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Millersville

Sophia Elstone

Marauders return home for heated bout with East Stroudsburg

1/22/2025 7:00:00 AM

By: Wes Champlin, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

COVERAGE LINKS

  • Series vs. East Stroudsburg: 60–34
  • Series Streak: W2
  • First Meeting: L, 17–50 (1922-23)
  • Last Meeting: W, 59–52 (Mar. 4, 2024)
  • Last 10 Meetings: 7–3
  • Most ‘Ville Points: 100
  • Record at home: 36–10
  • Kira Mowen vs. East Stroudsburg: 2–1
  • Liz Flooks vs. Millersville: 0–0

ABOUT THE GAME

  • The Millersville Marauders (11-6, 6-4) return home for the first time in nearly three weeks to take on the East Stroudsburg Warriors (6-10, 3-7) for the fourth time in the last calendar year. The Warriors won the first of those battles but the Marauders had the last laugh, defeating them in the rematch and in the first round of the 2024 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament. 
  • In addition to that familiarity, the Marauders already got to see the 2024-25 edition of the Warriors play in person when East Stroudsburg visited Pucillo Gymnasium during the season-opening Conference Challenge tournament on Nov. 8 & 9. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

  • Millersville's 69-49 loss to Kutztown on Jan. 18 could be attributed to the team falling short in a few areas that have consistently indicated the outcome of their games this season. The most clear indicator has been whether the Marauders win in the paint; they're 10-2 when scoring more in the painted area that their opponent and just 1-4 when failing to do so. The Golden Bears bested them 30-22 in that category last Saturday.  Another aspect where the Marauders fell short was in generating and converting second chance opportunities, as Kutztown outscored them 18-13 on second chances and had five more offensive rebounds as well. Millersville is 7-1 when tallying more second chance points than the opposition and 4-5 when falling short. Those two aspects, as well as the turnover margin, will be areas to focus on against East Stroudsburg.
  • A player to focus on specifically is senior Makiah Shaw. She enters this game against the Warriors with 990 career points and looks to be the 22nd player in Millersville women's basketball history to reach the 1,000 point threshold, joining her teammate Kali March who did so earlier this season. Shaw has reached double digits in scoring 44 times in her career and 10 times this season, so there's a good chance the forward could can the milestone basket this Wednesday. 
  • The most consistent Marauder over the past two games has been senior forward Brenna Ortwein, who's putting together a stellar final campaign on both ends of the floor. First, the defense: Ortwein's fourth in the PSAC in steals per game with 2.2 and has tallied a takeaway in 12 straight games (and 16 of 17 games this season). The 5-foot-7 guard/wing has also led the team in rebounding for a second straight season at 6.4 per contest. The offense: Ortwein's tallied consecutive games with 10 or more points and now ranks third on the team in scoring at 8.7 PPG. Her improvement from last season has been monumental,  as she's her PPG mark through improvement in all three scoring areas. The Bethlehem native has had an 18% increase in field goal percentage, a 20% increase in three-point percentage, and a 13.6% increase in free throw percentage from last season. 

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

  • This East Stroudsburg team has had quite the rollercoaster ride ever since entering PSAC East play to begin the new year. After defeating Shepherd on Jan. 6, the Warriors lost in overtime to West Chester before beating first-place Lock Haven on Jan. 11. Four days later, they lost to sixth-place Shippensburg before finally falling to Bloomsburg on the 18th. Their PSAC play has given them a 3-7 conference record, good for seventh in the East Division.
  • The PSAC's leading scorer, Emily Chmiel, headlines the Warrior attack. The senior big is averaging 23.9 PPG on 55.4% from the field. Her game mostly features back-to-the-basket play, using her size and footwork to establish good position and convert open layups at the rim. She can also shoot the mid-range effectively, but what has separated her from the competition is her ability to get the the line and convert at a high percentage; Chmiel is averaging 6.5 free throw attempts per game and is making them at an 80.8% clip. She's also a dominant rebounder, evidenced by her 12 double-doubles and 11.5 RPG, the latter of which ranks second in the conference. The weaknesses in her game are her turnover rate (3.0/game) and her propensity to foul–she's averaging 3.5 fouls per game over her last six games. 
  • The Warriors' other consistent scorers have been Brie Droege (8.7 PPG), Lacie Kringe (7.1 PPG) and Jessica Polin (9.3 PPG over the last four games). Droege has mainly served as their secondary scoring threat and has turned it up since the beginning of PSAC East play; the tall (5-foot-10) freshman guard is averaging 14.4 PPG against East teams including a 24-point outburst against Shippensburg. Kringe and Polin are the team's primary threats from beyond the arc, as the pair is responsible for 29 of the Warriors' 44 made threes as a team this season. Polin is coming off of a 16 point game against Bloomsburg in which she went six-of-nine from the field and four-of-five from beyond the arc. 

SERIES HISTORY

  • It has been a heated rivalry between these two teams over its 102 years of competition, but Millersville holds a decisive edge with a 60-34 all-time record. Outside of a 16-game Marauder winning streak from Feb. 14, 1998 to Jan. 21, 2006, the rivalry has been relatively even. Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Millersville's owned the matchup, with a 7-1 mark in their eight games played. 

PSAC EAST ROUNDUP

  • With Millersville's loss to Kutztown and Lock Haven's win over Mansfield, the pair of teams moved back into a tie for first place in the PSAC East. The surging Bloomsburg Huskies have won five of their last six and sit in a tie for third in the division with West Chester with a record of 5-5. Shepherd and Mansfield have continued their respective freefalls in the standings, the former losing five straight games and the latter dropping three in a row.
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