Molloy University Athletics

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Dec. 30, 2015) – It's been an up-and-down end to 2015 for the Molloy College women's basketball team, with two close but tough losses coming in Albany before the Christmas break. The Lions, though disheartened, have had a long respite to recover and assume a state of readiness for the upcoming East Coast Conference slate in 2016. There is just one further obstacle to go for the maroon and white in the form of the Caldwell University Cougars, the final non-conference opponent and the team that will come to Rockville Centre on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31) for a 12 p.m. contest in Quealy Gymnasium.

The Lowdown on the Lions
Molloy finds itself with a 2-8 record through the first ten contests of the season, its last matchup being a tale of two halves versus Franklin Pierce University in Albany back on Dec. 20. The Lions led 38-33 at the halftime break but were outscored by the Ravens 42-33 over the final 20 minutes of action, leading to a tough 75-71 loss. Pacing the maroon and white were seniors Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) and Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.), each of whom had a team-high 13 points while fellow senior Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) added 12. Junior guard Aliyah McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.) had nine points, ten rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the losing effort as well.

Game of Steals
One of the more glaringly positive team statistics favoring the maroon and white this season has come from the quality of defensive effort that the Lions are giving each time on the floor. Currently, Molloy is averaging 10.3 steals per game and overwhelming their opponents in that category (103-68). Give credit where credit is due: an astronomically positive steals margin coupled with a turnover margin (174-184) favoring the maroon and white is an indication of solid fundamentals in defending the basket, which is why Molloy has yielded just 62.3 points per game thus far.

Crashing Glass
The Lions will give up a majority of height to their opponents over the course of the season, which does allow for a wide rebounding disparity against foes. It is also defensively where the maroon and white are being burned on the blocks. In the 389 chances thus far for opponents on the offensive glass against Molloy, the Lions have yielded a second-chance effort 124 times, or a 32% rating. That means that almost one-third of the time that the Lions are on defense, the opposition will get more than one crack per possession at scoring points. Counter that argument with how Molloy does on offense: 381 chances, 87 offensive rebounds. Turning this statistic around plus selecting better shots on the court could be a key to whether Molloy makes a run to the East Coast Conference playoffs or not.

Leading the Region
Say one thing about Molloy's offense: this team will shoot three-pointers and has the fortune of making them more often than not. It's rare that a 2-8 team will find itself inside the top-20 of a major shooting statistic across the nation. What's even stranger, though, is that Molloy's 38% efficiency from three-point range is the best in the East Region thus far. To top it all off, the Lions are shooting the ball with the same efficiency as one of the top programs in Division II (Alaska-Anchorage).

Calling on Caldwell
Putting aside the most recent win for the Cougars which came against NAIA Washington Adventist University, Caldwell's 7-5 record is a mixture of highs and lows. The Cougars' lone loss in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play came back on Dec. 5, when they were walloped in Orangeburg by Dominican College of New York, 87-51. The team's most recent game versus an NCAA Division II foe was a four-point loss on Dec. 17 at Southern Connecticut.  In the loss to the Owls, sophomore forward Karlie O'Driscoll (Sharon, Mass.) was magnificent, shooting 11-for-17 and totaling a game-high 23 points while pulling down seven rebounds.

Danella's Career Off To Flying Start
Caldwell Head Coach Kristina Danella is no stranger to success, as her time on the collegiate hardwood has shown.  The former UMass product finished her career with the Red Foxes of Marist College, attending two NCAA Division I Tournaments while leading the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in three-point shooting (41%) in her senior year and finishing inside the top-12 in the nation with an 88.7% free throw percentage. From there, the Red Bank Catholic High School star became an assistant coach and later head coach at Urbana University, where she led the team to an 18-10 record (the most for the Blue Knights since the 1998-99 season). Last year, Danella won 19 games for the Cougars and sported a 15-4 record in conference action as the No. 1 seed in the CACC's North Division. Did we also mention that Danella graduated from Marist in May of 2013?

Citius, Altius, Fortius
The Latin motto for the Olympic Games, meaning "Faster, Higher, Stronger," could also be an indicator in how Caldwell has run offensively since Danella took the helm as the Cougars' head coach. In the year prior to Danella's ascension to the leadership role, the Cougars averaged 69.7 points per game for Linda Cimino in the 2013-14 season. Last year's Cougars squad averaged nearly 78 points per contest, and so far this season the team has averaged around 73 points per game. So what has changed for the Cougars? Shots seem to be falling down a little more for the Cougars this year (42% field goal percentage) and the team is committing less turnovers, holding a plus-4.6 margin in that statistic. It's the time-honored and age-old philosophy of basketball in making good shots count and forcing your opponents to cough up the rock.