The Dutchwomen, who earned their first appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament by capturing the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's automatic bid, host Skyline Conference champion Mount St. Mary, of Newburgh, New York, Wednesday (March 3) at 7:30 in a first-round showdown.
The game will be broadcast live on the web.
The Dutchmen, meanwhile, earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Association's Upstate New York Tournament and will host Utica College Wednesday (March 3) at 3:30.
The Dutchwomen, whose only other postseason experience came in the ECAC Upstate New York tournament last year and in 2001, put their 23-3 record up against a Blue Knight squad that finished at 22-5. Union's 23 wins sets a program standard for the 29-year old program, breaking the mark of 22-5 set last year.
“This is an exciting time for the players, the coaches, and the program,” said head coach Mary Ellen Burt, who, along with assistant Jamie Seward, has captured the UCAA's last two “Coaching Staff of the Year” awards.
“Mount St. Mary's is not like any other team in our conference,” said Burt. “They have an outstanding all around player in junior guard Oneisha Staples and an exceptional three-point shooter in sophomore guard Kellie Stuart.”
Staples, a graduate of Newburgh Free Academy, averages team highs in points (14.2) and assists (5.6). She is also a solid rebounder with her 4.5 average and leads her team with 68 steals (an average of 2.5).
“When we were preparing to play them back in December (the game on the 14th was postponed by a snowstorm and eventually cancelled), Staples was averaging 20 points and three assists,” said Burt while referring to Staples's dual ability to either put the ball in the hoop or dish it off for someone else to score. “If we double team her, she will find an open teammate.”
Stuart, meanwhile, hits three-point field goals at a rate of 43.3 percent (55 of 127). She is second on the team with her 10.3 average and has an overall average of 44.8 from the field. Stuart is deadly from the charity stripe, connecting on 23 of her 28 opportunities (82.1 percent).
“The game will come down to our defense against their offense,” explained Burt. “We need to do a good job in transition on defense and make them run halfcourt offense sets as opposed to letting them get fast-break and layup opportunities.”
Junior forward Nneka Cruse is the third-leading scorer on the Blue Knights' roster with her 7.3 average and leads the squad in both rebounding (with an average of 6.0) and blocked shots (with a total of 25). Mount St. Mary, which has blocked a team-total of 84 shots this season, is averaging 69.3 points a game while allowing the opposition an average of 50.7 points a game.
Mount St. Mary reached the NCAA tourney for the fifth year in a row by capturing the Skyline Conference championship last week. The Blue Knights defeated SUNY Old Westbury, Stevens Tech, and Farmingdale State in the Skyline tournament to earn the conference's automatic qualifier. The Mount is 47-0 in Skyline play (including playoffs) dating back to the 1999-00 season. The Blue Knights have won 11 straight and 17 of their last 18 games heading into their game with the Dutchwomen.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Union squeaked out a 50-49 decision in the championship game of the Dutchwomen's invitational tournament on January 9, 2000.
While the Blue Knights feature a trio of stars, the Dutchwomen do not. Instead, the last two seasons, which have amassed an overall winning percentage of .849 (45-8), play entirely by the “team concept” approach.
“Ego-less, selfless and unified-those three words are the threads of our program,” said Burt. “Jamie and I asked our players to give up their personality goals for the good of the team goals. We asked our players to believe in our system and if they did those two things, the reward would be the success of the team. They did that, which is why we are now playing in the NCAA tournament.”
A total of 10 of Union's 14 players are averaging 15.6 or more minutes a game with guards, sophomore Erika Eisenhut and Taryn Scinto leading the Garnet with averages of 24.7 and 24.1, respectively. Nine players have been in the starting lineup at least six times, and only one player has not seen action in at least 11 games (and she was sidelined with illness and injury throughout the season).
Junior forward Katlyn Cunningham leads the team in both scoring (10.0) and rebounding (4.6) while Eisenhut and junior guard Melissa Marra average 9.9 and 8.3 points, respectively. Junior forward Emily Scott and sophomore guard Nicole Cerniglia are second and third on the team's rebounding chart with averages of 4.5 and 4.3, respectively. Marra is averaging 3.2 assists a game while Eisenhut has created an average of 3.0 steals a game.
The winner of the showdown travels to play at New York University on Saturday, March 6.