PSAC Women's Basketball Athletes of the Week/Weekly Report - 8
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Lock Haven, Pa. - West Chester's Alex Lennon earns her first PSAC East Athlete of the Week award of the season and is the second different Golden Ram to earn the honor this year while Mercyhurst's Nikki Frederickson claims the West Athlete of the Week award for the second straight week on the heels of another strong shooting performance.
Millersville's Carley Gallagher returned following an extended absence to hit the game-winning shot for the Marauders on Saturday and she is the PSAC East Freshman of the Week. Clarion's Hannah Heeter, a two-sport student-athlete who is a sophomore on the Golden Eagle volleyball squad, earns her first West Freshman of the Week honor. Heeter, a redshirt freshman on the hardwood, averaged a double-double last week.
PSAC East Athlete of the Week
Alex Lennon, West Chester
Junior, Forward
Lansdowne, Pa./The Shipley School
Lennon averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks while making 52.4 percent of her shots from the floor (11-for-21) and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line to lead the way in West Chester's 1-1 week. In a loss to No. 24 IUP, Lennon posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She followed that up the next day with a career-high 22 points and eight rebounds in West Chester's 89-66 win at California, which marked the first win for the Rams over the Vulcans since the 2000-01 season and their first-ever win over Cal on the road.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Carly Gallagher, Millersville
Freshman, Guard
East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg South
After playing in her first collegiate game in Millersville's first game of the season and then missing the next nine games due to injury, Gallagher returned to the Marauder lineup this past weekend and made her presence known. She averaged 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds and most importantly, made the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to help Millersville hand No. 24 IUP its first loss of the season on Saturday. With the score tied, Gallagher drained a 26-footer at the horn to give Millersville the win. For the game, she scored a career-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range. On Friday, Gallagher, who is the younger sister of 2011 PSAC East Athlete of the Year Kelsey Gallagher of Bloomsburg, came off the bench to scored 16 points as the Marauders lost to California in overtime.
PSAC West Athlete of the Week
Nikki Frederickson, Mercyhurst
Senior, Guard
Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown
Frederickson continued her hot shooting from the floor as she made 67 percent of her shots (12-for-18), including just her second three-pointer of the season, as well as a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line, to help Mercyhurst to wins over Shippensburg and Cheyney. She averaged 14.0 points and 9.5 rebounds. Frederickson had seven points and 12 rebounds in a 42-40 win over Shippensburg on Friday and then scored a team-high 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go along with seven boards, three assists and two steals in just 21 minutes of action in Saturday's win over Cheyney.
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Hannah Heeter, Clarion
Freshman, Forward
Seneca, Pa./Cranberry
Heeter averaged a double-double with 13.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in Clarion's 1-1 week. She made 13-of-23 shots (56.5 percent) and also contributed 2.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game. In a win over Mansfield on Friday, Heeter notched her first career double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. She then just missed her second straight double-double performance as she went for 12 points and nine rebounds in a narrow loss to Bloomsburg on Saturday. Heeter, a two-sport student-athlete who during the fall was named the PSAC Champion Scholar Award winner at the PSAC volleyball championship, also contributed a pair of assists and three steals in each game.
Team Notes
Bloomsburg
Junior Dana Wieller became Bloomsburg's all-time leader in career made three-pointers when she hit her first shot against Clarion. She now has 208 for her career breaking the mark of 207 by former BU great Michelle Albanese ... Wieller moved past Kim Stamm into 13th place on the school's all-time scoring list. She needs just 13 points to go ahead of Christie Berry for 12th and 24 to surpass Jen Bryan for 11 on the school's all-time list ... Kelsey Gallagher just narrowly missed out on breaking the three-point record. Gallagher hit seven three's on the weekend and ended the weekend with 206 made three's ... The Huskies find themselves in a three-way tie atop the PSAC East Division at the conclusion of crossover action. Bloomsburg hits the road for its first PSAC East game of the year on Wednesday at Shippensburg.
California
Cal U took a split in the final weekend of PSAC Crossover play while playing its first home games in over a month (Dec. 4) … The weekend marked the first home games under interim head coach Jess Strom, who now holds a 5-1 mark since taking the position … The Vulcans posted an 86-69 overtime win over Millersville on Friday after tying the game with 0.07 seconds remaining in regulation … The victory snapped a three-game losing streak in overtime and was the first overtime win for Cal U since February 2007 … Senior F Amy Johns has posted a double-double in three-straight games and now has 10 in her career … Johns enters the week with 978 career points in only three seasons and is on pace to become the 24th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone
Cheyney
The Lady Wolves are still looking for their first victory of the season … Cheyney dropped the final two crossover contests of the season to Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock … Prior to this weekends contests the Lady Wolves had not played for three weeks … Nadirah Brown continues to lead Cheyney in both scoring and rebounding.
Clarion
Freshman Hannah Heeter continues to play well and averaged a double-double for the week with 13.7 ppg, 10.0 rpg and recorded her first career double-double with 15 points, 15 rebounds in a win over Mansfield Saturday ... Clarion is 4-1 on the season when leading at halftime ... Raven Jones had a career-high 10 assists Saturday vs. Bloomsburg while Ann Deibert had a career-best 23 points and Emma Fickel tied a career-high with six three-pointers giving her 10 in her last two games. It was the first time this year and the third time in her career Fickel has drained six treys ... Clarion has shot 50 percent or better in three straight games ... In the win over Mansfield Friday, Clarion had fewer turnovers than the Mountaineers, the first time on the year the Golden Egales had fewer giveaways than an opponent.
East Stroudsburg
ESU enters PSAC divisional play at 5-7 (2-6 PSAC) after matching last season's total of five wins with a 60-59 win at Lock Haven on Friday … So. G Andrea Veres had three-point play with 14.5 seconds left for go-ahead points … Fr. F Jessica Martin scored career-high 19 points at LHU and had 14 points and 9 rebounds in 70-50 loss at #7 Edinboro on Saturday … Martin's 30 blocked shots are already second-most by a freshman in ESU history … Has 2+ blocks in 10 of first 12 games … Jr. F Fayola Moise had 9 points and career-high 15 rebounds at Lock Haven … Sr. G Cyara Woodridge, last week's PSAC East Player of the Week, had 11 points and 7 boards … Fr. F Kelsey Murray, the daughter of ESU four-time All-PSAC linebacker and 1988 NFL draft pick Dan Murray, was ESU's second-leading scorer this week with 7.5 ppg … ESU hosts Mansfield and Kutztown to open PSAC East schedule this week.
Edinboro
The No. 7 Fighting Scots remained perfect with a pair of PSAC crossover victories over the weekend against Kutztown and East Stroudsburg ... Junior guard Kiara Brown led the way with 15 points and a career-high eight assists in 70-50 win against ESU ... Senior guard Raven Metz poured in 16 points with six assists and two steals against Kutztown ... With the victory over Kutztown, Edinboro broke the school record for consecutive wins to start a season, surpassing the 10 by the 1972-73 team ... The Fighting Scots received one first place vote in this week's WBCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
Gannon
The Gannon women’s basketball team finished PSAC crossover play with a perfect 8-0 record after wins against Bloomsburg (63-53) and Mansfield (72-46) … The Lady Knights managed to beat the Huskies at their own game as the Lady Knights out-shot Bloomsburg from long range thanks to Caitlyn Lowe … The senior was 5-of-8 from three-point range, adding a team-high 17 points … Sophomore Jen Papich averaged 16.0 points during the weekend while also dishing out a team-high nine assists … The Lady Knights open PSAC West play against the only other team (men’s or women’s) to finish crossover play with an 8-0 record, Edinboro on Wednesday, December 11.
IUP
The 24th-ranked Crimson Hawks dropped their first game of the season on Saturday, a heart-breaking 58-55 home loss to Millersville a day after an impressive 61-42 home win over West Chester … The loss came on a three-pointer at the buzzer, capping off a defensive struggle that saw both teams combine for 44 turnovers and a 32.7 field goal percentage … On Friday night IUP held the lead for all but the game’s first 1:29, going up by as many as 22 en route to the 19-point win … Jr. F Sarah Pastorek led the way with 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals as the Crimson Hawks outrebounded West Chester 52-38 and forced the Golden Rams to shoot 24.1 percent from the floor … IUP hosts rival Cal on Wednesday and travels to Clarion on Saturday.
Kutztown
Kutztown dropped its final two crossover contests, falling on the road to Edinboro and Lock Haven ... Andrea Sisson was 7-of-10 from three-point range in the two contests, including 4-of-4 against Edinboro ... Freshman Nicole Donahue had just 10 points all season before pouring in a career-high eight at Lock Haven ... Steph Zewe notched a double-double against LHU with 13 points and 14 rebounds ... Ashley Wood had six assists againt the Fighting Scots and 18 points vs. the Bald Eagles.
Lock Haven
Saturday night’s win over Kutztown snapped a five-game losing streak for the Lock Haven University women’s basketball team … The Lady Eagles went 1-1 last week and are 5-6 on the year (4-4 PSAC) … Senior Peaches Nesmith leads the team in scoring with 16.5 points per game … Fellow senior Sharay Hall is scoring 12.5 points per game. Hall is coming off a career-high 22 points in the Friday loss to East Stroudsburg. She added 14 in the win over Kutztown.
Mansfield
The Mountaineers dropped games against Clarion and Gannon to fall to 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the PSAC ... Junior Julia Stevenson and freshman Marrysa Moyer each recorded double-double against Clarion while senior Mallory Moore scored a game-high 16 points ... Stevenson led Mansfield in scoring with 14 points while bringing down seven rebounds in a loss to a tough Gannon squad ... The Mounties open PSAC East play when they travel to East Stroudsburg University Wednesday before hosting Shippensburg on Saturday.
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst continued its hot play, improving to 7-1 in its last eight games after two crossover wins last weekend ... The Lakers posted the lowest-scoring win in school history with a 42-40 triumph over Shippensburg January 6 ... Hurst held the Raiders to 25 percent shooting from the field in the victory ... No Laker scored more than eight points, the first time in at least 15 seasons that Mercyhurst won without a double-digit scorer ... The next day against Cheyney, Hurst defeated Cheyney, 63-35 ... The 35 points are the fewest allowed by a Laker defense since the 1999-2000 season, they beat Columbia Union, 105-29 ... Nikki Frederickson hit 9-11 shots for 21 points in 21 minutes ... Mercyhurst is 6-0 at home this season and has a nine-game home winning streak dating back to last season.
Millersville
The Millersville women’s basketball team played its best first half of the season against California (Pa.) scoring 40 points for a 40-30 half-time lead … Foul shouts showed to be devastating for the Marauders as they made just 12-29 and eventually fell in overtime … In a day’s time, Millersville regrouped and upset the previously undefeated No. 24 Crimson Hawks of IUP … The Marauders improved on the foul line thanks to a 14-of-16 performance by Aurielle Mosley … The story for Millersville over the weekend was the return of redshirt freshman Carly Gallagher, who missed the last nine games heading into the weekend after starting in Millersville’s first game of the season … She has given Millersville’s offense another threat contributing the second most point on the team over the weekend, including the buzzer beater that gave Millersville the upset win over IUP.
Shippensburg.
SU ended its losing streak with a victory over Slippery Rock, 61-47, by finishing the game on a 21-7 run ... Sophomore Sarah Strybuc finished one short of her career high with 18 points against The Rock and hit seven three-pointers this weekend ... Junior guard Dana Wert added 20 points against The Rock and was 15-of-19 from the FT line over the weekend... She and sister Shawna Wert continue to be among the league's best free-throw shooters ... Junior forward Caitlin Bamberger totaled 20 rebounds in two games this weekend.
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock had a three-game winning streak snapped Saturday against Shippensburg after SRU struggled down the stretch, being outscored 21-7 in the final 7:54 after the game was tied at 40-40 ... The Rock picked up its first conference win Friday over Cheyney ... SRU is led by Danielle Smith with averages of 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, while Jasmine Cooper adds 13.2 ppg and 8.8 reb/game ... D'Asia Chambers (10.2 ppg) and Erinne Cunningham (10.0 ppg) round out the top scorers.
West Chester
West Chester split its two league contests on the final weekend of crossover action ... The Golden Rams fell to No. 24 IUP, 61-42, before beating Cal, 89-66 ... The win at Cal ended a 14-game losing streak to the Vulcans for WCU ... It also marked the first time the Rams beat Cal on its home floor in 10 tries ... West Chester hadn't beaten Cal since the 2000-01 campaign and had never beaten them in Cal, Pa. ... Sr. G, Allison Hostetter became the 16th player in WCU history to eclipse 1,000 career points ... She finished with 22 points, including 16 in the first half ... Her 1,000th point came exactly one week after she recorded her 600th career rebound during the Carol Eckman Memorial Classic ... Hostetter has 285 career assists and is just 15 assists shy of becoming just the second player in school history to reach 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 300 assists.
Previous 2011-12 Athletes of the Week
1/4 - East Athlete: Cyara Woodridge, East Stroudsburg
East Freshman: Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
West Athlete: Nikki Frederickson, Mercyhurst
West Freshman: D'Asia Chambers, Slippery Rock
12/20 - East Athlete: Mallory Moore, Mansfield
East Freshman: Marla Simmons, Bloomsburg
West Athlete: Amy Johns, California
West Freshman: Nettie Blake, Gannon
12/12 - East Athlete: Allison Hostetter, West Chester
East Freshman: Marrysa Moyer, Mansfield
West Athlete: Samantha Blazetic, Edinboro
West Freshman: Chelsea McKnight, California
12/5 - East Athlete: Allison Hostetter, West Chester
East Freshman: Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
West Co-Athletes: Jennifer Papich, Gannon & Peaches Nesmith, Lock Haven
West Freshman: Marita Mathe, IUP
11/28 - East Athlete: Aurielle Mosley, Millersville
East Freshman: Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
West Athlete: Darche Jackson, Edinboro
West Freshman: No Nominations
11/21 - East Athlete: Mashira Newman, Millersville
East Freshman: Marla Simmons, Bloomsburg
West Athlete: Kiara Brown, Edinboro
West Freshman: Candice Hendricks, Gannon
11/14 - East Athlete: Monae Baker, Shippensburg
East Freshman: No Nominations
West Athlete: Amy Johns, California
West Freshman: Lindsay Stamp, Mercyhurst