Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (21-4, 11-1 PSAC East) at East Stroudsburg (4-21, 2-10)
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010 - 6 p.m.
Koehler Fieldhouse, East Stroudsburg, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN
Live Stats: Millersville at East Stroudsburg

MILLERSVILLE NEWS & NOTES
•    Millersville remains in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II Coaches' Poll for the third straight week following a big 3-0 week. The Marauders, now ranked 23th, are in the poll for the fourth week this season.
•    The NCAA announced that its regional tournament formatting is taking on a new look. The announcment came at a peculiar time, seeing as how post-season play is right around the corner. Of the eight teams that make the NCAA Division II Tournament from the Atlantic Region, the top two will now host first and second round games. This is a change from previous years where the top-seeded school hosted all eight teams. Millersville currently sits third in the regional rankings, behind Gannon and California (Pa.). While Gannon, the No. 1 team in the country, will most likely not be caught, the potential exists for MU to jump Cal for the second spot and, in turn, host first and second round games on March 12 and 13.
•    The Marauders continue to roll on at a torrid pace, winners in 14 of their last 15 games. The only loss during this streak was a 67-58 setback at Cheyney on Jan. 27.
•    The 2009-10 squad became the first team in program history to piece together two separate winning streaks earlier this season, but they've since one-upped that feat. With their win over Bloomsbug last Saturday, the Marauders have three different seven-game winning streaks this year. MU would like to get the streak to eight games, which it has been unable to do in each of its two previous tries this season.
•    Millersville's win over Bloom and Kutztown's loss to Shippensburg last Saturday ensured the Marauders  a PSAC Eastern Division title outright. Millersville has stood alone or shared the division title in each of the last three seasons. This year's division title is number 10 all-time for the program and the seventh under current head coach Mary Fleig.
•    Following tonight's game, Millersville returns home to host its regular season finale. The Marauders welcome Mansfield to Pucillo Gymnasium on Saturday at 1 p.m. It is Senior Day and MU will honor Emily Balogh, Aiesha Bellamy, Jenna Craig, Raquel Green, Ashley Moyer and Monica Newman.

SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG
•    It's been a trying season for the Warriors and first-year head coach Justin Potts. A hectic off-season and the loss of 2008-09 leading scorer Jackie Yandrisevits put ESU in a hole before the season started and their struggles have continued. ESU is currently 21-4 overall and just 2-10 in the PSAC East.
•    Freshman Barb Borst scored a career-high 17 points, including 15 in the second half, but Cheyney held off ESU for a 73-61 win last Saturday in the Warriors' most recent game. Borst did much of her scoring during in a 12-minute stretch midway through the second half, bringing ESU within 60-55 with a three-pointer and a layup on consecutive possessions before Cheyney held on. Borst averaged 14.0 points and hit her career-high twice in three games last week.
•    DeAnna Rayam averaged 20.7 points last week, including a career-high 32 vs. Kutztown and 18 at Mansfield. Rayam went over 1,000-points for her ESU career in the game against Mansfield and became the 13th player in program history to do so.
•    East Stroudsburg will honor its three seniors tonight. Rayam is one of the three players wrapping up their ESU careers. All three seniors played high school basketball together at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa. Mel Villano, a four-year starter that surpassed 200 career assists on Saturday, and Alexa Detzi, a two-year starter at center that sits seventh in school history with 46 career blocked shots, are the other seniors.
•    The Warriors rank 261st in the NCAA in scoring offense at 54 points per game. ESU is also the second lowest scoring offense in the PSAC. Only Mansfield, at 52.7 points per game, scores less.
•    Rayam has started all 25 games and leads the team in scoring at over 14 per contest, but the Warriors secondary scoring has been an issue. Villano is averaging 7.8 points per game, but beyond the top two, only Borst (6.2) averages more than six points a night. Up until ESU and MU met on Feb. 3, ESU had just three players averaging more than five points per game. Borst made a jump up the list, but Jennifer Scherer (5.7) has seen her average drop and Cyara Woodridge (5.6) has joined the group of players averaging five points per contest.
•    20 field goals seems to be the plateau for East Stroudsburg. The team has hit 20 or more in each of its four wins, but has failed to hit that many in 16 of its 21 losses.
•    Millersville didn't have it's 'A' game when the two teams met at Pucillo Gymnasium in early Feb. The Marauders were hounded all night by a scrappy Warrior team, but eventually escaped with a 55-46 victory. Raquel Green led the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and was backed up by Mashira Newman and Ashley Moyer, who both scored 11. Millersville forced 26 ESU turnovers in the game and got only one double-digit scoring performance, that coming from Borst who finished with 12.

LOOKING BACK
•    Raquel Green refused to be denied over the final 20 minutes of Saturday afternoon's game at Bloomsburg. The senior scored 16 of her game-high 22 points in the second half and paved the way for a 56-47 that gave the 23rd-ranked Millersville women's basketball team its third straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division title.
•    Millersville claimed its 10th division title —and seventh under Mary Fleig— but it was no easy task against a youthful Bloomsburg squad that has been tough at Nelson Field House all season long. The Huskies (14-10, 6-6 PSAC East) were 8-2 at home entering play on Saturday and Millersville knew how vital a good start would be. The Marauders (21-4, 11-1) looked to be on their way to successfully doing just that. Ashley Moyer got locked in from 3-point range early on knocking down a pair of treys to give the visitors a 10-5 lead.
•    Blooomsburg, trying to help its conference playoff hopes, fought back with six straight points to grab a one-point lead. The Black and Gold countered Bloom's offensive punch with one of its own, scoring six straight themselves to once again extend the lead to five. Like prizefighters, the Huskies then delivered a haymaker by ripping off 10 straight points to claim a 21-16 lead. Not willing to just stand there and take it, Moyer drained another 3-pointer, Jenna Craig and Mashira Newman converted lay-ups and the Marauder defense tightened up allowing no points over the final 1:48 of the half to claim a 24-21 halftime lead.
•    Green, who sat for a majority of the first half with three fouls, immediately went to work, scoring six of Millersville's first 12 points out of the locker room. Behind Green, Millersville built a nine-point lead with 12:14 to go. Unfortunately they were not yet out of the woods. PSAC East Freshman of the Year candidate Dana Wieller rallied the Huskies with two 3-pointers and teammate Kayla Oxenrider added another, pulling Bloom to within two, 36-34.
•    Two two teams briefly traded the lead, but following a jumper by Wieller that knotted the game at 40, it was all Millersville. Dominique Stroman went 2-of-2 at the line, Green scored seven straight points, and Craig capped a 9-0 run that put Millersville up 49-40 with under three minutes remaining.
•    The Marauders did a masterful job on the boards as they collected a season-high 54 of them. Green led the team in that department as well with a game-high 14 for her second straight double-double and fifth this season. Stroman collected a career-high 12 boards, while Newman and Gabrielle Styles each had seven.
•    Moyer was the only Marauder other than Green to score in double-figures. The Lebanon, Pa., native had 10. Newman got a career-high 38 minutes of run, scoring eight points. Craig also added eight for the Marauders, who have won 14-of-15.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION
•    Millersville's defense is allowing the fewest points in the nation at the Division II level. The Marauders are giving up 51 points per game and top the list of 271 teams competing at the Division II level.
•    The Black and Gold also ranks third nationally in steals per game (15.5) and fifth in turnover margin (+7.2).
•    Mashira Newman's 3.6 steals per game puts her fifth in that category amongst her NCAA Division II counterparts. Three of the top 20 players in steals per game are from the PSAC. California (Pa.)'s Brooque Williams is third and Cheyney's Stephanie Orji is 18th.

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 11.9 points per game, which ranks 23rd 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. 92-percent of Millersville's offense (57.8 of its 62.9 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-doubles 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 seven 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.
•    Green has two double-doubles in a row. She scored 19 points and had 12 rebounds in the Marauders 76-64 win over Cheyney on Feb. 17 and backed that up with a 22-point, 14-board performance at Bloomsburg on Feb. 20.

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 272-78 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 12-0 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 10.6 points per game and second in the PSAC in steals (89) and steals per game (3.6). Newman has also earned PSAC East Freshman of the Week honors twice this season.

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 11.9 points per game and leads the team in blocked shots with 35. She's scored in double-figures in 13 of her last 16 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 nine games 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 and NCAA Division II-best 51 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 388 steals this season, an average of 15.5 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 89 steals in 25 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. With 11 more steals Newman will become the first Marauder to eclipse the 100-steal plateau since Gema Robles accomplished the feat during the 2002-03 season. Robles set the single season school and PSAC record with 171 steals that season.

CHASING 500
•    Coach Mary Fleig is 11 wins away from 500 in her 27 year career. Fleig spent seven seasons at Franklin & Marshall College before coming to Millersville, where she's commanded the sidelines for the last 20. Fleig has a career record of 489-246 and a record of 367-186 at Millersville.