Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
NCAA Division II Atlantic Region
(6) Millersville (23-5 vs. (3) West Liberty (22-9)
Friday, March 12, 2010 - 8 p.m.
Hamer Hall, California, Pa.

COVERAGE
Cal U Subregional Web Site
NCAA Tournament Interactive Bracket
Bracket (.pdf)

Audio: MSBN
Live Stats: Click Here

TICKETS
Adults - $10.00
Students - $5.00

MILLERSVILLE NEWS & NOTES
• Games like this is why the NCAA Division II Tournament is so interesting. Millersville, the No. 6 seed, and third-seeded West Liberty meet in the second of three games to be played at the California-hosted subregional on March 12 at 8 p.m. The teams are guided by two of the winningest coaches in Division II, and while both have enjoyed tremendous amounts of success playing in the same region, the two programs rarely meet (just once before) and play polar-opposite styles of basketball.
• As of March 2, Millersville ranked 23rd in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II Coaches' Poll and were third in the NCAA Atlantic Region rankings prior to Selection Sunday. But the Marauders (23-5), despite boasting the second-most wins and second-fewest losses in the region, slipped in the seeding after falling in double overtime to a 19-win West Chester club in the PSAC Tournament quarterfinals. That 83-77 loss snapped Millersville's nine-game winning streak. Millersville needs two victories to tie the school record for wins in a season that was set by the 1999-2000 team.
• West Liberty (22-9) jumped up one spot in the rankings and claimed the third seed after making a run to the WVIAC Championship game. The Hilltoppers, however, lost to Fairmont State, 64-59, putting an end to an eight-game winning streak and giving Fairmont State the automatic bid from the WVIAC.
• Millersville coach Mary Fleig and West Liberty boss Lynn Ullom match wits for just the second time. Fleig boasts a 369-187 record at Millersville and 491 wins including her seven-year stint at Franklin & Marshall. This will be her eighth NCAA Tournament appearance as coach of the Marauders. Ullom, a graduate of West Liberty, owns a just-as-impressive 391-176 mark during his 19 years. This is his ninth NCAA Tournament bid, and his Hilltoppers have played in the WVIAC Championship game 11 times.
The only prior meeting also came in the NCAA Tournament. Millersville edged West Liberty 64-63 in the opening round of the 2000 tournament. Millersville received 16 points from Ashley Hoffman and Paula Keller. There are several similarities between the 2000 and 2010 Millersville teams. The 2000 club won a school-record 25 games after reaching the region championship game. But like the 2010 team, it is entered the NCAA Tournament with 23 wins off a PSAC Tournament loss and also lost three-straight games in the middle of the season before closing the regular season with just one PSAC East loss. Fleig was also named PSAC East Coach of the Year in both seasons.
• The Marauders continue to roll on at a torrid pace, winners in 16 of their last 17 games. The only loss during this streak was a 67-58 setback at Cheyney on Jan. 27.
• Millersville and West Liberty are clearly both outstanding teams, but each has a different way of winning games. West Liberty is a potent offensive team, ranking third nationally with 82.1 points per game. It also ranks third in assist/turnover ratio and fourth in 3-pointers made. The Hilltoppers, however, rank 226th in defense. Millersville, meanwhile, is 177th in scoring average, but finished the regular season ranked first and is currently second in scoring defense, holding opponents to 51.8 points per game. The Marauders are also 11th in field goal percentage defense and third in steals but 221st in assist/turnover ratio.
• Hamer Hall is a familiar setting for the Marauders. They defeated California in the building 53-52 earlier this year and played there in its 2009 NCAA Tournament game against Charleston—a 59-49 loss.
• Tickets for Friday night's game are $10 for adults and $5 for students.

SCOUTING WEST LIBERTY
• West Liberty started the season slowly, losing four of its first six. But the season began to turn around with two wins over PSAC schools at the IUP Tournament. West Liberty topped Edinboro by a 76-70 score and then defeated IUP for the second time, 97-95 in triple overtime. The Hilltoppers went on to win nine of their next 10 games. Since losing by 14 to Pitt-Johnstown on Dec. 1, all six of the Hilltoppers losses have been by eight points or fewer.
• The Hilltoppers scored more than 80 points 18 times this year, and they have hit that mark eight times in the last 11 games. They topped 90 points nine times.
• Obviously easier said than done, but the key to defeating West Liberty is keeping the score low. The Hilltoppers averaged 82.1 points per game but average just 67.1 points per game in their nine losses. One of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation with 8.9 makes per game, the Hilltoppers have shot under 35 percent from three in seven of their nine losses.
• Two constants to any Lynn Ullom-coached team are solid guard play and 3-point shooting. Freshman Jenni Robbins is following in a long line of outstanding point guards. Despite being in her first season of competition, she leads the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 3.19. She also ranks third in assists per game at 6.4 and is third on the team in scoring average at 11.3 points per game.
• Junior Laura Malernee is the team's designated 3-point shooter. The 5-11 guard averages 13.9 points per game and leads Division II with 4.3 3-pointers made per game. She attempted only 18 two-point shots this year, and her 373 3-point attempts is 41 more than Millersville's entire team attempted and 23 more than Millersville allowed to all of its opponents all season. She rarely goes to the line, too, as she attempted just 17 free throws.
• The heart and soul of the West Liberty attack, however, is junior Tori Hansen. She was the WVIAC Freshman of the Year two years ago and was named WVIAC Player of the Year in 2009. She was named All-WVIAC First Team this year after leading the team and ranking third nationally with 22.5 points per game. Hansen is a do-it-all player, averaging 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, as well. She scored more than 20 points 23 times this year. She is also coming off two near triple-double efforts. In the PSAC semifinals, she posted 29 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists. In the title game, she recorded 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

LOOKING BACK
• The 23rd-ranked Marauders clawed their way back, sending the game to overtime where they nearly snatched the win away from rival West Chester. The Golden Rams showed their fortitude, however, forcing double overtime and escaping Pucillo Gymnasium with an 83-77 PSAC Quarterfinal win on Tuesday night.
• Raquel Green sunk the two most pressure-filled free throws of her career with three seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 64 in regulation. The senior's calm demeanor carried right over to the first overtime session, as she scored the first three points to give Millersvile (23-5) its first lead since the 7:20 mark of the second half. Allison Hostetter —not to be outdone— always seemed to have the answer for West Chester (19-9). Hostetter banged home a deep three on the Golden Rams' next possession to re-tie the game.
• The Marauders looked as if they might grab the win in overtime when Mashira Newman found herself free under the basket in the waning moments of the period. Newman was able to collect Jenna Craig's inbound pass and lay it in for a 71-69 lead with three seconds to go. Millersville found itself scrambling around on the ensuing West Chester possession, however, and reigning PSAC East Freshman of the Week Alex Lennon made them pay. Lennon's layup just beat the Pucillo Gymnasium buzzer as the WCU bench erupted with new life.
• Millersville's first double-overtime game since 1999-00 would belong to the well-conditioned Golden Rams. Behind Hostetter, Renata Neal, Jill Keefer, and Janelle Garber, the visitors were a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor in the second extra session. The Marauders twice cut a three-point double overtime disadvantage to one, but the Golden Rams relentless offensive pressure was too much in the end.
• Green, who was a beast in the extra frames, finished with 21 points and 10 boards. She's now registered six double-doubles this season, including three in her last five games. Ashley Moyer continued to have a hot hand. Moyer was 4-of-7 from downtown and 8-of-8 at the charity stripe in racking up a 20-point night. Craig battled and banged for a season-high 43 minutes and came up with nine points and 12 rebounds.

COACH OF THE YEAR…AGAIN
• On Tuesday, the coaches of the PSAC voted Mary Fleig PSAC East Coach of the Year for the sixth time. Fleig, whose last coach of the year award came in 2005, now has more than any other coach in PSAC history regardless of division. Deidre Kane of West Chester and Stan Swank, both in their 23rd seasons, own four awards. A 23-5 overall record and a 13-1 PSAC mark landed Fleig's team a third-straight PSAC East title and NCAA Tournament berth. She is among the Division II leaders with 369 wins, and boasts nine 20-win seasons. Fleig's first coach of the year award came in 1993.

CONFERENCE RECOGNITION
• Along with Fleig, seniors Raquel Green, Ashley Moyer and Jenna Craig earned postseason mention. Green was named All-PSAC East First Team and Moyer and Craig were named to the second team. It was the first career postseason mention for both Green and Moyer and the second-straight second team appearance for Craig. Despite Millersville's domination of the division in recent years, the program hadn't placed three players on the all-conference team since 2005. Green is the 33rd player to earn first team recognition in Fleig's 20 seasons. At least one Marauder has earned first team honors in 10 of the last 11 seasons.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Millersville is 5-7 in eight previous NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. But the Marauders have been ousted in the first round in each of the last four trips. The last NCAA Tournament win came in 2002 against Belmont-Abbey. Five times the Marauders have faced schools from the WVIAC. Two of those games, however, were against Pitt-Johnstown before it joined the conference. Millersville is 1-2 against the other WVIAC members, defeating West Liberty in 2000, and losing to Glenville State in 2002 and Charleston in 2009.

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM?
• Millersville's senior class is making its third trip to the NCAA Tournament, but the group that includes Ashley Moyer, Jenna Craig, Emily Balogh and Aiesha Bellamy are 0-3. Raquel Green is also a senior but missed last season's NCAA Tournament game. Over the last three seasons, the group helped Millersville total a 70-8 record, but it is just 3-5 in postseason games. The four-year members of the group—Moyer, Craig and Bellamy—are 87-29 in their careers, and trail only the 2000-03 group (88 wins) and the 1999-02 class (90 wins) as the winngest senior class in school history.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION
• Millersville's defense ranks second out of 271 teams at the Division II level. The Marauders are giving up 51.8 points per game.
• The Black and Gold also ranks third nationally in steals per game (15.3) and fourth in turnover margin (+7.0).
• Mashira Newman's 3.5 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 seven-game winning streaks in a season. The 2009-10 squad has done that and more in racing to a 23-5 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 and stretched the streak to nine games.

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 2009-10, 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.

STEAL STATS
• The Marauders have already racked up 428 steals this season, an average of 15.3 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 1999-2000 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 racked up 98 steals in 28 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 four more two 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.

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 six more. Raquel Green has registered a double-double eight times in her career including six this year and three in the last five games. 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.

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. She has 84 so far this season.
• Raquel Green has followed Craig's lead from a year ago. Green has 106 offensive rebounds this season, four more than her defensive rebound total (102).

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 continued to provide a steady presence for the Marauders throughout the season. She is second on the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game and second in the PSAC in steals (98) 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 came 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 42. She's scored in double-figures in 15 of her last 19 games.

THE NIFTY FIFTIES
• Through 28 games, Millersville is once again on pace to hold its opponents' offenses under 60 points per game. The Marauders have not allowed an average of 60 points per game for a season since 2005-06. Millersville has only allowed its opponents to finish with more than 60 points per game twice in the last seven seasons. This year, Millersville allowed more than 60 points just 60 times and more than 67 just once (83 in double overtime vs. West Chester). Opponents failed to score even 50 points against the Marauders 12 times this year.

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.

CHASING 500
• Coach Mary Fleig is nine 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 491-247 and a record of 369-187 at MU.

HOME COOKING
• Since Millersville began playing its home games in Pucillo Gymnasium in 1982, the Marauders are an impressive 273-79 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 a 13-1 record in games played at Pucillo in 2009-10.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
• The Marauders 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.