FEBRUARY 21, 2012

MEDIA NOTES

DIRECTIONS TO SCANDLON GYM (GPS Address Included)

KING'S WOMEN HOSTING EASTERN WEDNESDAY IN FREEDOM CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

WILKES-BARRE --  The King's College women's basketball team will begin the next step towards its goal of a Freedom Conference Championship and automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Tournament on Wednesday when the top-seeded Lady Monarchs host fourth-seeded Eastern University at 7:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium.

The winner will face the survivor of the other semi-final pairing between second-seeded Misericordia (15-10/10-4 Freedom) and third-seeded DeSales (15-10/10-4 Freedom) in the Freedom Conference championship game on Saturday.

Tickets have been set by the Middle Atlantic Conferences Office at $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $2 for students with ID while children under age-six will be admitted free.  King's fans are asked to wear RED in support of the Lady Monarchs.

Fans unable to attend can follow the action on WRKC, 88.5 FM.  WRKC will also voice stream its broadcast over the Internet at the following link:  http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html

LiveStats will also be available at the link below:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/wbball/scoreboard.aspx

King's KCTV will also provide a live video webcast over the Internet at the following link:
http://streaming.kings.edu/kcsports

King's enters the matchup with a 20-4 overall record and claimed the top seed in the Freedom Conference with a 13-1 mark. Eastern, meanwhile, ended the regular-season with a 17-8 overall mark as well as a 8-6 conference ledger.  The teams played twice during the regular-season with King's winning both games. The Lady Monarchs captured the first game 70-55 in Scandlon Gym on January 14 before winning a razor-thin 60-56 contest at Eastern on February 1.

King's enters the game having won 14 of its last 15 games. King's had a 13-game win streak snapped last Tuesday when the Lady Monarchs dropped a 68-56 road game at Misericordia. The Lady Monarchs closed out their season Saturday with a 70-61 road win over cross-town rival Wilkes.  King's and Eastern have played eight times with the Lady Monarchs owning a 7-1 advantage. The Eagles last victory over King's was a 55-53 triumph on February 2, 2011 in Scandlon Gymnasium.

The last time King's was the top-seed in the Freedom Conference Tournament was  in 2002-03 when the Lady Monarchs finished 24-4 and reached the NCAA "Sweet 16" under former head coach Bryan Whitten. King's last home game was on February 27, 2008 where the Lady Monarchs lost in the semi-finals to FDU-Florham to 56-47. The Lady Monarchs have since played each of their three post-season tournament games on the road.

King's last playoff win was February 23, 2009 with a 59050 road victory at Misericordia. The Lady Monarchs' last home playoff win was a 83-78 semi-final victory over DeSales on February 21, 2007 in head coach Brian Donoghue's first season. The Lady Monarchs would subsequently lose to Scranton in the Freedom Conference title game in the Lady Royals' last year in the league before fleeing to the newly formed Landmark Conference.

This season's version of King's women' basketball has been successful largely because of its defense. The Lady Monarchs allow just 56.7 points per-game and rank first in the conference in holding opponents to 35.2 percent shooting from the field. King's also ranked second in the conference with 92 blocked shots. Offensively, King's stands fourth in the league in scoring with 64.8 points per-game. In addition, King's has gone 11-0 in home games this season.


Junior guard Celia Rader contributes 9.0 points and 2.7 rebounds with a team-high 40 three-pointers. Freshman center Marissa Manning has tallied 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds with a team-high 34 blocks. Junior forward Lindsay Atchison has posted 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds and 16 three-pointers while senior guard Brittany Muscatell chips in with 4.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists.

Eastern is making its first-ever Freedom Conference appearance since joining the Middle Atlantic Conferences in 2008-09. The Eagles have made a great deal of progress the last three years after going 14-33 overall and 3-27 in their first two seasons as a Freedom Conference member.  A year ago Eastern improved to 16-9 overall and 8-6 in league play prior to making a one-game improvement and earning a post-season berth this season.

Eastern is led by its outstanding freshman center, 6-foot Meghan Nowak who is a legitimate candidate for Freedom Conference "Player of the Year" honors.  Nowak  leads the league in scoring with 21.0 points per-game  while standing second with 9.4 rebounds each contest. Nowak has connected on 54.5 (192-352) percent of her shots and has scored a whopping 525 points on the year.

Senior forward Bekah Roland has also been a major contributor, tallying 13.2 points and 7.4 rebounds while Katie Lincoln has contributed 9.0 points, 5.0 boards, and 4.4 assists with 38 three-pointers. Kaleigh Boreman has posted 6.0 points and 3.1 rebounds with 32 three-pointers while Kaitlyn Dougherty chips in with 5.2 points.

The Eagles enter the post-season having dropped four of its last six games, including a 78-66 loss to DeSales in the team's regular-season final on Saturday. Eastern is 7-5 in road games this year while going 9-3 at home.

Should King's emerge victorious, the Lady Monarchs would host the winner of the Misericordia-DeSales matchup Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium. If Eastern wins, the Eagles would travel to face the Misericordia-DeSales winner at a time to be determined.