Roadtrip to Saint Thomas Aquinas Set for Men's and Women's Basketball on Saturday
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Feb. 9, 2012) – As the regular season winds down, the men's and women's basketball teams will be back on the road for a doubleheader at Saint Thomas Aquinas on Saturday.
The Pioneer women are coming off a solid win over Mercy this past Wednesday in the Pratt Center, 81-59, and have now won three games in a row. Becoming a usual trend, C.W. Post were the winners on the backboards with a 54-37 rebounding advantage while rejecting eight Mercy shots. Shooting well as a team,
Felicia Joyner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) led the way with 18 points.
Samantha Kopp (Franklinville, N.Y.) had an all-around game with 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots, and two steals.
Going into Saturday with a 41.3 shooting percentage as a squad, the Pioneers have scored 73.5 points a game to help push a 8-4 conference record that helps boost a 17-7 overall mark. The team has also outrebounded opponents on average of 8.2 boards a game while also holding teams to 65.3 points a game. The defense has also come up with 9.0 steals a game to go along with 3.3 blocked shots per game.
Kopp comes in as the most efficient shooter on the team with 8.4 points a game accompanied by a 7.3 rebounding average. Joyner continues to be the top scorer with 17.6 points a game as she has knocked down 152 field goals on the season.
Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has been consistent with her averages of 10.1 points and 9.7 rebounds a game while
Catherine Lutz (Easton, Pa.) remains the team's big deep threat to help accumulate 8.7 points a game.
The Saint Thomas Aquinas women's team also enters Saturday on a three-game winning streak, which includes the latest 49-38 win on the road at Dowling on Wednesday to go 12-10 overall this year and a 7-5 conference record. The Spartans were able to hold Dowling to 21.7 percent shooting and forced 23 turnovers behind 12 steals. Bianca Kowigos filled the stat sheet for the team with 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Thus far this season, the Spartans are outscoring opponents on average of 3.8 points a game. The team's defense has also stepped up, coming up with 10.5 steals a game that has helped create an average turnover margin of 3.9 over opponents this season.
Briana Sloper continues to be a threat both inside and out for the Spartans with 17.1 points a game as well as 7.0 boards a game. Her 78.5 free throw percentage has helped accumulate easy points. Kowigos has been doing a little of everything during the season, coming with averages of 7.5 points, 5.0 rebound, 4.2 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Connecting on about 1.2 shots from beyond the arc a game, Shpresa Liharevic has put up 9.8 points a game.
Back on Jan. 7 of this season, C.W. Post came up with a 58-51 win over Saint Thomas Aquinas at home. The game was close throughout the stat sheet, as Marciniak helped lead the Pioneers to a win with a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three block and three steals. Joyner scored 14 while Sloper led all participants with 16 points.
Bouncing back after the first conference loss of the season last Saturday, the Pioneer men went to 16-5 and 10-1 overall after earning a 98-67 victory over Mercy this past Wednesday. As a team, C.W. Post knocked down nine threes and shot an overall 56.7 percent from the field. The defense as also able to come up with 12 steals to help create 18 turnovers. Limited to 24 minutes,
Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) scored a game-high 21 points with
Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) adding 20 points. Helping to create those baskets,
Terry Coleman (Newburgh, N.Y.) came away with nine assists.
After Wednesday, the Pioneers have now scored 85.6 points per game. That average is about 9.6 points a game better than opponents this season. Getting to the free throw line has been a good formula as the team has knocked down 19.1 free throws a game. Also, outrebounding teams by 7.7 boards a game has helped this season's success.
Connecting on 60 shots from long distance this season, Bonneau has pushed his season scoring average to 22.0 points per game. Carberry has continued to be consistent scorer and rebounder with 18.0 points and 6.1 rebounds a game.
Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) has shot 53.4 percent from the field to help generate a 15.5 point per game average to go with a team-leading 9.2 rebounds a game. Around the defensive rim,
Charles McCann (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) has totaled 29 blocks this season.
Coming off a tough 52-48 loss this past Wednesday against Dowling, the men's team from Saint Thomas Aquinas dropped to 8-13 and 4-8 inside the ECC. The Spartans only managed a 35.3 shooting percentage while Dowling shot 46.7 percent. Omar Kellman went for 16 points and eight rebounds in the win with Irin Stark knocking down two shots from three to help total 10 points.
Despite shooting 42.1 percent from the field, the Spartans have been outscored on average of 3.2 points per game against opponents. The team has been posting some strong defense in the low post with 3.5 blocks per game.
Justin Brown enters Saturday with the team lead in scoring with 15.1 points per game along with 5.3 boards per game. Kellman enters as one of the more efficient shooters in the conference with a 58.0 percent to account for 10.7 points a game while he is also hauling in 6.5 rebounds a game to lead the Spartans.
Earlier this season, the Pioneers came away with a 66-58 home victory over the Spartans on Jan. 7. C.W. Post used a 19-24 showing from the free throw line to help create separation and also only gave up eight turnovers while forcing 15 on the Spartans' end. Allen led with a 15 point and 11 rebound double-double. Kellman and Brown each tallied 12 points and five rebounds for the Spartans.
Both games are scheduled to take place on the Spartans' home court in Sparkill, N.Y. on Saturday. The women will tip-off at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3 p.m.