Jan. 4, 2008

Game Notes in PDF Format

THE MATCHUP: Mercyhurst and Gannon play the first of their two annual games against each other Saturday. This will be the 66th meeting between the two schools and Gannon holds a 41-24 series lead, including victories in each of the last seven contests.
LAST YEAR AGAINST GANNON: Gannon won both meetings last year, picking up an 81-74 win in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center and then pulling away for a 76-56 victory in the Hammermill Center. The contest at the MAC was tied at 44-44 at the half but Gannon opened the second half with a 10-2 run and never trailed again. Then-seniors Julie Anderson and Christina Jackson went head-to-head in the post with each player scoring 22 points. In a game that featured 52 combined turnovers, Mercyhurst put five players in double-figures, including current Lakers Stephanie Prischak, Mara Dreiser and Paris Pugliese. The meeting at the Hammermill Center was tied at 20-20 with 6:30 to play in the first half but Gannon closed with a 19-6 run and never looked back. In that contest, the Golden Knights had five players in double-figures and Katlyn Petit scored 17 points in her final game in a Mercyhurst uniform. Lindsay Whipkey added 10 points and seven rebounds.
THE COACHES: Mercyhurst head coach Deanna Richard is in her first season at Mercyhurst, currently posting a 5-8 record. She has a career mark of 66-100, including a record of 61-92 in six seasons at Division III Olivet College. Cleve Wright is in his sixth season as head coach at Gannon, posting a 96-61 record, including a 25-6 mark last year and the program's first GLIAC Championship. He was named GLIAC Coach of the Year for 2006-07. Prior to his time at Gannon, Wright served as an assistant at both Northwestern and Butler.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst has won three consecutive games for the first time since December of 2005 and has accomplished that in large part to its deadly shooting. The Lakers have made 28-of-57 three-pointers in the past three contests and knocked down 12 long range shots in a 77-57 win over New York Institute of Technology, the most for a Mercyhurst team since 2001. The Lakers shot 67 percent from the field during the second half of their 89-78 win over Lock Haven and made 11-of-18 three-pointers in the contest. Freshman Samantha Loadman scored a career-high 16 points in that contest and freshman Amy Achesinski has scored in double-figures in every game this year.
SCOUTING GANNON: Gannon won the GLIAC Championship a year ago but lost a number of key players and is 8-4 in 2007-08. The Golden Knights have won two in row, including an 83-81 overtime victory against Slippery Rock Thursday. Kim Vargas leads Gannon at 16.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, followed by Kristina Freeman at 14.5 points and Ashley Lowdermilk at 11.7 points. Tiffany Crocker leads the GLIAC at 6.7 assists per game. As a team Gannon, ranks second in the conference in scoring and leads the GLIAC in assists.

QUICK HITS
• Mercyhurst is playing its final season as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) before moving to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) next year. Mercyhurst went 3-1 against PSAC schools this year, picking up wins over Mansfield, Edinboro and Lock Haven, coupled with a loss to Slippery Rock.
• Mercyhurst has made 23 three-pointers in the past two games, including 12 against NYIT. That was the most three-pointers in a game since the Lakers made 12-of-17 in a 71-70 win over Ferris State on Jan. 20, 2001.
• As a team, the Lakers are on pace to break the single season school records for field goal percentage and three-point percentage. Mercyhurst is shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range this year, leading the GLIAC in that category.
• Stephanie Prischak is the all-time leader in career free-throw percentage at Mercyhurst. At 83.9 percent (99-of-118), she ranks just ahead of Tricia Mahoney (82.7 percent from 1979-83). She is also on pace to break the school record for three-point shooting in a season. At 53.7 percent, she is well ahead of Amy Galla's 46.2 percent shooting in 2000-01.
• Freshman Amy Achesinski was named the GLIAC South Division Player of the Week Nov. 27 after averaging 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in two games the prior week.