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Millersville

Rhyan Mitchell

Familiar foe stands between Marauders and PSAC quarterfinals appearance

3/5/2024 4:40:00 PM

By: Wes Champlin, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant
  • Series vs. Lock Haven: 40-40
  • Series Streak: L2
  • First Meeting: W (1945-46)
  • Last Meeting: L, 37-58 (Mar. 2, 2024)
  • Last 10 Meetings: 2-8
  • Most ‘Ville Points: 91
  • Record at Lock Haven: 14-10
  • Kira Mowen vs. Lock Haven: 0-2
  • Jennifer Smith vs. Millersville: 12-15

ABOUT THE GAME

  • For the second time in five days, the Millersville Marauders (13-16, 11-12) look to upset the No. 14 Lock Haven Bald Eagles (26-2, 21-1) when they visit Lock Haven Wednesday evening. The Marauders defeated East Stroudsburg 59-52 in the first round for the right to face the top-seeded Bald Eagles, who enjoyed a bye. 
  • It is the third time these two programs have met in the 2023-24 campaign, with Lock Haven taking both matchups. The last time the Marauders lost to the same team three times in one season was last year against West Chester. The Marauders fell in the PSAC semifinals to the Golden Rams after dropping both regular season contests. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

  • Millersville hopes to carry over a few positives from its win over East Stroudsburg. The Marauders committed their fewest turnovers in a game this season (nine) and scored 10 more points off of turnovers than the Warriors. That was in part due to four steal and scores in the fourth quarter, two of them coming from Brenna Ortwein. That was the continuation of a few larger trends that have presented themselves throughout the 2023-24 campaign. The Marauders are 10-3 when winning the turnover battle and 3-13 when failing to do so. The 'Ville has been effective at turning the Bald Eagles over in their two previous meetings, as they finished with 20 and 19 giveaways. In the 66-54 loss in Pucillo Gymnasium on January 31, Millersville caught up with Lock Haven by winning the turnover battle 11-20 after allowing a 27-0 run in the first quarter. 
  • Scoring points off of those turnovers has been even more important, as Millersville is a remarkable 11-1 when besting its opponents in that category and 2-15 when trailing. 
  • The Marauders also did an excellent job of keeping East Stroudsburg off of the offensive glass. The Warriors only grabbed seven offensive boards, nearly half what their average of 13.5 over the previous two meetings. 
  • The Marauders' offense has been driven by two players of late: guard Jabria Ingram and forward Makiah Shaw. Ingram has been pivotal to Millersville's success this season, as the team is 9-4 when she starts and 4-12 when she doesn't. The graduate student has been one of the best distributors in the conference this season, evidenced by her 4.3 assists per game and 1.8 assist to turnover ratio, which repectively rank third and second in the PSAC. Her court vision and passing ability is crucial to the Marauder offense, as they have an 11-1 record when she registers five or more assists. After being a tad turnover prone over the first three-quarters of the season, the graduate student has taken much better care of the ball in recent weeks; Ingram has tallied 33 assists to 12 turnovers over her last seven games, a 2.8:1 turnover ratio.
  • Shaw has been the team's leading scorer all season and kept the Marauders afloat against the Warriors. She scored 12 of 14 Millersville points in the third quarter to keep the deficit at one. She was limited to 28 minutes because of foul trouble in the same game, which has been the only thing to slow her down in 2024. She's 20th in the PSAC in points per game at 13.0 and fifth in field goal percentage at 49.0%. The junior has also proven herself as the Marauders' best free throw shooter, knocking them down at an 81.2% clip. 
  • Morgan Mahoney, who's been a revelation as a quality interior defender in her sophomore season, was able to return to the lineup on Monday evening and tallied a block to add to her team-leading total. In fact, she was one of seven different Marauders to record a block against the Warriors and the team total of eight ranks second on the season for a single game. Mahoney is fifth in the conference in blocks per game at 1.1. 

SCOUTING THE BALD EAGLES

  • Millersville faces a tall task in upending first-seeded Lock Haven. The Bald Eagles are undefeated at home and have won 26 of their last 27 games, their only loss coming to West Chester on February 3. They have responded in an impressive manner in the seven games since, taking each by 12 or more points and winning the PSAC's Eastern Division. Last week, the Bald Eagles were tabbed as the No. 14 team in the nation according to the NCAA DII D2CSC National Poll. 
  • Despite their outstanding record, Lock Haven presents itself as a middling offensive team. Rather, it is the defensive side of the ball where the Bald Eagles have shined most this season. They're top three in the conference in opponent field goal percentage (third), opponent three point percentage (second) and blocks per game (first). Those factors cumulate in a second-ranked scoring defense allowing 54.0 points per game. They held the Marauders to just 37 points on March 2, their fewest scored in any game this season. The Marauders shot a dismal 28.1%from the field in that contest, their second lowest mark on the year.
  • That stout defense centers around sophomore forward Alana Robinson, who is the only player in the PSAC averaging more than two blocks per game (2.4). She's also tied for thirteenth in the conference in steals per game at 1.6. The sophomore has been a force on the offensive side of the ball as well, as she's sixteenth in the conference in scoring at 13.9 points per game. Her 48.0% field goal mark is seventh in the league as well. However, Millersville has done a good job against her this season, as she's averaging just 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and .5 blocks over the two games played.
  • Robinson's averages in scoring and steals are second on her own team; Jenadia Jordan holds the narrow edge with 15.3 points per game and 2.1 steals per game. Jordan's marks in those categories are ninth and sixth, respectively. She's led her team in scoring in both matchups against the Marauders this season, averaging 18.0 points per contest. Jordan is one of two legitimate threats from beyond the arc on her team, canning them at 35.7% on nearly 100 attempts. The other is Taylor Leidy, who shot just 49 threes but has made them at a 46.5% clip. The Bald Eagles do not shoot many three pointers as a team, as they're fifteenth in the conference in made threes per game at 3.7.
  • Expect to see a deeper rotation from the Bald Eagles, as there are no players averaging more than 30 minutes per game and four averaging more than 20 minutes per contest. Nine players are in double figures in minutes per game. 

SERIES HISTORY

  • The rivalry between these two program has had three distinct eras: pre-1980, 1980-2017 and 2017-present day. Between the 1945-46 season and the 1978-79 season, the Bald Eagles won 19 of 21 matchups. From 1979 until 2017, Millersville took the upper hand with a 37-10 record. Since then, Lock Haven has reclaimed the edge with a 10-3 mark. With their win on March 2, the Bald Eagles pulled even with the Marauders overall, with 40 wins apiece.  The Marauders are undefeated against the Bald Eagles in postseason play, having won all three contests. 
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