David Otero
Sports Editor
The women’s basketball team won their second consecutive game after defeating Mercy College on Saturday, February 16 by a final score of 83-56. Senior forward Nicolette Marciniak led the Lady Pioneers (16-7) with 19 points on an 8-11 shooting display from the floor and recorded her 1,000th point of her collegiate career in the process. Marciniak becomes the fifteenth player in the program’s history to join the 1,000 point plateau.
The Mavericks (0-23) were unable to register their first win of the season, but they were able to go into the first half only down seven points: 39-32. The Lady Pioneers played the better second half though as they outscored the Mavericks by 20 points to cruise to a victory.
Three Lady Pioneers joined Marciniak with double-figure points. Sophomore guard Chelsea Williams dropped 15 points and secured six rebounds. In the last game against the University of the District of Columbia, Williams was about as efficient as you could possibly be when she had 17 points on only five shots attempted for the game. Junior guard Alexis Peters stuffed the stat sheet against Mercy as she poured in 11 points, five rebounds, six assists, as well as six steals. Peters has now scored at least 10 points in eight of her last nine games and has averaged nearly 16 points per game in her last five contests. Finally, off the bench junior forward Shayna Gatling added 15 points in 16 minutes of action.
Despite going 3-20 from beyond the arc, the Lady Pioneers once again won the turnover battle. Turnovers have been the Achilles heel for this team, but there has been significant improvement since the game against Dowling College back on Post Pride Night on January 30. Prior to the contest against Dowling, the Lady Pioneers had less turnovers than their opponent only five times in 17 contests. But since that win, the Lady Pioneers have edged out their opponent in the turnover battle in five of their last six games. Against Mercy, the Lady Pioneers only had 16 turnovers, whereas they average nearly 21 per game for the season.
Other notable performances in the blowout by LIU include junior forward Dominique Pagan and freshman guard Quanisha Ratley. Although she did not attempt a shot, Pagan made her presence felt hauling in 10 rebounds and swatting three shots. Ratley chipped in with six points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Lady Pioneers sit in fourth place in the East Coast Conference. Their next game is tonight against the Saint Thomas Aquinas College Lady Spartans (13-12) who are in fifth place right behind the Lady Pioneers. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and there will also be pregame coverage at 4:45 p.m. on 88.1 FM and WCWP.org.
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