ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Jan. 20, 2016) – Joe Namath once said, "When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things." In the past week, the Molloy College women's basketball team built enough confidence to ride a wave of momentum to victories over Bridgeport and Dowling. Keeping the two-game winning streak alive and increasing it to three will be critical for Molloy to achieve success; doing just that inside Lumsden Gymnasium against a struggling Daemen College club on Friday (Jan. 22) may not be as easy as it seems.
The Lowdown on the Lions
What guided Molloy to a 66-51 victory over Dowling on Saturday (Jan. 16) was a slew of categories that tipped the scales in favor of the Lions. As a team, the maroon and white shot 49% (25-51) from the field and 35% (10-29) from three-point range; Dowling was held to a field goal percentage of 29.8% (17-57) and a three-point clip of 14% (3-21). The Lions out-rebounded their opponents by a plus-six margin of 37-31. What also helped was the dynamic scoring of seniors Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) as Jackson finished with a game-high 19 points while O'Connor added 15 of her own.
Lucky No. 17
One of the major keys to success (as pointed out by Head Coach Joe Pellicane) for the Lions this season would be how well the team distributed the basketball. The benchmark that was set before the year began was that if Molloy racked up 17 assists in a game, then the victory would come with that total. So far, Pellicane's words have turned out to be rather prophetic: In games where the Lions have 17 or more assists, Molloy is 3-0. This includes Saturday's win against Dowling, in which the maroon and white contributed a season-high 18 team assists in the victory. Keeping the pace of play moving and utilizing that extra pass may take more time off of the clock, but it could also be the difference between an easy lay-up and a contested jumper outside the paint.
Leftridge Likes To Shoot
Senior forward Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) is---in terms of points per game average---the team's go-to option on any given night. That said, Leftridge has taken plenty of shot attempts this season with a decent success rate. In fact, only NYIT forward Dina Ragab has taken more field goal attempts than Leftridge's 242 tries this season; the Melville native for Molloy has a 40.1% (97-242) rate of success when it comes to shooting field goals this year. As the prime option for shooting, Leftridge is the player who takes the brunt of the attempts and she may not make every single one she shoots; but without her senior leadership and confidence in her shot, it is safe to say that Molloy would not be the same team and would not be in the position that it is currently in.
Daemen Doesn't Back Down
The sledding has not been easy for the Daemen College women's basketball team. Whereas the men's basketball team has had a wide range of success as previously documented, the women's team has had its share of moments including winning the 2013 and 2015 USCAA National Championship titles. That said, the transition to Division II of the NCAA has not been as kind to the Lady Wildcats, with an 8-12 record in ECC play last season and a 1-7 start to conference competition this year.
Streaky Shooters
The Wildcats' Northern Boulevard excursion is a perfect example of how a team can be hot or cold on any given night. In a 76-68 win at LIU Post on Jan. 15, the Wildcats shot 46% as a team from the field and hit 10-of-27 (37%) of its three-point attempts. Sophomore guard Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y.) scored 26 points in the win while junior forward Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y.) poured in a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Two days later, the Wildcats were blown out by NYIT in a 76-48 loss to the conference-leading Bears. Saba continued to play well with 18 points, but Galus went 0-for-7 from the field and did not score in the loss. Seniors Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y.) and Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.), who had scored double figures in the team's win over LIU Post, were held to four and five points respectively. The Wildcats were not successful from the field (16-56, 28.6%) or from three-point range (6-27, 22.2%) in the defeat at NYIT.
Starting Lineup Similarities
Going into Friday night's contest, eight things are more than likely already set in stone. Those eight things would be eight of the starters---four from each side---in the contest. The Lions have played in 16 games with Leftridge, Jackson, O'Connor and freshman point guard Ihnacinse Grady (Amityville, N.Y.) starting every contest thus far. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have played in fourteen games with Saba, Stilwell, Galus and Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) earning the start in all contests. With a level of consistency amongst both teams, the question will be which role player will step up and tip the scales in the favor of their respective squads.
Conference Playoff Picture
With two big wins last week, the maroon and white brought themselves into a tie with Saint Thomas Aquinas for fifth place in the ECC standings at 4-4. Keeping that edge will be critical, but what helps the Lions and could prove to be a major factor is holding tiebreaker scenarios over all the teams below them in the standings (i.e. Bridgeport, Dowling, LIU Post and Mercy). A win over Daemen will give Molloy a 5-4 record and wins over all the teams currently below them in the conference standings; this could prove to be a crucial determinant to whether or not Molloy will play hoops in March.
