Ladies look for revenge against ESU

What: East Stroudsburg Warriors @ Kutztown Golden Bears
When: Saturday, March 1, 2008 @ 1 p.m.
Where: Keystone Hall on the campus of Kutztown University

When the Kutztown Golden Bears face off with the East Stroudsburg Warriors on Saturday, it will be a meaningless game with both teams’ postseason fates already determined…or will it?

KU will be taking on the team that barely beat them out for this season’s fourth and final PSAC East playoff spot. The Warriors (5-6) beat Mansfield on Wednesday night, which clinched them the fourth seed, thus eliminating the Golden Bears (4-7). KU could try to exact some revenge on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Bears enter the game 11-15 overall this season and will miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season. KU is coming off a 72-59 loss at Cheyney (7-5) this past Saturday and has lost five of its last seven games. This will be the team’s season finale.

The Warriors, meanwhile, will be looking to build some momentum for their first round playoff bout with Millersville (11-0). ESU cannot improve it’s standing in the division, but will likely not back down with a tough challenge ahead of them the following Tuesday. The Warriors are coming off Wednesday’s 64-44 shellacking of Mansfield, but have lost six of their last nine games.

The teams first met this season on Feb. 2 with ESU defending its home court by a score of 67-59. Melissa McQuade carried the KU offense with 20 points and 11 boards. ESU had three scorers reach double-digits, with Kristen Murray scoring 17, Jackie Yandrisevits notching 15, and Monika Fogelsanger dropping 11.

Probable Starters:

East Stroudsburg:
F- # 45 – Monika Fogelsanger
G- #11 – Keri Cahill
G- #20 – Mel Villano
G- # 32 – DeAnna Rayam
G- # 43 – Jackie Yandrisevits

Kutztown:
C- # 53 – Mercedes Van Wagner
F- # 23 – Melissa McQuade
F- # 15 – Rachel Weidensaul
G- # 13 – Meredith Starr
G- # 5 – Lara Dellegrotti

Scouting Report:

The Golden Bears have failed to play consistent basketball down the stretch, thus costing them an opportunity to play postseason basketball. They will look to find some of that consistency and to build for the 2008-09 season in this game.

The seniors (Van Wagner, Weidensaul, Molly Brown) will likely see significant action with the team already eliminated. With that said, don’t expect KU to lay back and let the Warriors run all over them. The Golden Bears should be motivated to knock off the team who beat them out for the final playoff spot. KU has the talent to do it, starting in the frontcourt.

The Warriors will see a lot of Van Wagner and McQuade, both who have double-double potential in the paint. If they struggle, Coach Janet Malouf will look to leading scorer Weidensaul or to guards Lara Dellegrotti and Rachel Wisemiller, who has been stellar as of late.

Meanwhile, the ESU front court is not so shabby, with Fogelsanger and Yandrisevits working the inside. Yandrisevits generally leads the team in scoring, but this is far from a one woman team. Murray, Fogelsanger, and Rayam each average over 8.5 points per game and any one of them can go off for 20 at any given time.

The Golden Bears will have their hands full on both ends off the court, much like the first meeting, but KU does have similar (if not more) talent than the Warriors and could easy take care of business in their season finale.

Prediction:

The games that don’t really mean anything are the hardest ones to predict. Will KU come out motivated to knock off bitter rival ESU? Or will they come out downtrodden and unmotivated after being eliminated from the playoff picture?

Personally, I can’t see it going over too well with the seniors on this team if they fall in their last game at Kutztown. Expect Van Wagner to be as motivated as ever with nothing to lose in her final game. Only one of 11 1,000 point scorers in school history, she has been a treat to watch for the last four years and isn’t about to disappoint with the end of the line in plain view.

McQuade, Wisemiller, Brown, and Weidensaul (yes, in that order) will all add in enough scoring to lead KU to a slim season finale victory.

East Stroudsburg 61
Kutztown 62