Women's Basketball Gameday: Lady Bears at USCAA National Championships

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (15-11) makes their first appearance in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championships since 2010 as the No. 7 seed in the eight-team tournament held on the campus of Penn State Fayette in Uniontown, Pa. The Lady Bears will take on No. 2 seed Ave Maria University (Fla.) (23-10) in the first round on Wednesday, March 5th at 1 p.m.

Game Information

Wednesday, March 5 - First Round
11 a.m.: No. 3 Robert Morris University-Springfield (14-8) vs. No. 6 University of Maine-Fort Kent (12-7)
1 p.m.: No. 2 Ave Maria University (23-10) vs. No. 7 St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (15-11)

* If St. Joseph's Loses *
Thursday, March 6 - Consolation 
8 a.m.: Faces loser of RMU-Springfield/Maine-Fort Kent

* If St. Joseph's Wins *
Friday, March 7 - Second Round
1 p.m.: Faces winner of RMU-Springfield/Maine-Fort Kent

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Storylines

• St. Joseph's College women's basketball will make their eighth appearance in the National Championship, appearing for six straight years from 2001 to 2006 and in 2010.
• In their last appearance in 2010, the Lady Bears entered as the No. 9 seed and dropped a four-point decision to No. 8 Cincinnati-Clermont, 49-45, before defeating Penn State Fayette and falling to St. Mary-of-the-Woods to take 10th place.
• The Lady Bears try to pick up their first win in the opening round of the tournament since defeating Central Maine Tech 68-62 in 2002.
• The Lady Bears have suffered opening round losses in their past five appearances with four of those setbacks decided by four points or fewer. (2010: Lost by 4, 2006: Lost by 3, 2005: Lost by 4, 2003: Lost by 1)
• St. Joseph's looks to slow down an Ave Maria team that averages 74.0 points per game, with a defense that holds opponents to a Division III-best 29.9 percent shooting on the season and rank No. 2 in Division III with 7.0 blocks per game.
• Ave Maria tries to capture its second USCAA Tournament title in school history, having taken home the hardware in 2011. The Gyrenes make their third appearance all-time in the tournament in only their sixth varsity season.
• Robert Morris Springfield makes its third appearance in the field and looks to make it to the second round for the first time.
• Maine Fort-Kent appears in the tournament field for the second consecutive year and looks to win their first game at the event.
• Seniors Megan Moran and Kelly McNamee look to continue their strong play as they wind down their careers. Moran has scored in double figures in 13 of her last 14 games, while McNamee has three 20-plus point games over the last eight games.

Series History

vs. Ave Maria: First Meeting

vs. Robert Morris Springfield: The two teams squared off one time previously on January 7, 2005 with the Eagles prevailing 78-63 in a neutral site matchup at Southern Virginia University.

vs. Maine Fort Kent: First Meeting

The Lady Bear Facts

Last Time Out: No. 4 seed St. Joseph's was not able to repeat as HVIAC Tournament champions, suffering a 62-47 loss to the No. 3 seed The College of New Rochelle in the championship game on Sunday, February 16th at The CNR Wellness Center. Two Lady Bears scored in double figures with Megan Moran and Taylor Raccuglia each netting a team-high 10 points apiece.

St. Joseph's comes into the tournament, despite their loss in the HVIAC Tournament finals, having won six of their last nine ballgames. The Lady Bears try to make some noise in the USCAA Tournament in their eighth appearance by winning a game in the first round for the first time since 2002. St. Joseph's holds a 6-14 mark in the tournament all-time dating back to their first appearance in 2001.

The name of the game all season for the Lady Bears has been defense as they currently lead NCAA Division III and the USCAA with a 29.9 percent field goal percentage defense. St. Joseph's also uses their timing and activity on defense to rank No. 1 in the USCAA with 7.0 blocks per game.

Senior Kelly McNamee continues to lead the Lady Bears in scoring as she plays the final games of her career averaging a career-high 13.0 points per game. The guard is also a threat from long distance and the charity stripe shooting 34.0 and 90.6 percent, respectively. McNamee has heated up over the last eight games, averaging 16.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Megan Moran, a two-time USCAA Player of the Week, also adds contributions to the Lady Bears cause averaging 11.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game along with three double-doubles on the year. Over her last 14 games, a stretch that has seen her score in double figures 13 times, the forward is averaging 14.6 points per game on 46.1 percent (83-180) shooting along with 8.1 rebounds per game

Juniors Taylor Raccuglia and Samantha Retas add frontcourt production to the St. Joseph's attack. Raccuglia, a one-time USCAA Player of the Week, averages 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 blocks (No. 1 in USCAA), 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game, while Retas is a double-double threat for the Lady Bears putting up 9.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game (No. 4 in USCAA). The one-time USCAA Player of the Week has nine double-doubles on the season and also averages 2.4 blocks (No. 2 in USCAA), 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Scouting the Lady Gyrenes

Last Time Out: Ave Maria picked up a 70-69 victory over Webber International for the Sun Conference Tournament title on Saturday. With the win the Lady Gyrenes earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament to be held later this month. Tournament MVP Madison McDonald led the way with 17 points.

Ave Maria, also a member of the NAIA, has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success in their six-year history, having won the USCAA Tournament in 2011 and made an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament in 2012 after winning the Sun Conference. Under the guidance of the program's first and only head coach, Bob Batson, the Lady Gyrenes have compiled at least 20 wins in each of the last four seasons. Ave Maria is currently 23-10 overall and 11-5 in conference play was the No. 2 seed in last week's Sun Conference Tournament.

The Gyrenes play an up-tempo game averaging 74.0 points per game (No. 3 in USCAA) while shooting a respectable 33.2 percent (258-of-778) from downtown (No. 6 in USCAA) and 70.4 percent from the line (No. 6 in USCAA).

Ave Maria operates with a balanced approach offensively with four different players averaging double figures in scoring led by Tamica Mora who pours in 12.8 points per game, leads the team with 3.5 assists per game, shoots 37.8 percent from beyond the arc and nails an impressive 85.0 percent of her free throws (No. 3 in USCAA).

Annie Artise drops in 12.2 points per game on a team-best 44.6 percent shooting from the floor and paces the team in rebounding with 8.3 boards per game. Rounding out the quartet of Lady Gyrenes that average double figures are one-time Sun Conference Player of the Week, Cassie Krieger, and one-time USCAA Player of the Week, Erin Murphy, who average 10.2 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. Krieger is another key contributor at the line for Ave Maria, making 83.6 percent of her attempts (No. 4 in USCAA).

Inside the Eagles Nest

Last Time Out: Robert Morris University-Springfield concluded their regular season with an 89-64 victory over Crowley's Ridge College on Saturday, February 22nd.

The Eagles earned its way into the tournament by way of a 14-8 record that saw them end the season on a five-game winning streak, earning their third consecutive berth to the dance. Robert Morris is looking to win its first USCAA Tournament game under the tutelege of second-year head coach Brad Harmon. The Eagles bring to the tournament an experienced team with their being ten upperclassmen on the roster.

The No. 1 scorer in the USCAA, Cassandra Baker, paces the Eagles on the offensive end with 19.1 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting. The senior also averages 8.5 caroms and 3.6 steals per game (No. 2 in USCAA).

Also averaging double figures are junior Marquichea Burns who puts up 12.6 points per game and leads the team with 9.6 rebounds per game. Senior Traci Osby adds 10.6 points per game and 5.2 boards per game primarily off the bench. Junior point guard Stephanie House chips in 8.6 points per game and ranks first on the team with 3.9 assists per game.

Cat Facts

Last Time Out: University of Maine-Fort Kent finished off the regular season with a 73-59 triumph at home versus Fisher College on February 8th. The Lady Bengals were led by Jenn Colpitts who scored a team-high 20 points.

Maine Fort Kent earns their second consecutive bid to the tournament, finishing the season with a 12-7 mark and wins in each of their last four contests. The Lady Bengals have one of the more efficient offenses in the USCAA shooting 42.8 percent from the field (No. 2 in USCAA) and 35.7 percent (79-of-221) from beyond the arc (No. 3 in USCAA). Maine Fort Kent also has one of the stingiest defenses in the USCAA allowing only 56.3 points per game, while holding a +3.2 rebounding margin.

Senior Jennifer Colpitts leads the team in scoring averaging 13.4 points per game on an efficient 47.2 percent from the field. The guard is also the last person to foul down the stretch as she shoots 83.6 percent at the free throw line (No. 5 in USCAA).

Also scoring in double figures for the Lady Bengals is sophomore Samantha Carapellucci who nets 11.3 points per game on a 49.1 percent connect rate and leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game.

Did You Know?

Current assistant coach Joanna Marciniec was a member of the last St. Joseph's team to go to the USCAA Tournament back in 2010.

Team Comparison

# 7 St. Joseph's College	School	#2 Ave Maria University	#3 Robert Morris University-Springfield	#6 University of Maine-Fort Kent
Lady Bears	Nickname	Lady Gyrenes	Eagles	Lady Bengals
15-11 (4-2)	Record	23-10 (11-5)	14-8	12-7
HVIAC	Conference	The Sun	USCAA	USCAA
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Kelly McNamee (13.0)	Top Pts.	Tamica Mora (12.8)	Cassandra Baker (19.1)	Jennifer Colpitts (13.4)
Samantha Retas (10.7)	Top Reb.	Annie Artise (8.3)	Marquichea Burns (9.6)	Samantha Carapellucci (8.0)
Taylor Raccuglia (3.0)	Top Ast.	Tamica Mora (3.5)	Stephanie House (3.9)	Salinda Chan (3.1)
61.6 (+3.5)	Scoring	74.0 (+10.2)	68.0	66.4 (+10.1)
37.8%	FG %	39.8%	40.1%	42.8%
64.4%	FT %	70.4%	66.5%	68.2%
26.4%	3FG %	33.2%	31.2%	35.7%
46.9 (-0.7)	Rebounds	41.4 (+5.0)	40.3	36.6 (+3.2)
16.0	Assists	16.3	11.9	15.5
18.8 (-2.0)	Turnovers	17.6 (+0.8)	17.9	16.6 (+0.5)
7.3	Steals	9.2	10.5	9.4
7.0	Blocks	2.7	1.9	1.4