Game Notes

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

LADY MONARCHS TO FACE SCRANTON AND MARYWOOD AT WILKES THIS WEEKEND

WILKES-BARRE, PA --- The King's College women's basketball team will be back in action this weekend when they will travel down the street to participate in the Second Annual Cross County Challenge at the Marts Center on the campus of Wilkes University on Friday and Saturday.

King's will face nationally-ranked University of Scranton on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. and then on Saturday will take on Marywood University at 2:00 p.m. In last year's inaugural event the Lady Monarchs went 0-2 dropping an 89-52 decision to host Scranton before falling to Marywood 72-70 in overtime.

Ticket prices for the games at Wilkes are set at $5 for Adults, $3 for Seniors, and $2 for students while children under age 6 are free.
For those unable to attend Live Stats and Video are available at the following links:
Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/wilkes/wbball/
Video: http://www.gowilkesu.com/sports/2015/7/31/GEN_0731155646.aspx

King's enters the matchup with Scranton 1-0 after defeating Neumann 70-67 on Wednesday. Rebecca Prociak and Olivia Hoffman recorded double-doubles to lead the way for the Monarchs while Alexis Steeber scored in double-digits. Prociak scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while dishing out two assists and recording three steals. Hoffman recorded 14 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal. Steeber added 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, and one steal.

Lindsey Dippre and Mackenzie Yori had successful debuts for King's after transferring in from Scranton area colleges. Dippre, a Lackawanna transfer, scored eight points including knocking down the big three-pointer that jump started the Lady Monarch run in the third quarter. She also had three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Yori, who will face her former team after transferring from Scranton, had seven points, five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Rachael DeTore also scored seven points for King's while adding three rebounds and three assists.

The University of Scranton begins the season ranked #19 in the D3Hoops.com Poll and #13 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Poll. The Royals have reached the Elite Eight (2015-16) and the Sweet 16 (2016-17) of the NCAA Tournament in head coach Trevor Woodruff's first two seasons but return just four players who saw significant minutes last year. The makeup of the team is also significantly different as there are more guards than forwards on the roster compared to having a strong inside presence over the last couple years led by standouts Alexix Roman and Sarah Payonk.

Junior Bridgette Mann is the top returner for Scranton. Last year she averaged 13.6 points while shooting 35.8 percent from 3-point range. She added 3.5 assists and 0.9 assists per game.  Besides Mann, Scranton has just two other upperclassmen in senior guard Katie Broderick and senior forward Katie Feehery. Broderick averaged 3.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists while Feehery saw just 6.9 minutes per game while averaging 2.5 points and 2.2 rebounds.

Sophomore Emily Sheehan averaged 3.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists last year but is capable of having a big day after scoring a game-high 22 points with six threes in last year's game against King's. The Royal will also look to receive significant contributions from Julia Grantz, a transfer from Bloomsburg, who sat out last year with an injury after being named the PSAC East Freshman of the Year at Bloomsburg. Scranton brought in a freshman class of six who will be making their collegiate debuts.

Marywood University will open their season on Friday night against host Wilkes after the King's and Scranton game. The Pacers return their top four scorers from last year while bringing in a freshman class of seven.

Junior Gab Giordano averaged 12.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season to lead the Pacers. Junior Natasha Hessling returns 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while senior Catie Nealon had 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds. Junior Alyssa Olson added 8.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Also back for Marywood is senior Lisa Steakin who averaged 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds.

The Pacers shot the three a lot last year making 29.2 (127-435) percent of their attempts while scoring 63.9 points per game. King's will look to use their height advantage over the Pacers and enact revenge for last year's heartbreaking 72-70 overtime loss.

Following the weekend, King's will conclude their stretch of four games in seven days with their first game at home in McGrane Gymnasium on Tuesday night against Keystone College at 7:00 p.m.