Game Time: Fri. Feb. 26, 2016 3:00 pm EST
Place: Salem College
NCAA Series: First series game.
The Mount Mary University basketball team is heading to Salem, N.C. to participate in their first ever NCAA conference tournament. The Blue Angels prepare to face last year's Great South Athletic Conference postseason tournament champions Pine Manor College.
The Gators come from Chestnut Hill, Mass. with a record of 12-13 on the 2015-16 season. With no common opponents, the closest comparison for Blue Angels fans would be Marian University who have a very similar position in the Massey-Ratings. Pine Manor has won nine of their last 10 games, a record of 6-1 in February.
As a fast paced team, the Gators average 71.8 points per game while surrendering 70.1 to their opponents. PMC is shooting 37.1 percent from the field and average 7.0 3-point makes per contest.
That 3-point threat stems from starters Alexis Lee and Sybil Lynch averaging 2.4 and 2.8 3-point makes a game with 18.4 and 12.5 points per game respectively. Lee keeps the offense going with a team high 3.9 assists per game and leads with 2.2 steals per game to cover the other end of the court.
The Blue Angels come into the opening round of the tournament with a 5-14 (0-1) record after getting a late season boost with a 3-4 stint in February.
MMU is averaging 42.2 points per game while allowing an average of 56.5 per game. The cornerstone of the Blue Angels success has been their defense. MMU is second in the GSAC in team blocks with 3.7. Becky Onan (So./Grafton, Wis.) averages 2.9 of those blocks per game. In fact, the third place team in the GSAC in team blocks has 3.0.
Along with Onan, Jess Runge (Jr./Freedom, Wis.) and Ariel Oviedo (Jr./Shawano, Wis.) have been swiping the ball away from opponents averaging 2.9 and 2.3 steals per game respectively. Runge leads the GSAC while Oviedo is fourth in steals.
A win Friday means a trip to the GSAC tournament semifinals on Saturday. The winner of the GSAC tournament will ultimately win an invitation to the National NCAA DIII Women's Basketball tournament. Follow @SalemAthletics on twitter for GSAC tourney updates and check mtmaryathletics.com for post-game box score and reviews.
