The Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team will face Stonehill in the opening round of the 2017 NE10 Tournament.The teams will play on Friday night at 7 p.m. in North Easton, Mass. The Owls (11-16, 7-13 NE10) earned the No. 5 seed in the Southwest Division and will travel to square off against the Skyhawks (12-13, 11-10 NE10), the No. 4 seed in the Northeast Division.
ALL-TIME VS. STONEHILL
The Owls hold a 13-12 edge in the all-time series against the Skyhawks.
THE LAST MEETING VS. THE SKYHAWKS
The Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team fell to Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference showdown, 67-55, on Jan. 7. Senior
Taylor McLaughlin registered a team high 22 points while
Maria Weselyj collected 14 in the Owls' loss.
LAST TIME OUT
The Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team dropped a 63-57 decision against Pace on Senior Night. The team was led by the Owls' captains who scored 52 points,
Taylor McLaughlin registered her 13th double-double of the season with 27 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block.
Maria Weselyj added 16 points along with two assists and two rebounds, while redshirt junior
Murphy Murad tallied nine points for the Owls.
ALL-TIME IN THE NE10 TOURNAMENT
The Owls are 14-11 all-time in the NE10 Tournament, including titles in 2006 and 2007.
MCLAUGHLIN NAMED TO HONOR ROLL...X3
Taylor McLaughlin was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll on Feb. 13 for her play against AIC and Saint Rose.
O'NEAL SELECTED TO HALL OF FAME
Former Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball coach Louise O'Neal is among six individuals that have been selected for induction into this year's class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. The six members of the Class of 2017 are: Sally Bell (official), Christine Grant (contributor), Rick Insell (coach), Louise O'Neal (veteran), Sheryl Swoopes (player) and Kara Wolters (player).
• O'Neal guided Southern from to 1962-76 and her teams had a 143-37 record. The Owls placed third in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division I tournaments in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Beginning in 1970, O'Neal guided Southern to a record of 110-27 and was the only coach to lead her team to all six national collegiate championships in the AIAW. In addition, two of O'Neal's players played on the U.S. Women's Olympic Team.
MCLAUGHLIN CAPTURES COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT LAURELS
Senior forward
Taylor McLaughlin of the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team has been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America's Academic All-District Team for her work in the classroom and on the court.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Owls have felt comfortable at home with a record of 7-6. At home the Owls have scored 71.4 points per game compared to 56.8 points per game on the road.
CAREER HIGH FOR MURAD
Junior
Murphy Murad registered a career-high 21 points in the game against AIC on Feb. 7.
STEINAUER NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Kiana Steinauer was named to the NE10/Spalding Rookie of the Week on Jan. 30 for her play against Assumption and Bentley.
DEFENSE ANSWERING THE CALL
Southern Connecticut merited 50 or fewer points in three straight games (all wins) against SNHU, Franklin Pierce and Assumption, marking the first time this has happened since the 2011-12 season. That year, the Owls held Merrimack, St. Anselm and Stonehill to 50 or fewer points from Jan.14-Jan. 21.
MCLAUGHLIN ON THE CAREER CHART
Taylor McLaughlin is now eighth all-time at SCSU in scoring with 1,362 points. McLaughlin is also now sixth all-time with 696 rebounds.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Thanks to 11 rebounds each from
Taylor McLaughlin and
Kiana Steinauer against Assumption, the Owls had two players record double-digit rebounds in the same game for the first time this year. In fact, you have to go back to Dec. 17, 2015 against Caldwell, when McLaughlin,
Jackie Beathea and
Danielle Powell all posted double figure rebounds, to find the last time that happened.
FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR STEINAUER
Kiana Steinauer recorded her first collegiate double-double in the win over Assumption.
STATS TELL A DIFFERENT STORY
Despite a losing record this year, the Owls are outscoring their opponents 64.9 to 61.7, a spread of more than three points per game.
MCLAUGHLIN IN GOOD COMPANY
In the win over Franklin Pierce,
Taylor McLaughlin recorded eight steals tying her with Kym Harris who tallied eight steals twice in 1983, Laurie Roche (1983) and most recently
Kate Lynch, who had eight against Felician in 2007.
CAREER HIGH FOR PFOHL
Sophmore
Amanda Pfohl recorded a career-high 11 points in the game at SNHU on Jan. 18.
WILLIAMS SEASON HIGH VS. PIERCE
Junior
Chandler Williams tallied a season-high 12 points going 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from the arc against Franklin Pierce.
CAREER NIGHT FOR STEINAUER
Freshman
Kiana Steinauer posted a career-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds in the game against Merrimack on Jan. 10.
MCLAUGHLIN NAMED TO HONOR ROLL...X2
Taylor McLaughlin was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll Jan. 23 for her play against SNHU and Franklin Pierce.
MCLAUGHLIN NAMED TO HONOR ROLL
Taylor McLaughlin was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll on Jan. 9 for her play against St. Michael's and Stonehill.
NOTABLE STATS FROM THE DOMINICAN WIN
•
Jana Migliaro tied her career-high with two rebounds.
•
Alyssa Irons scored her first three points and collected her first rebounds in the Owls' win.
•
Jessica Fressle netted a career-high seven points.
HURLBERT NAMED SCSU FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season,
Abby Hurlbert, of the SCSU women's basketball team was named SCSU Female Athlete of the Week after her performance against Dominican. Hurlbert assembled a strong stat line of 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in Southern's 79-36 win over Dominican. She knocked down 5-of-10 shots from the floor, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.
NEW ARRIVALS
The Owls welcome six newcomers to the squad for the 2016-17 season -
Imani Wheeler,
Kiana Steinauer,
Alyssa Irons,
Bridget Sharnick,
Maddie Brown and
Jessica Fressle.
WELCOME BACK
Southern Connecticut returns 11 players from last year's squad – seniors
Taylor McLaughlin and
Maria Weselyj, juniors
Murphy Murad,
Chandler Williams,
Abby Hurlbert,
Paige Decker,
Chloe Brinton and sophomores
Jana Migliaro,
Amanda Pfohl,
Allie Smith and
Erin Ryder.
THE CAPTAINS
Southern Connecticut State University head women's basketball coach
Kate Lynch has announced that seniors
Taylor McLaughlin and
Maria Weselyj and redshirt junior
Murphy Murad will serve as team tri-captains for the 2016-17 campaign.
OWLS TABBED TO FINISH FOURTH IN NE-10 PRESEASON POLL
The women's basketball team has been selected to finish fourth, along with division rival Le Moyne College, in the Southwest Division according to the Northeast-10 Conference Preseason poll, as voted on by the league's coaches. The Owls and the Dolphins both received a total of 47 points, while the Owls managed to get a first place vote.
LOOKING BACK AT LAST SEASON
The Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team with a winning record of 19-11 as well as qualified for the Northeast-10 Conference Championship for the third straight year. SCSU reached the semifinals before losing on the road to the eventual champion, Bentley.
HIT A CHAMPIONSHIP SHOT...MEET A SUPERSTAR
Prior to coming to SCSU,
Maria Weselyj connected for the game-winning shot in the 2013 CIAC Class LL state championship while competing for Mercy High School. The shot gained national and international acclaim, and earlier this fall was included in Brad Paisley's video entitled "Today". Weselyj eventually met Paisley after the release of the video while he was on tour in Connecticut.
LYNCH MAKING AN IMPACT
Kate Lynch '08 begins her second season as head coach for the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team. Entering the year, Lynch had compiled a 100-76 overall record as a head coach. Lynch remains the all-time leading scorer in Owls' history (1,779 points) and ranks seventh all-time in rebounds (650). Following the 2015-16 season, she was selected by the WBCA as one of its "Thirty Under 30" honorees.
TOUGH COMPETITION AWAITS
The Owls will face four teams in 2016-17 that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago - Queens, Bentley, Saint Anselm and American International.
BEATHEA, POWELL EARN CONFERENCE HONORS
Jackie Beathea and
Danielle Powell earned Northeast-10 Conference regular season honors for their play in 2015-16. Beathea was named to the First-Team while Powell was named to the Third-Team.
EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
Southern Connecticut had 11 student-athletes selected to the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for their work in the classroom during the 2015-16 academic year.
FIVE OWLS HONORED BY D2ADA
Chloe Brinton,
Paige Decker,
Abby Hurlbert, Elizabeth McKinley and
Taylor McLaughlin were all named as 2016 recipients of the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award for their work in the classroom.
ON DECK
A win over Stonehill will send the Owls into the quarterfinal round, while a loss will end the 2016-17 season.
