Lakers To Play NYIT In Final Game Before Christmas - MERCYHURST COLLEGE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Dec. 18, 2007

THE MATCHUPS: Mercyhurst plays its first non-conference road game since Nov. 26 when the Lakers travel to Old Westbury, N.Y. to play New York Institute of Technology. The two teams are 1-1 all-time against each other with the Lakers picking up a 70-62 victory a year ago. NYIT won 68-62 during the 2005-06 season.
LAST MEETING WITH NYIT: Mercyhurst jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead and cruised to a 70-62 win last year against NYIT. Julie Anderson led Mercyhurst with 21 points and Stephanie Prischak added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Lindsay Whipkey added seven points and seven rebounds off the bench. Mercyhurst did not have an answer for current-senior Nicole Matthews, who finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Another current senior, Brittany Smith, had 18 points and nine rebounds.
THE COACHES: Mercyhurst head coach Deanna Richard is in her first season at Mercyhurst, currently posting a 3-8 record. She has a career mark of 64-100, including a record of 61-92 in six seasons at Division III Olivet College. NYIT head coach Mike Guidone is in his third year leading the Bears with a mark of 27-38 in that time. He was the head women's coach at Molloy College from 1998-02 and served as an assistant men's basketball coach at Briarcliffe College prior to taking over at NYIT.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst is 2-2 in its last four games, including a 76-72 win over West Virginia Wesleyan its last time out. Paris Pugliese returned from an injury that forced her to miss one game and scored a career-high 21 points. The Lakers have shot the ball well all year and rank second in the GLIAC in both field goal percentage and three-point shooting. However, the Lakers have struggled to control turnovers and win the rebounding battle, ranking 13th and 12th in the conference in those two categories.
SCOUTING NYIT: NYIT enters Saturday's game with a record of 3-5 on the year and has lost four games by at least 17 points. The Bears are shooting just 37 percent from the field and 69 percent from the free-throw line, while being outrebounded by 2.5 boards per game. NYIT does have four players averaging at least nine points per game, led by Emily Bolling's 13.7 points per contest. Lauren Caggiano has been tough to contain inside and she is averaging 11.6 points and 11.0 rebounds. She had a season-high 18 rebounds against Post University.

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 is 2-1 against PSAC schools this year, picking up wins over Mansfield and Edinboro, coupled with a loss to Slippery Rock. The Lakers will play one more PSAC team when Mercyhurst hosts Lock Haven Dec. 30 at 2 p.m.
• 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.
• Achesinski is on record pace at the free-throw line. At her current rate, she would make 159 free-throws on the season, breaking the school record of 153, and attempt 260, breaking the record of 204.
• No Mercyhurst player has scored 30 or more points in a game since 2001 but Achesinski came close to breaking that streak with a career-high 29 against Northern Michigan Dec. 1.
• 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 46.0 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three-point range this year.
• Stephanie Prischak is the all-time leader in career free-throw percentage at Mercyhurst. At 84.6 percent (99-of-117), she ranks just ahead of Tricia Mahoney (82.7 percent from 1979-83).