Complete Game Notes
Official PSAC Championship Tournament Page
GAME INFORMATION
Millersville (19-7, 16-6 PSAC) vs. East Stroudsburg (7-19, 6-16 PSAC)
Saturday, Mar. 2, 2013 - 5:30 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.
MEDIA INFORMATION
All-Access Live Video
Audio Broadcast (MSBN)
Live Stats
TICKET INFORMATION
www.muticketsonline.com
$7.00 Adults
$2.00 Students
Free Admission for Students from PSAC member institution with a valid school ID
SERIES INFORMATION
Series vs. ESU: 45-34
Series Streak: MU, 2
First Meeting: 1922-23 (ESU, 50-17)
Last Meeting: 2013 (MU, 76-47)
Last 10: 9-1
Mary Fleig vs. East Stroudsburg: 36-11
Maureen Smith vs. Millersville: 1-5
GAME NOTES
· Millersville is the East division's No. 3 seed in the PSAC Tournament after finishing its regular season at 19-7, 16-6 in league play. The team had the inside edge to give itself a first-round bye and host the final two rounds of the tourney, but could not take advantage, falling Wednesday night at home in the regular season finale to Shippensburg, 72-62. The Marauder loss snapped a seven-game winning streak and gave the team its only loss in the month of February. The Raiders, who ascended to the No. 2 seed with the victory, gained the privilege of a free pass in the first round while putting five players in double figures in Wednesday night's matchup. On the opposite end, the Marauders were only able to put three players - all three seniors being recognized on Senior Night - in double digits, with
Miesha Cousins leading the way by pouring in a career-best 19 points. Cousins also had 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. In fact, the seniors accounted for all but 10 of the 62 Millersville points scored in the contest, including 36 of the 38 second-half points the team scored.
· In the game against Ship,
Aurielle Mosley did continue her hot play, posting her seventh consecutive double-double and ninth in her past 10 outings with 16 points and 10 rebounds in just 27 minutes of game action. Over the past 10 trips to the hardwood, the redshirt senior forward has hit at least 50 percent of her field goal attempts in all but the first game of the stretch. Over the span, she has scored 18.8 points per game on 54.7 percent shooting while ripping down 11.9 rebounds per game. She needs just eight points to move past current Millersville athletic director
Peg Kauffman (1,398 career points) into fifth place on the program's all-time scoring list. That accomplishment would make her just the second player in school history to rank in the top five in points, rebounds and blocks. Shelly Bowie is the only other player to do so.
· Despite a shooting night where she went just 7-for-22 from the floor,
Mashira Newman also did damage on the record books Wednesday night. With her own 17 points, the redshirt senior point guard moved into sole possession of fourth place on the program's career scoring list, passing Kauffman. Newman now has 1,405 career points and is just the fourth player in school history to pass the 1,400-point plateau, and if she and Mosley can score a combined 14 points throughout the rest of the season, they will become the highest scoring pair of classmates in school history with 2,810 points, passing the combination of 2001 graduates Sara Burcin (1,543 career points) and Safiyyah Bashir (1,266 points).
· The Marauders are no stranger to the PSAC Tournament under head coach
Mary Fleig. This season is the 17th-straight year that Millersville's longtime coach has guided her team to the conference tourney. The team is 25-23 all-time in the PSAC Tournament and 15-18 under Fleig. Fleig can also be glad the first roud game is at home. Since taking over the Marauders in 1990-91, Fleig's teams are 12-4 at home in tournament games, but just 1-9 on the road and 2-5 in neutral site games. The last time the team won the tourney was in 2004-05, when it defeated California (Pa.) by a score of 76-71, the last time one of Fleig's teams reached the PSAC Championship game. Her teams have made three appearances in the title game in her tenure. The key for the Marauders to have success not only in the PSAC Tournament, but in the postseason in general, is to hit the 70-point barrier. When Fleig's teams hit that mark, their record is 12-2 in 14 games between the PSAC and NCAA Tournaments.
· After Wednesday's defeat at the hands of Ship, Millersville will need to make a considerable amount of noise in the conference tourney to keep its hopes alive of returning to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence. With the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings released before Wednesday's game, the Marauders were slotted at sixth. The top eight teams from the region go to the Big Dance, and that is the good news for the team. The bad news for Millersville is that Ship was slotted at No. 10 before Wednesday night's result, and the Raiders' head-to-head win will give them the upper hand in the next poll. If the Marauders can beat East Stroudsburg on their home floor Saturday, Millersville would get the chance for revenge on Shippensburg in the PSAC Tournament Quarterfinals, having to travel to Heiges Fieldhouse for a shot at the team's firstwin in three tries over Ship in 2012-13.
ABOUT EAST STROUDSBURG
· The Warriors enter the PSAC Tournament as the sixth and final seed out of the PSAC East division with a regular season mark of 7-19, 6-16 in the PSAC. East Stroudsburg ended its regular season play with four losses in a row and 12 defeats in its final 14 outings after opening the year at 5-7 overall. Two of those final 12 losses were to Millersville, as ESU was swept by the Marauders in the season series.
· East Stroudsburg has crossed paths with Millersville twice in the PSAC Tournament, and the teams split the pair of meetings. In the 1984-85 season, the Warriors bested the Marauders by a score of 87-74 on their home floor. Millersville got revenge in the 2007-08 season, dumping visiting ESU at Pucillo Gymnasium, 66-51. Since the loss to Millersville five seasons ago, East Stroudsburg has failed to reach postseason play in any of the past four seasons, going 32-74 (17-47 PSAC) over that span.
· In 16 PSAC Tournament games in the program's history, ESU is just 6-10, with its last win coming at home against Mansfield in 2007, 66-45. The Warriors won their only PSAC Championship following the 1994-95 season when they topped Clarion 80-71 in the title game. In total, the team has made three trips to the title game, the last of which resulted in that conference championship.
· In the two regular-season meetings between the teams, the Marauders outscored the Warriors by a combined 145-102. While Mosley has been consistent, putting up at least 20 points and eight boards in both meetings,
Mashira Newman has been a thorn in the side of ESU, posting averages of 13.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 8.5 steals per game. After the Warriors' best player, Jessica Martin, did her damage at Koehler Fieldhouse to the tune of 15 points and 13 boards in a 69-55 loss, the Marauder defense made sure she didn't get anywhere close to those totals in the last meeting, holding her to just nine points and six rebounds in a 76-47 drubbing at Pucillo on Feb. 20.
