of its 62.5 points per game) comes from eight different players.

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 is10-3 in non-conference play this season.
•    Millersville has compiled a 42-19 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 (13 pts., 10 reb.) in MU's 68-41 victory over Philadelphia. Craig has two double-double as of Feb. 15.
•    Outside of Craig's 17 career double-doubles, members of the 2009-10 team account for just five more. Raquel Green has registered a double-double four times 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.

HOME COOKING
•    Since Millersville began playing its home games in Pucillo Gymnasium in 1982, the Marauders are an impressive 270-78 at home in 27-plus 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 an unblemished 10-0 record 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 with a 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.
•    Newman, a North Hills, Pa., native has continued to provide a steady presence for the Marauders throughout the season. She is second on the team in scoring at 10.0 points per game and second in the PSAC in steals (79) and steals per game (3.6).

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 a much needed spark to this Millersville team. She put together a pair of double-figure scoring, six-rebound games early in the season, before having a monster performance (19 points, 16 rebounds) in MU's 53-52 upset of then-No. 10 California (Pa.) on Jan. 3. Green is averaging 11.1 points per game and leads the team in blocked shots with 32. She's scored in double-figures in 10 of her last 13 games.

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. The Marauders have had 10 or more players register a point in 9-of-22 contests this season.

CROSSOVERS
•    The Black and Gold is 14-10 against PSAC West programs during regular season play, dating back to 2006-07. The Marauders were 4-1 against Western Division foes last season and are 4-1 this season.

THE NIFTY FIFTIES
•    Through 22 games, Millersville is once again on pace to hold its opponents' offenses under 60 points per game. The Marauders are currently giving up a PSAC-best 51.1 ppg and have not allowed an average of 60 points per game for a season since 2005-06. In fact, Millersville has only allowed its opponents to finish with more than 60 points per game twice in the last seven seasons.

LEVEL 15
•    Raquel Green recorded a Millersville rarity on Sunday with her 19-point, 16-rebound double-double. She became the first Marauder to register over 15 points and 15 rebounds in the same game since Jenna Craig had 16 and 16 against West Chester back on Feb. 7, 2009, a span of 20 games. Craig accomplished the feat twice last season, also going for 15 and 15 on Dec. 18, 2008 vs. Saint Leo. Prior to that, a Millersville player had not pulled off 15 and 15 since Kristy Garner scored 20 points and grabbed 15 boards in an 87-68 win over Cheyney on Jan. 29, 2005.

DEJA VU
•    Millersville might want to start playing on January 3, every year if it can keep pulling off the fashionable wins it has in each of the last two seasons. On Jan. 3, 2009, the Marauders beat then-No. 8 Indiana (Pa.) 54-42 at Pucillo Gymnasium. On Jan. 3, 2010, the Marauders pulled out another upset of a ranked opponent, stunning then-No. 10 California (Pa.), 53-52, at Hamer Hall in California.

STEAL STATS
•    The Marauders have already racked up 352 steals this season, an average of 16 per game. The school record is held by the 1999-2000 team, which recorded 453 (14.1 per game). With a comparative number of games, this year's squad is on pace to break that record. The '99-'00 squad played 32 games (25-7) and was the winningest team in school history.
•    Redshirt freshman Mashira Newman already has four games of seven steals or more. The feisty guard  has racked up 79 steals in 22 games and broke the school record for steals by a freshman on Feb. 3 against East Stroudsburg. The record had been held by Safiyyah Bashir  (71 in 1997-98) for 12 seasons before Newman surpassed it. Newman has also threatened the school record for steals in a game (10), which has been done by five different players.