Nov. 14, 2007

THE MATCHUPS: The Mercyhurst women's basketball team opens its season this week. The Lakers will head on the road to play Mansfield Thursday before playing in their home opener Saturday against Le Moyne.
LAST MEETINGS: Mercyhurst moved to 10-0 all-time against Mansfield with a 68-60 win in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center a year ago. Then-freshman center Lindsay Whipkey led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The game was tied at 51-51 with 5:56 to play in the contest but the Lakers went on a 10-1 run to pull out the victory. Mercyhurst played Le Moyne twice last year and the Dolphins came away with hard-fought wins each time. Le Moyne won 60-48 in Syracuse, N.Y. and then picked up a 60-55 victory in Erie. Rachel Divosevic had 20 points in the first game, and Whipkey finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards in the second contest.
THE COACHES: Mercyhurst head coach Deanna Richard is opening her first season with the Lakers this week. She compiled a record of 61-92 in six seasons at Division III Olivet College, slowly building the program before leaving for Mercyhurst. At Mansfield, head coach Ruth Hermansen is just 78-136 in eight seasons, but her squads have gone 25-30 in the last two years and reached the PSAC playoffs in each season. At Le Moyne, Jeanne Dupree is beginning her eighth season with the Dolphins and her 10th overall. She has a career record of 105-139, including an 80-116 record at Le Moyne.
THE PRESEASON POLLS: Mercyhurst was picked to finish last in the six-team GLIAC South Division in 2007-08. In the PSAC preseason poll, released earlier this week, Mansfield was picked sixth out of seven teams in the East Division. Le Moyne was picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams in the Northeast-10.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST: First-year head coach Deanna Richard was a three-point specialist at Oakland University and she carries much of the same mindset into the way she builds her teams. At Olivet, the Comets ranked in the top 25 of all Division III teams in three-pointers made per game in each of her final five seasons at the helm. Expect Mercyhurst to do much the same this year. After graduating five seniors from last year's 6-21 squad, the team has none this year, so this team will be a work-in-progress. Junior Stephanie Prischak is the most seasoned player and she came back from a knee injury to average 9.8 points per game last year. She is deadly at the free-throw line, making 43-of-48 (89.6 percent) last year. Sophomore Lindsay Whipkey turned in a stellar freshman season, averaging 9.1 points and 4.9 rebounds, while sophomore Paris Pugliese averaged 5.9 points in an injury-shortened season. Another sophomore, Mara Dreiser, started 10 games and averaged 4.8 points. Along with those returners, Richard brought in four transfers with collegiate experience who should add depth.
SCOUTING MANSFIELD: The Mansfield Mountaineers return four starters from last year's PSAC playoff team in juniors Mallory Hafer (11.5 ppg in 06-07), Courtney Brooks (8.6 ppg), Clarissa Correll (7.1 ppg) and Emily Akins (4.6 ppg). Senior Jeanette Meacham (4.0 ppg) also started 10 games. Four other players saw action in 23 games or more and the Mountaineers will also return junior Alicia Espigh (13.0 ppg), who was the team's leading scorer when she was sidelined with an injury after three games. Mansfield will need to find a way to replace the scoring void left by Jessica Uhrich, who averaged 18.8 points per game and scored 16 against the Lakers in a 68-60 loss last year. As a team, Mansfield uses the three-point shot as a weapon and the Mountaineers made 6.3 per game a year ago, knocking them down at a 33.7 percent clip. Hafer was one of the best long range threats in the country, making 41.9 percent of her 179 three-point attempts.
SCOUTING LE MOYNE: After finishing 9-19 a year ago, Le Moyne returns its top three scorers and four starters overall. The Dolphins lost a hard-fought 65-58 exhibition game to Division I Binghamton in preparation for the start of the season. Kim Wagoner returns after averaging a team-high 11.3 points per game a year ago. She scored 16 and 21 in the two wins over Mercyhurst last year. Katie Dunn was the only other double figure scorer for the Dolphins in 2006-07, averaging 10.5 points per game. Courtney Coryea (9.8 ppg) and Vanessa Holden (5.9 ppg) also combined to start 35 games last year. Le Moyne only gave up an average of 59.8 points per game a year ago and was among the Division II leaders in blocked shots. The Dolphins will attempt to grind out a win Saturday.

QUICK HITS
• Mercyhurst is playing its final season as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC). The team has played in the GLIAC since 1995 but will move to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) next year.
• Head coach Deanna Richard is the 10th coach in the history of the program. Jim Webb holds the school record with 96 wins from 1994-01.
• Stephanie Prischak's 88.4 career free-throw percentage would rank second in school history but she needs five more attempts to qualify.
• Mercyhurst is 8-9 in season openers since the 1990-91 season. However, the Lakers have lost five straight, including a 60-48 defeat by Le Moyne last year.

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