LADY MONARCHS BACK IN FREEDOM CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT WEDNESDAY AT DESALES, VIEW LIVESTATS/VIDEO
CENTER VALLEY, PA – The King's College women's basketball team returns to Freedom Conference postseason play after a one-year hiatus when the #3 seed Lady Monarchs travel to #2 seed DeSales University Wednesday for a semifinal matchup at 6:00 p.m. in Billera Hall.
King's (16-9, 10-4 Freedom) finished the regular season in a three-way tie for first place with both DeSales and Manhattanville. Following the tiebreaker scenarios, King's found themselves as the three seed while three-time defending champion DeSales grabbed the second seed and Manhattanville the top spot for the second consecutive year. Manhattanville will host Misericordia in the other semifinal game on Wednesday.
Admission for the game will be $6.00 for adults, $4.00 for senior citizens, and $2.00 for students w/ID. All children under the age of six are FREE.
Fans unable to make the trip can follow the game through LiveStats, WRKC 88.5 FM, or by watching the contest online. Links for all three can be found below.
LiveStats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/desales/wbball/index.htm
Radio/Audio by WRKC: http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html
Live Video: http://athletics.desales.edu/sports/2010/11/19/streamingplayer.aspx
The Lady Monarchs are making their 15th trip to the Freedom Conference tournament in the past 16 seasons, including the fifth time in head coach Brian Donoghue's six years at the helm. Since the Freedom post-season became just the Freedom Conference teams in 2000-01, King's has posted a 7-7 record. The Lady Monarchs have won two Conference titles, in 2000-01 and 2002-03.
DeSales owns a 27-22 lead in the all-time series between the two teams, while King's holds a slim 4-3 advantage in games played in the Freedom Conference playoffs. The last playoff meeting came during the 2008-09 season, a 71-45 DeSales win in the opening round in Billera Hall. This year the home team won each game in the season series, as King's took the first game, 62-54 in Scandlon Gymnasium on January 22, while the Bulldogs avenged the loss with a 72-48 win in Billera Hall two week ago. DeSales has won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams.
King's enters the post-season having won two straight and four of their last five contests. The Lady Monarchs were 5-6 on the road during the season and 4-3 in Freedom Conference games away from their home court. Sophomore guard Celia Rader, a second-team All-Freedom selection, leads the King's offense averaging 13.4 points shooting a conference-best 37.0 percent (60-162) from behind the arc. Junior forward Paige Carlin follows with 10.6 points and 4.6 rebounds. Sophomore guard Katlin Michaels adds 9.2 points and 4.9 rebounds, while junior point-guard Brittany Muscatell runs the offense averaging 7.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. Sophomore forward Lindsay Atchison posts 7.5 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds. King's averages 65.9 points per-game (2nd in Freedom), while allowing 61.9 points each contest.
DeSales (17-8, 10-4 Freedom) enters the extra season having won three straight and seven of its last eight games. The Bulldogs stand 12-2 on the year at home and were unbeaten (7-0) at home in Freedom Conference games. Senior guard Lori Lidlow, a first-team All-Freedom choice, leads the team in scoring at 16.9 points per-game (4th in Freedom) and adds 2.6 assists. Freshman guard Sondrine Glovas, the conference's Rookie of the Year, follows with 10.4 points. Cherelle Simmons, an All-Freedom second-teamer, adds 8.8 points and leads the league in rebounding at 10.0 boards. The Bulldogs average 64.8 points per-game, while allowing the second fewest points in the conference at 54.5 points each tilt.
Winner of the semi-final contest earns a spot in the Freedom Conference Championship game on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.
Lady Monarch Notes:
King's has had great balance in 2010-11 as seven different players have led the team in scoring in at least one game this season:
Celia Rader (11)
Paige Carlin (6)
Katlin Michaels (4)
Brittany Muscatell (4)
Lindsay Atchison (1)
Samantha Simcox (1)
Molly Dahl (1)
This will be King's 15th conference tournament berth in the last 16 years after the Lady Monarchs missed the post-season a year ago for the first time since the 1993-94 season.
It is also King's fifth Freedom Conference tournament berth during head coach Brian Donoghue's six-year career with the Lady Monarchs.
Since the realignment into the current Freedom Conference Tournament set-up in 2000-01, King's has gone 7-7 in all Freedom Conference Tournament Games from 2001-10.
King's has gone 3-9 against DeSales in all games from 2006-07 through 2010-11.
The Lady Monarchs have won just one of the last eight games against DeSales.
King's vs. DeSales last five seasons:
1-1 in 2010-11
0-2 in 2009-10
0-3 in 2008-09
0-2 in 2007-08
2-1 in 2006-07
King's vs. DeSales Post Season: King's leads 4-3 in conference tournament games and is 5-3 in all post-season tournament games. King's leads 4-2 since MAC split into separate Freedom/Commonwealth Conference Tournament games beginning with the 2000-01 season.
King's vs. DeSales in MAC/Freedom Conference Tournament Games:
Loss: 45-49 in 1999-2000 (MAC overall championship)
Win: 72-65 OT2 in 2000-01 (championship game)*
Win: 66-56 in 2002-03 (championship game)
Win: 58-41 in 2003-04 (semi-finals)
Loss: 41-47 in 2004-05 (semi-finals)
Win: 83-78 in 2006-07 (semi-finals)
Loss: 45-71 in 2008-09 (championship)
*First year of separate MAC Freedom /Commonwealth Conference Tournaments
King's vs. DeSales NCAA National Tournament Meetings
Win: 62-54 in 1999-2000 NCAA Tournament Rd.2
