Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship
#6 Millersville (25-5) at #1 Gannon (35-0)
Monday, March 15, 2010 - 7 p.m.
Hammermill Center - Erie, Pa.

COVERAGE
Gannon's Atlantic Regional Headquarters
NCAA Tournament Interactive Bracket

Audio: MSBN
Live Stats: Click Here

TICKETS
Plush/Chairback Seats - $8.00
Adult General Admission - $6.00
Student/Senior Citizen General Admission - $4.00

CASH and CHECKS are the ONLY forms of payment accepted at the Hammermill Center ticket window. Credit and debit cards will not be accepted.

MILLERSVILLE NEWS & NOTES
•    Millersville makes its first appearance in an NCAA Division II Tournament Regional Championship Game since 1999-2000. The task at hand is a tall one for the Marauders, as they will be pitted against the No. 1 team in the nation in 35-0 Gannon.
•    The last time Millersville advanced this far, it fell to Slippery Rock 65-45 in the Atlantic Regional Final. MU used wins over West Liberty and Indiana (Pa.) to reach its most recent Regional Final in 1999-00.
•    Millersville has responded to adversity by taking advantage of its opportunity. The Marauders fell from the national rankings and slid from No. 3 to No. 6 in the Atlantic Region rankings following an 83-77 double-overtime loss to West Chester in the PSAC Quarterfinals on Mar. 2. Since then, they've toppled two higher-seeded teams (No. 3 West Liberty and No. 2 Cal U) in the NCAA Tournament and have done so in convincing fashion.
•    The Marauders are still reeling off wins at a torrid pace. MU has emerged victorious in 18 of its last 20 games. The only losses during the streak were a 67-58 setback at Cheyney on Jan. 27 and the conference tournament loss to West Chester.
•    The 2009-10 team can set the school record for wins in a season by knocking off the unbeaten Lady Knights. Currently the 09-10 team has 25 wins, matching the total set by the 99-00 team.
•    Monday's regional final will be just the fourth all-time meeting between Millersville and Gannon and the first since the 1993-94 season. The Marauders hold a slight 2-1 lead in the series, winning the match-ups in 1982 and 1993. Gannon's lone win came in the first meeting in 1981 by a 66-54 score.
•    The Marauders and Lady Knights have not met in PSAC crossover play during either of the last two seasons. Gannon joined the PSAC in 2008 after competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
•    Tickets for Monday night's game will be $8 for plush/chairbacks, $6 for adult general admission and $4 for student/senior citizen general admission. Tickets are available only at the Hammermill Center ticket window. Only cash and checks will be accepted at the ticket window. No debit or credit cards will be accepted.

SCOUTING GANNON
•    The Atlantic Regional Championship game is a match-up between the PSAC's two division winners. Gannon is the only remaining undefeated team in Division II and is making its second-straight trip to the Sweet 16. The Lady Knights' win over Seton Hill in the second round moved them to 35-0, setting a Division II record for consecutive victories in a season. The Lady Knights also won the PSAC Championship in just their second year as a member of the league.
•    Gannon has won 17-straight games in the Hammermill Center and 50 in a row when leading at the half, so it will be important for the Marauders to get started quickly. The Lady Knights are one of the most proficient offensive units in the country, ranking eighth in scoring offense and third in scoring margin. They have outscored opponents 79.7-58.6. Only six of their 35 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points. California (Pa.) and Edinboro lost by double figures twice.
•    As a team, the Lady Knights shoot an outstanding 48 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from 3-point range. Gannon is one of the few teams that has recorded more assists than turnovers, posting 19.3 assists per game to just 15 turnovers per game.
•    The balanced offensive attack is led by Kristina Freeman's 13.8 points per game. She is also the team leader in assists with 106 and steals with 70. She has only committed 77 turnovers as well. Carrie Nolan is second on the team with 12.9 points per game, and she is the top 3-point marksman, hitting 71-of-192 (37.0 percent) and also hitting 78-of-86 free throws.
•    The team's top inside presence is Brittany Tabron, who averaged 11.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. She hits 53.9 percent of her field goals, but just 55.3 percent of her free throws.
•    It is hard to find a chink in the Lady Knights' armor. Its outstanding offense is couple with a stingy defense that allows just 58.5 points per game, ranking second to only Millersville among PSAC schools. Opponents are shooting just 37 percent against them, as well.
•    Head coach Cleve Wright is in his eighth season at Gannon and is already the school's all-time leader in wins with a 165-74 mark. Of Gannon's six NCAA Tournament appearances, three have come under his watch. Prior to last season, Gannon had never advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

LOOKING BACK
•    Throughout the last decade, California (Pa.) was nothing but a roadblock  to Millersville's postseason success. But on Saturday night in Hamer Hall, led by double-doubles from Raquel Green and Mashira Newman,  the Marauders rolled past the 25th-ranked Vulcans 74-63 and into the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region championship game for the first time since 2000.
•    Seven times in the last eight years, California defeated Millersville either in the PSAC or NCAA Tournament. Millersville's win Saturday, however, was its second of the season over the nationally-ranked Vulcans in Hamer Hall, and also the team's 25th of the season, tying the school record for wins in a season previously set by the 2000 squad. Millersville is now one of only 16 teams remaining in the national tournament.
•    Millersville, the region's No. 6 seed certainly did not play like the underdog, knocking off the No. 3 seed Friday and the No. 2 seed Saturday. The Marauders will travel to Erie, Pa., and play the nation's No. 1-ranked team Gannon Monday with a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight on the line.
 •    Millersville held Cal to its fewest points since the 52 the Vulcans managed against the Marauders on Jan. 3. The defense, ranked second nationally has been a constant all season. What made the difference Saturday was a balanced scoring effort led by Aiesha Bellamy, who totaled 16 off of the bench.
•    Bellamy, a graduate student, has been outstanding in the NCAA Tournament after an up-and-down season in which she averaged just 4.1 points per game. In Friday's opening round game, she scored nine, and followed that with three field goals and 10-of-11 shooting from the field against Cal.
•    Green recorded her fourth double-double in her last eight games with 14 points and 15 rebounds. With four blocks in the game, including three in the first half, her defensive play set the tone early.
•    Newman completed her second career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and despite struggling from the floor (6-of-16), she drilled two key 3-pointers in the first half. Senior Jenna Craig also turned in another gritty performance with eight points and seven rebounds.
•    Millersville imposed its will on the Vulcans early, forcing 12 first half turnovers and holding the home team to 6-of-25 shooting, building a 28-20 halftime advantage. Cal, led by PSAC West Player of the Year Brooque Williams battled back, though.
•    The Vulcans outscored the Marauders 14-6 over the first five minutes of the second period, knotting the game at 34. After swapping the lead, the Vulcans moved in front 45-40 with a 6-0 run.
•    With the Marauders scuffling, redshirt freshman Aurielle Mosley scored one of the biggest buckets of the game, grabbing an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and hit the put-back to end Cal's run. Newman then swiped the ball and found Craig for a lay-up, cutting deficit to one. After a Vulcan hoop, Newman scored four-straight points to give Millersville a 48-46 lead with 8:26 left.
•    Cal pulled ahead once more at the 7:48 mark on a Williams lay-up, but 24 seconds later, senior Ashley Moyer drilled a 3-pointer, giving Millersville the lead for good. Moyer's trey jump-started a 12-2 Millersville run that put California comfortably out of reach. Williams led all scorers with 22 points, and Kayla Smith added 12 points and 13 boards for the 24-8 Vulcans.  

SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST
•    Graduate student Aiesha Bellamy has turned in two outstanding performances so far in the NCAA Tournament. She led the Marauders with 16 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the free throw line in the second round win over California. She also totaled nine points and three steals against West Liberty. These two performances came following a difficult regular season in which she averaged just 4.1 points per game and missed five games with an ankle injury. She averaged 7.6 points per game a year ago, and started 54 games from 2007-09, but only 18 this year. Prior to her two NCAA performances, Bellamy had scored more than nine points just twice in her first 23 games this year.

NO LONGER A FRESHMAN
•    Redshirt freshman Mashira Newman isn't playing like a freshman in the postseason. In Millersville's two NCAA wins, Newman has averaged a team-best 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and four steals per game. Millersville has made only five 3-pointers in the two games, and she has two of the makes. Of Newman's 18 rebounds, nine were on the offensive glass.
•    She has been outstanding on defense, as well. West Liberty's Jenni Robbins led the nation in assist/turnover ratio and averaged double figures in points, but Newman blanked her in the scoring column and forced her into six turnovers.
•    Against West Liberty, she totaled her 100th steal of the season. She already holds the all-time freshman steals record at Millersville and is 56 points shy of Sara Burcin's freshman scoring record.

EXTRA POINTS
•    Millersville is 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament despite shooting 36 percent from the field. The Marauders have used rebounding and defense to generate offense, though. In two NCAA Tournament games, the Marauders have pulled down 39 offensive rebounds while allowing just 19 offensive boards. The 39 offensive rebounds have translated into 33 second chance points. The Marauders scored 22 second chance buckets against California.
•     Millersville has also forced 55 turnovers and totaled 56 points off turnovers. Against West Liberty, 30 turnovers translated into 24 points, and 25 Cal turnovers turned into 32 points.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION
•    Millersville's defense is allowing the second fewest points in the nation at the Division II level. The Marauders are giving up 52.1 points per game, good for second best on the list of 271 teams competing at the Division II level.
•    The Black and Gold also ranks third nationally in steals per game (15.1) and fourth in turnover margin (+7.4).
•    Mashira Newman's 3.5 steals per game puts her fifth in that category amongst her NCAA Division II counterparts. Teammate Dominique Stroman ranks 34th in the country with 2.7 per contest.

LUCKY 7's
•    No Millersville team in the history of the program had ever put together two-separate seven-game winning streaks in a season. The 2009-10 squad has done that and more in racing to a 25-5 record. The Marauders opened the season with seven straight victories before falling to Holy Family on Dec. 21. MU then reeled off another seven wins from Jan. 3-23, with the streak being snapped at Cheyney. The Black and Gold turned the trick a third time when they beat Bloomsburg on Feb. 20. The most recent streak ended at nine games when the Marauders fell in double overtime to West Chester in the PSAC Quarterfinals on Mar. 2.

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 11.8 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 (59.0 of its 63.8 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 in 09-10, as MU is 12-3 in non-conference play this season.
•    Millersville has compiled a 44-19 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.
•    Members of the 2009-10 team account for a combined 12 career double-doubles, outside of Craig's 17. Raquel Green has accomplished the feat nine 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.
•    Mashira Newman earned her first career double-double with a 14-point, 10-rebound effort at East Stroudsburg on Feb. 24, and picked up her second in the Marauders' NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Semifinal game against No. 25 California.

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.
•    Raquel Green has followed Craig's lead from a year ago. Green currently has 114 offensive rebounds this season. The senior actually has more offensive rebounds than she does defensive (112).
•    Craig is only 10 offensive rebounds away from reaching 100 for a second consecutive season.

HOME COOKING
•    Since Millersville began playing its home games in Pucillo Gymnasium in 1982, the Marauders are an impressive 273-78 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 13-0 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 (106) and steals per game (3.5). 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 47. She's scored in double-figures in 16 of her last 21 games.

VARIETY SCORING
•    12 of the 14 players that saw action in Millersville's season-opening win over UDC found their way into the scoring column. 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 10 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 30 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 52.1 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.
•    Green came within a point of turning in a 15/15 game against Cal for a second time this season on Mar. 13. She finished with 14 points and 15 boards in the Marauders' 74-63 win over Cal U in the NCAA Tournament.

DÉJÀ 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 454 steals this season, an average of 15.1 per game. The squad surpassed the school record for steals in a season, which was previously held by the 1999-2000 team. With its last steal in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Semifinal against Cal U, Millersville broke the 99-00 team's record of 453 (14.1 per game). It should come as no surprise then, that the 09-10 and 99-00 squads are tied as the winningest teams in school history, with each having emerged victorious 25 times in a season.
•    Redshirt freshman Mashira Newman has four games of seven steals or more. The feisty guard  has racked up 106 steals in 30 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 also became 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 seven wins away from 500 in her 27 year career. Fleig spent seven seasons at Franklin & Marshall before coming to Millersville, where she's been for the last 20. Fleig has a career record of 493-247 and a record of 371-187 at MU.