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Millersville

Kali March

PSAC East playoff race tightens as Marauders host top-seeded Bald Eagles

2/21/2025 1:40:00 PM

By: Wes Champlin, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

COVERAGE LINKS

  • Series vs. Lock Haven: 40–42
  • Series Streak: L4
  • First Meeting: W, ?-? (1945–46)
  • Last Meeting: L, 51–81 (Jan. 25, 2025)
  • Last 10 Meetings: 2–8
  • Most ‘Ville Points: 91
  • Record at home: 21–8
  • Kira Mowen vs. Lock Haven: 0–4
  • Jennifer Smith vs. Millersville: 14–15

ABOUT THE GAME

  • The Millersville Marauders (15–10, 10–8) close out a four-game homestand against the first-place Lock Haven Bald Eagles (17–7, 12–6) on Saturday afternoon.  Lock Haven bested the Marauders by 30 in Lock Haven earlier this season, but the Marauders enter this game playing their best ball of the 2024-25 campaign. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

  • Millersville's put together back-to-back victories of 15 or more points for the first time this season and all signs point to the Marauders being on the up and up as the regular season winds down. Since that 30-point loss to Lock Haven on Jan. 25, they've gone 4–2 with wins over two playoff teams (West Chester and Bloomsburg) and their two losses were in overtime (to East Stroudsburg) and by two points (to white-hot Kutztown). 
  • The 68–51 victory over Bloomsburg was arguably the team's most impressive win of the season. For the first time all year, the Marauders put together a complete performance against a quality opponent. The defense held a potent Huskies offense to 38.2% from the field and locked up beyond the arc (4-of-13 from three) against one of the better shooting teams in the conference (seventh in makes and seventh in percentage on the season). However, it was the offense that stole the show. They shot 50% from the field, their second-highest percentage from the field all season and their best against a PSAC foe. Millersville also had 17 assists, its fifth most in a game all season. Three of the team's top five assist totals have come in the last four games, and its record when tallying 13 or more assists is an astounding 13–1.
  • Pair that offense with a stout defense that ranks fifth of 290 teams in Division II in opponent field goal percentage (33.9%), and you've got an excellent recipe for success. 
  • Morgan Mahoney returned to the starting five against Mansfield and has been downright dominant on both ends in the two games since. She's averaged 16.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4 BPG, 1.5 SPG and is shooting 60.9% over those two contests. What has allowed the six-foot-one center to dominate is her ability to avoid foul trouble. She's had just two fouls in those two games combined while swatting a total of eight shots.
  • Makiah Shaw continued her recent run of stellar play against the Huskies, pacing the team in scoring with 18 points on 9-of-13 from the field. She's reached double figures in scoring in eight of the last nine games and is averaging 14.2 PPG over that stretch. What's changed in the senior's game is her decisiveness, physicality, and comfortability within the offense. The forward looks to be in control more than ever when she sets up down low and has the utmost confidence in every shot that she takes. 
  • Lock Haven is the only PSAC East team that Marauders' head coach Kira Mowen has yet to win against. She enters this contest with an 0–4 mark after falling to the Bald Eagles three times last season and once earlier this year. 

SCOUTING THE BALD EAGLES

  • Lock Haven enters this contest with an 8–2 record in its last 10 games and a week off after defeating Shepherd 71–60 on Feb. 15. The Bald Eagles have spent their last three contests beating up on the bottom of the PSAC East after dropping two in a row to West Chester and Kutztown. Prior to that, they won five straight. 
  • Any discussion about the Bald Eagles has to start with defensive player of the year candidate Alana Robinson. She's won three straight PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week awards heading into this week and has posted some absolutely absurd statlines this season. Against West Chester on Feb. 01, Robinson had nine steals, three blocks, six rebounds and six assists. Her best game of the 2024-25 campaign was in that most recent game against Shepherd, where she recorded a 5x5; the junior had 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists, five blocks and five steals. She's just the Bald Eagles' fourth leading scorer despite having 10 or more points in 14 games this year including in seven of her last eight. Robinson does have weaknesses that the Marauders can take advantage of, however: she's had three or more turnovers in 16 games this season and has fouled out five times. 
  • Lock Haven has five players averaging 10 or more points per game, but gets very little scoring out of the rest of its roster, as the next highest is at just 3.7 PPG. Tops on the team in scoring is graduate student Kiera Baughman at 14.8 PPG. She's their most effective three-point shooter, canning under two a game at a 39.8% clip. Fellow guard Jenadia Jordan is next on the list at 13.4 PPG but has totaled just 11 points over the last two games.
  • Sophomore Madeline Evans has become one of the premier inside bigs in the conference in her second season at the Haven. She's one of only five players in the PSAC averaging a double-double with 12.2 PPG and 10.6 RPG. The six-foot-one Evans had a quiet outing for her standards against Shepherd, going scoreless and grabbing five rebounds. 

SERIES HISTORY

  • Millersville will look to avenge a season-worst 51–81 loss at Lock Haven on Jan. 25 in which the Bald Eagles leaped out to a 36–9 lead after the game's first 17 minutes. The Marauders have struggled with the Bald Eagles over the past two seasons, but so has everyone else. This is one of the closes rivalries in team history, as the all-time mark now stands at 40–42 in favor of Lock Haven. The Marauders have fared quite well when playing in the ‘Ville, with a 21–8 record all-time.

PSAC ROUNDUP

  • The playoff teams are set on both sides of the conference, but the seeding within each conference is far from decided. There are four teams in the East with the ability to emerge as the first seed when it's all said and done, but right now Lock Haven and Kutztown are tied for the top spot at 12–6. Kutztown's the hottest team in the conference, having won its last 11 games. West Chester is making a similar late-season push to last year having won five straight and enters this weekend tied with the Marauders for third at 10–8. In the West, Seton Hill, Edinboro, Gannon and IUP are all within two games of each other atop the division. 
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