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Millersville

Williams and Ingram

Women's Basketball looks to top .500 in conference play against Shepherd

| By: Wes Champlin, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant
  • Series vs. Shepherd: 11-5
  • Series Streak: W2
  • First Meeting: W, 66-52 (Dec. 5, 1989)
  • Last Meeting: W, 81-55 (Feb. 1, 2023)
  • Last 10 Meetings: 5-5
  • Most ‘Ville Points: 81
  • Record at Home: 5-2
  • Kira Mowen vs. Shepherd: 0-0
  • Julie Kaufman vs. Millersville: 0-2

 

ABOUT THE GAME

  • The Millersville Marauders (6-8, 4-4) host PSAC East foe Shepherd (3-11, 1-8) with a chance to top the .500 mark in conference play for the first time this season. They are also looking for their fourth straight conference victory after downing Bloomsburg 62-59 last Saturday. Shepherd enters on the other end of the spectrum, having lost six straight games dating back to Dec. 18. That was a 60-58 win over Slippery Rock. 
  • Millersville currently sits alone in fourth in the East with a 4-4 record, a half game behind Kutztown and West Chester. That pair is tied for second at 5-4. Shepherd is tied with Shippensburg for eighth in the division with a 1-8 mark.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

  • Millersville enters playing its best basketball of the season. Since falling to No. 3 Gannon on Dec. 30, the Marauders have won three straight and evened their conference record at 4-4. The first quarter is where the biggest difference lies, as over these three games they're outscoring their opponents 65-41 in the initial period.
  • They've also seen a boost in a few different statistical categories. The Marauders are shooting 48.4% from the field in the new year, up seven percent from their season average of 41.4%. They're also averaging about three more assists per game (15.7 vs 12.9) and over four more steals per game (12.3 vs 8.1).
  • Key to this recent stretch is a trio of Marauders who have taken their offensive games to a new level in 2024. Makiah Shaw scored over 40% of Millersville's points against Bloomsburg, netting 25 of the team's 62. She did so on nine of 13 field goals and seven of eight from the free throw line. With that performance she raised her team-leading points per game average to 12.4. Defensively, she was a large factor in keeping the PSAC's leading scorer to just 12 points. This comes a game after she set a new career-best with nine rebounds against Shippensburg.
  • La'Shyra Williams has also broken out of late. She's averaging 17 points per game on an astonishing 75.9% from the field since the calendar turned over to 2024. Prior to the last game against Bloomsburg she had set personal bests in back-to-back contests. She broke out against the Griffins on Jan 3., pouring in a then season-high 19 points on nine of 13 from the floor. The redshirt senior then one-upped herself against the Raiders a week later, netting a career-high 22 on nine of 10 shooting and a perfect four of four from the free-throw line.
  • Jabria Ingram was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this season against Gannon on Dec. 30. Over this winning streak she's averaged just shy of a double double with 12.7 points and 9.3 assists. She's also shooting 69.6% from the floor in this timespan. The graduate student is quickly climbing the PSAC assist leaderboard and her current mark of 4.4 per contest ranks fourth.
  • Brenna Ortwein and Sophie Elstone round out the Marauder starting five. The guard pair has been the poster child of Millersville's tenacious defensive play in the new year. Ortwein is first on the team in steals and broke into the top 10 in the PSAC in total steals and steals per game with five last time out. That raised her season mark to 1.9 thefts per game which ranks eighth in the conference.
  • Elstone has provided much of the same defensively, averaging 2.3 steals over the last three games and moving into second on the team in steals per game with 1.3. She's also given the ‘Ville steady outside shooting, knocking down threes at a team-high 42.1% clip.
  • As with the rest of those coming off of the bench, Morgan Mahoney has also been playing well of late. The sophomore forward has averaged 2.3 blocks per game over this winning streak, raising her season per game average to a team-best 1.1. That number is also good for sixth in the PSAC.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

  • Shepherd enters hoping to prevent its six-game losing streak from reaching a month in length. The most recent loss was a 63-81 effort against Mansfield on Jan. 13. Over the last six games the Rams have achieved a scoring deficit of almost 30 at -29.8. This stat is inflated quite a bit due to a 55 point loss to West Chester on Jan 10.
  • In stark contrast to Bloomsburg, who featured the conferences' leading scorer and assist woman on their roster, Shepherd doesn't have a single player in double-figures in scoring average. Tops on the Rams in that category is Leila Copeland, who hasn't appeared in a game since Dec. 19 against Edinboro and will most likely not play in this one. 
  • The next three Rams in scoring average have started every game and all feature points per game marks between eight and 10. Sophomore guard Peyton Grant leads the way with 9.1 points per game. Most of her scoring comes from beyond the arc, where she's been one of the best shooters in the league. Grant's shooting 40.2% on the long ball, good for third in the conference. She's doing so on volume as well, as her 33 made threes puts her in a tie for second. 
  • LaFrance, the other half of that pair, averages 10.8 points per contest. She's been a threat from outside all season, averaging over six three-point attempts per game and shooting 30.9% on them. The native of Harrisburg, Pa. ranks eleventh in the PSAC in three-point percentage and eighth in threes made.
  • The Huskies feature another conference leader in Ella Kale. The junior guard is first in the PSAC with 5.1 assists per game and is the only player to top the five assist mark. She rarely leaves the court and is tops on Bloomsburg with 35.6 minutes per game, good for fourth in the conference.
  • They posess a middle-of-the-pack offense at 65.1 points per game, but the defense is where the Huskies are lacking. They're third-to-last in opponent points per game at 73.2 and in the bottom four in blocks and steals per game. A contributing factor to that opponent points per contest ranking is the fact that they're last in both opponent field goal percentage (45.4%) and three-point percentage (35.7).
  • They've also been out rebounded by almost 14 rebounds per contest and are committing greater than than seven turnovers a game more than their opponents in this time frame. Rebounds have been a season-long issue, as the Rams are last in the PSAC in rebounding margin at -12.1.

SERIES HISTORY

  • The all-time series between these two programs is rather unique. The ‘Ville owned this matchup from the first meeting in 1989 until 2018 to the tune of a 9-0 record. The Rams immediately went on a run of their own after that and took five in a row. Both of last year’s meetings went the way of the Marauders. 
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