ALBANY, N.Y. (Dec. 19, 2015) - Less than 24 hours removed from a difficult loss to the hosts on Saturday (Dec. 19), the Molloy College women's basketball team will look to right the wrongs and finally get a win against a Northeast-10 institution this season. The Lions will have that chance on Sunday (Dec. 20) when the maroon and white plays Franklin Pierce in the second and final day of the Saint Rose Holiday Classic at Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.
The Lowdown on the LionsSeniors
Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) and
Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) evenly split a combined 38 points for Molloy in Saturday's 59-57 loss to the Golden Knights of Saint Rose. The Lions went into the halftime break down by 13 but chipped away and got to within one point of the lead late in the fourth quarter, but six missed free throws in the final three-and-a-half minutes doomed the maroon and white to its seventh loss on the season. In the entire game, Molloy shot 41.7% (5-12) from the free throw line, while hitting 35% (23-65) of its field goals.
McDonald Passes First Start of SeasonDue to extemporaneous circumstances, usual "sixth man"
Aliyah McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.) earned her first start of the season on Saturday. The start culminated in both positives and negatives for the junior guard: McDonald had four points, five rebounds, two steals and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss. However, the Hempstead native shot just 1-for-8 from the field in the second half and also had four fouls and five turnovers. If McDonald wants to keep seeing her name in the starting lineup for Molloy this season, it will take more good than bad in her gameplay to assure that top-line rotation space.
Turning the Corner?One of the finer points that gets lost in Molloy's loss on Saturday was how the Lions played in the second half of the game. Down 39-26 to the Golden Knights, the maroon and white ended up outscoring Saint Rose by a 31-20 margin over the final two quarters of play. Defensive tenacity and intimidation played a major factor, as the Lions stepped up into a pestering 2-3 zone while also keeping man-to-man coverage an option. This amoeba-like defensive tactic did manage to confuse Saint Rose, as the hosts shot just 8-for-23 (35%) from the field in the final 20 minutes of action. A full-figured, 40-minute effort with the stingy defense that Molloy showed against Saint Rose could be a major key to victory against Franklin Pierce.
Quoth The Raven...Looks can be deceiving when it comes to Franklin Pierce's first nine games of the 2015-16 season. The Ravens are 4-5 and 2-4 in conference play, yet all of their losses have been against teams that were or still are currently ranked in the D2SIDA Women's Basketball East Region Media Poll. This includes defeats suffered at the hands of Bentley, Southern New Hampshire, Stonehill, Assumption and Holy Family. Meanwhile, the Ravens' signature win thus far has been against CACC flagbearer Bloomfield in a 68-66 overtime victory back on Nov. 29. Aside from the win over the Bears, Franklin Pierce has defeated the teams it should have beaten on paper like Saint Michael's, Merrimack and---most recently---Chestnut Hill.
Leedham Coaches, While Leedham Also Breaks RecordsFranklin Pierce Head Coach Jennifer Leedham is a legendary figure in the historical annals of the Ravens' women's basketball program. The fourth-year head coach was an ECAC Champion with the Ravens in 2005-06, then won back-to-back East Region titles with her alma mater in 2008 and 2009. In her swan song game with the Ravens, a 103-94 loss to Minnesota State-Mankato in the 2009 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight, Leedham scored 31 points, had nine assists, four steals and two blocks in a performance that earned her NCAA All-Tournament Team laurels. This would be enough for Leedham, except for the fact that her younger sister Johanna is the all-time leading scorer in the history of NCAA Division II women's basketball with a total of 3,050 total points. Johanna Leedham, who played at Franklin Pierce for her older sister, would later go on to be drafted by the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA and represent her native Great Britain in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Recent ResultsIn the most recent contest between Franklin Pierce and Molloy back on Nov. 13, 2010, the Ravens came away with a 73-61 win in the ECC/NE-10 Challenge at Quealy Gymnasium. Franklin Pierce would go on to have a 7-0 start to its season, which would end with the Ravens going 24-8 and appearing in the NCAA Tournament. In contrast, the season-opening loss for Molloy led to an 8-21 season with an appearance in the East Coast Conference Tournament as well.
