LADY MONARCH BASKETBALL ON THE ROAD AT FDU-FLORHAM
WILKES-BARRE--- After taking down cross-town rival Wilkes University for the 23rd straight time, the Lady Monarch basketball squad takes to the road as they head to Madison, NJ to face the Devils of FDU-Florham in their second conference match up of the season.
With the win over Wilkes, King's record improved to 2-3 over all and 1-0 in the conference. FDU fell just short in a close 78-72 game with 17th ranked DeSales University, and their record fell to 4-3 and 0-1 in the Freedom conference.
This weekend's game will be a bit of a revenge game, as FDU knocked King's out in the first round of the Freedom Conference playoffs last season. The Devils return all but one player from that playoff group, while the Monarchs look towards a new, young group of players, starting three freshmen in their last game. In the two game series last season, King's won both contests, 58-45 and 73-67.
Ticket prices for the match-up are set at $5 dollars for adults and $3 for students.
The Lady Monarchs are paced by senior guard Kaitlyn Fiorino, who averages 17.6 points per-game while also picking up a team-second best 5.6 rebounds a game. Fiorino is shooting 33.8 percent from the floor, including 34.1 (15-44) percent from beyond the arc. Second in points for King's is junior forward Kaitlyn Malshefski, averaging 10.4 points as well as 5.4 rebounds. One of the three freshmen starters, guard Abby Malloy chips in with 7.2 points a game, and is shooting a team best 83.3 percent from the free-throw line. Sophomore guard Kristen Baumes picks up 6.7 points a game and is hitting 41.2 percent of her shots from the field. The Monarchs will most likely be without sophomore guard Jessica Paettie, who missed the last two games with an injury. While putting up 4.8 points, freshman guard Brittany Muscatell is big down low, grabbing a team-leading 6.2 rebounds a game.
As a team, King's scores 59.4 points a game and allows 62.2 and out-rebound on the offensive glass 85-71.
FDU boasts four players putting up double digits in points. Senior guard Emily Cerankowski leads the team with 18.7 points a game and shoots 40.4 percent from the field. Junior forward Danielle Michlovsky is second on the team with 14.3 points a game on a 49.4 shooting percentage. She also averages a team-best 7.3 rebounds a contest. Junior Courtney Young putts down 11.4 points per-game and has 21 assists on the year, as well as averaging 6.9 rebounds. Rounding out the scoring for the Devils, sophomore forward Shealyn Taggart chips in 10.4 points a game and has a team high 13 blocks for far this season.
As a team, FDU is averaging 66.9 points a game while holding opponents to 61.3, with a point spread of 468-429. . The Devils also out-rebound their opponents 42.3-37.4 a contest.
