ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Jan. 26, 2016) – A slip-up last weekend did not prove that costly for the Molloy College women's basketball team in terms of conference standings. The sixth-seeded Lions, however, did lose some hard-earned momentum heading into the latter half of the conference season. Ten games remain with seven contests coming at Quealy Gymnasium for the maroon and white, and the first opponent---Mercy College---is chomping at the bit to avenge an early-season loss with a win on Wednesday (Jan. 27).
The Lowdown on the Lions
Molloy will host Mercy College with a 5-13 record and a 4-6 mark in East Coast Conference play. The Lions will be licking their wounds following a 68-58 loss to the now-No. 3 team in the East Region (according to the latest D2SIDA poll) in Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday (Jan. 23) in Rochester. The maroon and white hung tough with the Redhawks all game; most notably, the team survived an eight-point second quarter to tie the contest at 53-all with 4:31 to play in regulation. Despite the momentum, the hosts ran off a 15-5 run over the final minutes of competition to grab the win at the Voller Athletic Center. Senior guard Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) had 14 points and nine rebounds for Molloy in the loss.
Jackson's 800s
In the Lions' previous contest versus Daemen College on Friday night, senior forward Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) continued an impressive run of contests with a 16-point night against the Wildcats. The other major storyline in the loss to Daemen was that Jackson reached 800 career points with her final point of the night. The senior scored 12 points versus Roberts Wesleyan to push within 188 points of the 1,000 club for a career. With 10 games remaining, it is not completely out of the realm of possibility for Jackson to get to the quadruple-digit plateau. A more realistic goal would be to pass former teammate Nicole Arnone, who totaled 877 points over her four seasons in Rockville Centre.
A Defensive Tale of Two Games
Daemen Offense vs. Molloy Defense:
31-67 (46.3%) FG; 10-24 (41.7%) Three-Point; 52-29 (plus-23) rebounding margin; 19 assists/17 turnovers.
Roberts Wesleyan Offense vs. Molloy Defense:
24-70 (34.3%) FG; 8-23 (34.8%) Three-Point; 48-40 (plus-eight) rebounding margin; 19 assists/3 turnovers.
Back In December…
A dominant performance by Molloy led to a 69-40 win over Mercy College back on Dec. 9 in the Lions' first East Coast Conference game of the season. O'Connor had a team-high 18 points while senior Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) added 16 points. The maroon and white also got an eight-point, six-assist showing from guard Alex Hampton (Baldwin, N.Y.) in the win while holding Mercy under 25% (14-61, 23%) in terms of field goal shooting.
Mavericks' Hoop Dreams
Mercy College (5-11, 2-7 ECC) raced out to a 44-28 lead at halftime of its most recent contest before withstanding a hard charge from Dowling to claim an 84-76 victory on Jan. 20, in a game played at the Westchester County Center. Five Mavericks scored in double-figures with senior center Deasia Goodson (Freeport, N.Y.) torching the Golden Lions for a 30-point, 16-rebound performance to lead the way. Sophomore forward Casey Sullivan (East Lyme, Conn.) hit four threes en route to a 12-point night and freshman forward Cynthia Perez (Middle Village, N.Y.) added 10 points off the bench in the win.
Good Week for Goodson
Goodson was named ECC Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday after her outstanding performance versus the Golden Lions in the win. The SUNYIT transfer totaled her 30 points in a ridiculously effective shooting performance, hitting 13 of 16 field goal attempts for an 81.3% single-game field goal percentage. Goodson had her double-double well before halftime and she also swatted five shots away in the victory; the Freeport native is averaging a double-double with 13.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per contest so far this season. Head Coach Rashidi Aikens has been constantly drawing up plays for his senior forward down low in the blocks, with Goodson taking a team-high 203 field goal attempts and making 96 of them for a 47.3% field goal percentage.
The Bady Bunch
Among the other storylines for this edition of Mercy College women's basketball over the 2015-16 campaign has been the education and play of freshman point guard Chi-la Bady (Valley Stream, N.Y.). Bady's performance against Dowling (19 points, seven assists) could be an indicator of a corner being turned in the guard's young collegiate career. However, the Valley Stream native has had an issue with turnovers through her debut season in Dobbs Ferry as she committed seven giveaways to cancel out her assist totals. With 92 turnovers on the season, Bady is far away tops on the team in a statistic that she does not want to lead the team and/or the conference in. In time, the guard's play will improve; but the Lions may be wise to force her into traps and scenarios where she is forced to make a rushed decision. That could, in fact, lead to more offensive chances for Molloy in the contest.
Conference Playoff Picture
Molloy currently holds the No. 6 seed in the East Coast Conference with a 4-6 record. That said, Bridgeport is lurking behind the Lions with an unusually quirky situation. The Purple Knights have two games in hand over the Lions due to scheduling and a re-scheduled contest with Queens College set for Feb. 1. With Bridgeport at 3-5, the Lions would have to do well to keep pace and keep winning games.
Meanwhile, Mercy sits at 2-7 and will play its tenth game of conference season on Wednesday night. Normally, each team would go through the ten other squads in conference once and then face all the other teams again. But the Mavericks will be playing Bridgeport two times in a span of five days (thanks to Winter Storm Jonas) late next month in a week that could upset the apple cart and truly throw a monkey wrench into Molloy's postseason plans.
