Women's Basketball to Host the Pioneer Classic on Thursday and Friday
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Dec. 27, 2011) – C.W. Post and the Pioneer women's basketball team will be playing host to fellow women's teams from the District of Columbia, Franklin Pierce, and UMass-Lowell on Thursday and Friday (Dec. 29-30) for two non-conference games each.
Game action will get underway on Thursday, Dec. 29, as the District of Columbia and Franklin Pierce will go up against each other at 3 p.m., followed by the Pioneer women playing host to the River Hawks of UMass-Lowell. On Friday, Dec. 30, UMass-Lowell will take on the Firebirds of the District of Columbia at 3 p.m. followed by the finale of C.W. Post versus the Ravens of Franklin Pierce at 5 p.m.
The C.W. Post women's basketball team last played on Dec. 18, when the Pioneers defeated Bentley, who was previously undefeated and ranked the number one team in the nation, 85-71. In the game,
Felicia Joyner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) once again led the Pioneer offensive attack with 27 points. She also contributed five rebounds and a like number in the assist column.
Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also reached the 20-point plateau with 21 points to go along with nine rebounds. As a team, the Pioneers generated 12 steals on defense with Marciniak and
Kenyatta Sears (Hampton, Va.) leading the way with three apiece. These 12 steals helped the C.W. Post defense force 20 Bentley turnovers.
With the victory, Coach
Deirdre Moore's team has won back-to-back games and has improved to an overall record of 7-4. Through those 11 games, the Pioneers have scored 73.2 points a game and have held opponents to only 65.5 points a game. On the glass, C.W. Post is outrebounding opponents on an average of 7.5 rebounds a game. The squad has also forced 19.4 opponent turnovers a game behind creating 9.7 steals a game.
Joyner continues to lead the team in minutes played, with 35.5 played per game while also leading the Pioneers in scoring at 18.7 points a game behind a 45.5 shooting percentage. Marciniak leads the team in field goal percentage at a 47.3 percent. She is also close to a season double-double average with 11.9 points per game and 9.7 rebounds a game. Also, through 11 games, Sears has totaled 24 steals to lead C.W. Post.
The first opponent for the Pioneers will be the women's basketball team of UMass-Lowell. The River Hawks are 4-5 overall coming into play on Thursday, with the latest win coming back on Dec. 10 over Franklin Pierce, 77-65. In the game, the River Hawks shot 45.8 percent from the field and connected on 16 of 18 free throw attempts during the second half. UMass-Lowell also forced 24 Franklin Pierce turnovers.
Through the team's first nine games, UMass-Lowell has been outscored on average by opponents with a team average of 61.1 points per game compared to 68.6 scored a game by opposing squads. However, the team does hold a positive average of 3.1 turnovers a game against opponents behind a creation of 9.9 steals a game as a team.
Brianna Wilson has gotten off to a strong start this season, putting together scoring and rebounding averages of 12.3 and 5.0 respectively. Sha'nay Bushner also is playing well with 11.6 points a game and 6.9 rebounds a game to go along with a total of 24 steals in nine games. Bianace Simmons has only played in four games thus far, however, is currently leading the team in scoring average with 13.5 points a game.
One team featured in the opening game on Thursday comes from the ECC in the District of Columbia Firebirds. The District of Columbia women's basketball team is off to an 8-1 start and won the latest matchup on Dec. 14 against St. Augustine, 74-63. In the game, Jamilia Bonner recorded a double-double with 24 points and 10 boards. As a team, the Fireboards held a 46-37 advantage on the glass while forcing 26 turnovers and generating 14 steals.
The Firebirds have been outscoring opponents on average of 11.3 points per game while averaging 73.6 points per game on offense. The team is almost even on rebounding, having opponents on average outrebound the team by a slim margin of 1.1 boards a game. The District of Columbia also uses 14.1 steals per game to help create 25.9 opponent turnovers a game.
Bonner is currently the leading scorer on the team, putting up an average of 20.2 points a game while shooting 81.8 percent at the charity stripe. She is also helping on the glass, pulling down 5.7 rebounds a game. Three other athletes are also averaging double-figure scoring. One of those is Dohnay Banice, as she is close to a season double-double with 10.0 points a game and 9.5 rebounds per game. Jasmine Rich has been the main distributor for many of those points, as she is averaging 6.0 assists per game.
Franklin Pierce, who was ranked 19
th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll back on Dec. 13, comes back to action on Thursday after losing the previous three contests. The most recent defeat came at Dowling, 60-48, on Dec. 18. The Ravens managed to shoot only 26.3 percent from the field while compiling 24 turnovers. Jewel White did put in 12 points and 14 assists in the effort and the team held a 38-31 advantage on the glass.
As a team, Franklin Pierce is averaging 66.0 points a game while allowing 64.0 points to opponents. The Ravens are also pulling in 37.1 rebounds a game, which is on average 5.0 per game more than opponents. The team has also taken advantage of trips to the free throw line with an 80.7 shooting percentage from the line.
White leads the team in scoring with 19.6 points a game while shooting 57.1 percent from the field. She is also shooting 83.1 percent from the free throw line and is pulling in 12.9 rebounds per game. Marielle Giroud is also having a solid season, putting together per game averages of 13.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.1 steals.