Hounds Travel to Division I UConn For Exhibition Game
Tonight's Matchup: Tonight's matchup is the season-opening competition for both the Assumption Greyhounds and the University of Connecticut Huskies as the two squads meet in an exhibition game at Gampel Pavilion. Assumption opens the 2011-12 regular season on Wednesday, November 16th at home vs. American International, while Connecticut opens the regular season hosting Holy Cross on November 13th in Storrs.
The All-Time Series vs. Connecticut: Assumption and Connecticut have never met in a regular-season game. The Huskies have taken on a number of Northeast-10 Conference teams in exhibition games in recent years, including Franklin Pierce University during the 2010-11 season. The Huskies host Pace University on Wednesday, November 9th at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
Last Time Out for the Greyhounds: The Greyhounds ended the 2010-11 season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the team fell to eventual regional champion Bentley University by a 77-64 margin. Guard Gabrielle Gibson averaged 27.5 points per game in the two tournament games as she was named to the East Regional All-Tournament Team. The Hounds advanced to the second round by virtue of a 74-64 win over Saint Rose in the opening round, tying the program's single-season mark for victories with 22.
Probable Starters for the Hounds: Below are the probable starter's for tonight's game for Assumption.
Pos. No. Name PPG RPG
G 3 Gabrielle Gibson 12.6 2.6
G 10 Lindsey Roche 1.2 0.7
G 12 Katy Howard 9.0 2.2
F 5 Sabrina Siciliano 8.5 6.2
F 23 Kelly Meredith 18.7 5.5
Heading Across Town: Following tonight's game, the Greyhounds are idle until Sunday, November 6th when the team travels across Worcester to take on Holy Cross in an exhibition game beginning at 1 p.m. at the Hart Center. The Hounds and Crusaders have met 11 times in the regular season, with Holy Cross holding a 6-5 edge in the series. The Crusaders have won four straight over the Hounds as well, including a 90-60 win at Holy Cross in the 1982-83 season. The last regular-season Assumption win over Holy Cross came in the 1979-80 season as the Hounds won by a 57-46 margin at Assumption.
Assumption College Greyhounds Basketball Live on the Web!: Each Assumption College men's and women' basketball home game will be available LIVE online this season at www.AssumptionGreyhounds.tv, powered by the Pack Network. Individual games are available for $6.95, while a full season pass is available for $75.00.
Scouting the Greyhounds: Assumption enters the 2011-2012 season following a third-place finish in the Northeast-10 last season. The Hounds graduated senior captain Molly Griffiths, but return four starters and 82 percent of their offense from a season ago. Leading the way is senior forward Kelly Meredith, who last season led the Northeast-10 in scoring during the regular season and is a team co-captain this year. Averaging 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, Meredith also shot 51.6 percent from the floor to rank among the league leaders in field goal percentage.
The other returning starter among the forwards is junior Sabrina Siciliano, who started 26 of 30 games and averaged 8.5 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting a team-best 52.9 percent from the field and posting a team-best 72 steals. Sophomore forward Jamie Insel appeared in 19 games as a rookie, averaging 2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds while playing 12 minutes per game. Senior Nicole LePrevost, a team co-captain this season, is the other returning forward for the Hounds as she appeared in 13 games. The Hounds also welcome freshman forward Caitlin Ackerman to the program after a four-year career at Nashua South High School (N.H.), where she was an Honorable Mention All-State performer.
In the backcourt, juniors Gabrielle Gibson and Katy Howard combined to appear in all but one game last season as Gibson started 24 times, along with Howard who started 28 of 30 games she appeared in. Gibson was the team's second-leading scorer at 12.6 points per game, including knocking down 33 three-pointers and piling up 62 steals and 54 assists. Howard led the team with 90 assists while averaging 9.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. She also shot 44.2 percent from the field, 38.3 from three and 73.0 percent from the line. Sophomores Shannon Ray, Lindsey Roche, and Tafanie Roye also return, along with junior Marissa Velez. Ray appeared in 30 games as a rookie with nine starts as she averaged 2.3 points to go along with 71 assists that ranked her second on the team. Roche appeared in nine games for the Hounds, averaging 1.2 points, while Roye saw action in 17 games and Velez appeared in 25 games off the bench as a sophomore.
Assumption welcomes two newcomers to the backcourt as well in freshmen Julie Frankian and Katie Cullerot. Frankian averaged 19.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for Millbury High School (Mass.) as a senior, where she finished as the program's all-time leading scorer while leading her team to a 23-3 record. Cullerot was a Second Team All-State selection at John Stark High School (N.H.), where she became just the third player in school history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau.
Greyhounds in the National Poll: Assumption is receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Top Preseason Coaches Poll. Below is the complete national poll, which was released on November 1, 2011.
1. Clayton State (27)
2. Bentley (1)
3. Michigan Tech
4. Arkansas Tech
5. Delta State
6. Fort Lewis
7. Metro State
8. Shaw
9. Wayne State (Neb.)
10. Lander
11. Washburn
12. University of Alaska - Anchorage
13. UC San Diego
14. Grand Canyon
15. Northwest Missouri State
16. University of Wisconsin - Parkside
17. South Carolina - Aiken
18. Holy Family
19. Cal State Poly Pomona
20. Tarleton State
21. Grand Valley State
22. Franklin Pierce
23. Edinboro
24. Northeastern State
25. Drury
Others Receiving Votes: Dixie State College of Utah 123; Barton College 120; Rollins College 03; Emporia State University 96; Quincy University 93; Fort Valley State 82; Saint Thomas Aquinas 81; Western Washington University 63; Johnson C Smith University 62; Wingate University 53; University of Central Oklahoma 39; Florida Southern College 38; University of Charleston 31; University of Tampa 31; University of Ark. - Fort Smith 29; West Texas A&M University 26; Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania 23; Seattle Pacific University 18; Ashland University 12; Assumption College 12; Winona State University 12; California State University - Monterey Bay 11; California University of Pa. 9; Concordia University 9; Limestone College 9; Augustana College 7; Valdosta State University 7; Northern Kentucky University 6; Ouachita Baptist 6; West Liberty University 4; Glenville State College 3; Lenoir-Rhyne University 3; Tusculum College 3; Columbus State 2; Concord College 2; Miles College 2; Texas Woman's University 1; University of Central Missouri 1.
All-American Candidate: Senior forward Kelly Meredith is coming off a junior season where she led the league in scoring during the regular season and earned State Farm Coaches Association Honorable-Mention All-American honors. In addition, she was a Northeast-10 First Team All-Conference selection and a Daktronics First Team All-Region honoree. For the season, Meredith led the Greyhounds at 18.7 points per game, along with 51.6 percent shooting from the field. She scored in double figures in 26 of 30 games this season and posted 12 games of 20 or more points. Meredith is one of four returning Northeast-10 First Team players from a season ago.
Northeast-10 Conference Preseason Poll: The Northeast-10 Conference recently released its 2011-2012 Preseason Coaches Poll. The Hounds were picked third in the poll behind No. 2 nationally-ranked Bentley and No. 22 ranked Franklin Pierce. Below is the complete preseason poll, with first-place votes in parentheses.
1. Bentley (15) - 225
2. Franklin Pierce (1) - 208
3. Assumption - 196
4. Pace - 176
5. Saint Rose - 164
6. Stonehill - 150
7. American International - 147
8. Saint Michael's - 116
9. Southern New Hampshire - 109
10. UMass Lowell - 90
11. Saint Anselm - 87
12. Merrimack - 59
13. Southern Connecticut - 56
14. Adelphi - 52
15. Le Moyne - 47
16. New Haven - 38
Scouting the Huskies: Connecticut enters this season coming off an appearance in the NCAA Final Four and is ranked fourth in the ESPN/USA Today Division I Preseason Coaches Poll. In addition, the Huskies are picked second in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll behind No. 2 ranked Notre Dame. Bria Hartley and Tiffany Hayes were both named to the Preseason All-BIG East Team, while Stefanie Dolson earned Honorable Mention honors. Freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was named as the league's Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Family Connection: UConn head coach Geno Auriemma has a connection to Assumption as his son, Mike, is a junior guard on the Assumption men's basketball team. Mike appeared in 28 games last year for the Hounds, averaging 3.9 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. His best game came in the Northeast-10 Tournament as he came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points in the quarterfinal loss at Saint Anselm.
The Northeast-10 Conference: The Northeast-10 Conference is one of the premier Division II women's basketball league's in the nation. In 2010-2011, the league sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament, with all five finishing with 20-win seasons. This season, the conference has changed its playoff format from a 12-team field to a 10-team field. Below is the complete Northeast-10 Tournament information for the 2011-2012 season.
2012 Northeast-10 Conference Championship
(Hosted by Higher Seeds Throughout)
Friday, February 24
First Round
Game 1: #7 vs. #10
Game 2: #8 vs #9
Sunday, February 26
Quarterfinals
Game 3: Winner of Game 2 vs. #1
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. #2
Game 5: #3 vs. #6
Game 6: #4 vs. #5
Thursday, March 1
Semifinals
Game 7: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 6
Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5
Sunday, March 4
Finals
Game 9: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8
Northeast-10 Conference Standings: Below are the Northeast-10 Conference standings from the 2010-2011 season. The 2011-2012 regular season opens up on November 16th.
School NE-10 Overall
Bentley 19-3 28-5
Franklin Pierce 18-4 24-8
Assumption 18-4 22-8
Saint Rose 16-6 21-8
Pace 15-7 24-9
American Int'l 14-8 19-10
Saint Michael's 13-9 16-11
Stonehill 12-10 17-11
Southern N.H. 9-13 12-16
Saint Anselm 8-14 11-16
Merrimack 8-14 10-17
UMass Lowell 8-14 9-18
Southern Conn. 7-15 11-16
Adelphi 5-17 8-18
Le Moyne 4-18 7-19
New Haven 2-20 3-23
