SNHU (9-2)
vs.
Bridgeport (2-8)/Dowling (9-0)
December 29-30, 2011 - 2:00 pm
Bridgeport Holiday Classic
Hubbell Gymnasium - Bridgeport, Conn.
COMPLETE GAME NOTES (PDF)
THE MATCHUP: Southern New Hampshire travels to the Bridgeport Holiday Classic Thursday and Friday, taking on the host Purple Knights Thursday before battling unbeaten Dowling on Friday.
THE SERIES: SNHU is 16-25 all-time against Bridgeport and 3-1 in four meetings with Dowling...the Penmen faced both teams at last season's SNHU Holiday Classic, defeating Dowling 50-46 before falling to Bridgeport 66-53...SNHU held the Golden Lions to just 30.4% shooting in the win and led 25-19 at the half...Sloane Sorrell led the Penmen with eight points and 11 rebounds, while Michelle DeRoma and Megan Smith had seven points apiece...in the second game Bridgeport jumped out to a 28-15 halftime lead and extended it to 48-24 with 11:23 left...Julia Houghtaling led SNHU with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Magdala Johnson added nine points.
THE PENMEN: Southern New Hampshire, which at 5-0 got off to its best start since the 1988-89 season, won its fourth straight on December 17, defeating Post 77-58...Michelle DeRoma has knocked down a team-best 23 three-pointers and is averaging 10.9 ppg...DeRoma is shooting 40.4% behind the arc, placing her fourth in the Northeast-10 in three-point percentage as well as three-pointers made... junior Sloane Sorrell is currently averaging 10.4 ppg while grabbing a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game...Sorrell is shooting 52.7% (49-93), placing her 10th in the NE-10...Christine Duffy leads the Penmen in assists with 77, while she is averaging 8.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per outing...Duffy ranks second nationally in assists per game and recently moved into fifth place on SNHU's career assist list...she had a career-high 12 assists against Post on December 17...Megan Smith is averaging 8.5 ppg...she has led the team in scoring four times, including 14 points in a win at Georgian Court...Victoria Wiseman is averaging 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game...freshman Lorreta Rocha was 7-7 from the floor December 6 at Stonehill en route to a season-best 14 point performance...she is averaging 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and was named Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week in each of the last two weeks...Rocha is averaging 9.5 points over the last four contests...the Penmen are shooting .429 overall, .389 from three-point land and .623 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .403 from the floor and .314 behind the arc...SNHU is scoring 63.0 points per game while allowing 56.7 while getting outrebounded 37.6-35.1...the Penmen currently rank fourth in the Northeast-10 in scoring defense and lead the league in three-point percentage.
THE PURPLE KNIGHTS: Bridgeport snapped a four-game slide with an 80-70 home win over Mercy on December 17...Tanisha Carter leads the Purple Knights with her 19.8 ppg average, while she is also grabbing a team-best 9.7 rpg...Carter is shooting 48.4% from the floor...Aziza Patterson is scoring at an 11.1 ppg clip, while Elinor Avny has knocked down a team-high 29 three-pointers and is averaging 10.8 ppg...Julia Colley is adding 10.2 ppg...Bridgeport is shooting .390 overall, .274 from three-point land and .680 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .449 from the floor and .388 behind the arc...UB is getting outscored 68.9-66.6 while getting outrebounded 39.9-34.9...all of Bridgeport's losses have come by 11 or fewer points.
THE GOLDEN LIONS: Dowling, who will face top-ranked Bentley on Thursday, remained unbeaten with a 60-48 win over No. 19 Franklin Pierce on December 18...the Golden Lions are the top team in the "Others Receiving Votes" category in the WBCA Division II poll...Connie Simmons leads Dowling with her 13.4 ppg average...she is also grabbing a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game...Christine Verrelle is averaging 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while Julia Koppl is adding nine points per outing...Kelly Puwalski and Sarah Schicher round out a balanced attack, as they are averaging 8.9 and 8.6 ppg, respectively...Dowling is scoring 64.4 ppg while allowing 54.4...the Golden Lions are shooting .407 overall, .319 behind the arc and .738 at the free throw line while allowing foes to shoot .318 overall and .279 from three...Dowling is also outrebounding opponents 37.8-33.9 and has made more free throws (138-187) than opponents have attempted (96-133).
WHAT'S NEXT: Southern New Hampshire returns to Northeast-10 Conference action on Tuesday, January 3 when it hosts Le Moyne...the Penmen then travel to Worcester, Mass. to face No. 12 Assumption next Saturday.
