12/15/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Women's Basketball team will play their final home game of the Fall 2021 portion of the schedule on Thursday, December 16^th, when they take on the Raritan Valley Community College Lions at the Lackawanna Student Union. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00pm ET.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (3-3) are riding a two game winning streak, which includes an impressive 76-53 win over nationally-ranked DIII opponent Northampton Community College last Thursday. History was made in that contest, as center Mahogony Collins came off the bench and set a school-record, with 13 blocks in the game. Collins also had 11 rebounds, and fell two points short of a triple-double for Lackawanna College. The Falcons held the Spartans to just 29% shooting, and forced 18 turnovers in the game. Nya Morris led all scorers with 17 points, and also dished out a game-high seven assists. Gabrielle Jackson added 16 points, while Ashante Amos had 10 for the Falcons. Lackawanna College outscored Northampton 29-19 off the bench, and had a 26-to-6 points off turnovers advantage against the Spartans.
 
Morris is the team-leader at 17.2 points per game so far this year.  She had a season-high 21 points in the win over Howard Community College to open the season, and has scored in double-figures in all five of her appearances this year. Already a one-time EPAC Player of the Week, Morris also leads the team with 2.2 steals per game, averages 5.6 rebounds per game as a guard, and is hitting on 47% of her shots this year. Morris is tied for the team-lead with eight three-point shots on the year. Gabrielle Jackson is second on the team with 14.3 points per game, scoring in double-figures in her last five games, including her season-high 21 against Union County College. Jackson averages a team-high 3.8 assists per game, and is tied with Morris for the team-lead in threes on the year at eight makes.
 
Daeja Cromartie is third on the team at 8.2 points per game, thanks in part to her season-high 18 points against Delaware Tech, where she went 9-for-10 from the floor. Daeja had a team-high 12 rebounds against Northampton, and fell just two points shy of her first double-double of the season. Cromartie is shooting an efficient 73% on the year (19-for-26), and is averaging 5.6 rebounds per game this year.
 
McKeyah Duley is fourth on the team with 7.3 points per game, buoyed by her 25-point outburst against Essex. Duley is second on the team with seven made 3PT FGs on the year, tied with Amos. Mahogony Collins is averaging a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game, to go with her 6.3 points per game. She is also, obviously, the team-leader in blocks, with 24 in six games this season.
 
Lackawanna College is shooting at 40.8% as a team in its first six games, and the Falcons are shooting 29% from beyond-the-arc. Lackawanna is also shooting at 60.9% from the free-throw line. Lackawanna College holds a +4 rebounding margin, and has 30 blocks as a team. The Falcons are holding their opponents to just 33.3% shooting so far this year, and teams have only hit 21.1% of their three-point attempts against the Lackawanna College defense, ranking the Falcons 16^th in the NJCAA out of teams that have played at least five games.  
 
Head Coach Joya Whittington enters her eighth season at the helm for the Falcons, winning three district championships and making three NJCAA National Tournament appearances, all within the last five seasons. Whittington is a three-time District Coach of the Year, and has won 152 games in her coaching career at Lackawanna College. Whittington is a Seton Hill University graduate, and a Carbondale, PA native, where she played for Carbondale Area HS.
 
About the Opponents
The Lions of Raritan Valley CC are 4-8 on the season, and have lost four of their last six games, but are coming off a 68-38 win over Mercer County CC this past Saturday. In that game, Raritan broke open a tight game that was 18-17 after one quarter with a pair of great defensive quarters in the second and third, holding Mercer to seven and four points in the middle quarters, respectively, while piling up 36 points of their own. The Lions forced 29 turnovers, 19 of which were on steals, and held the Vikings to 26% shooting on the day. Raritan outrebounded Mercer 52-35, and had 25 offensive rebounds.
 
Raritan Valley is averaging and giving up 60.7 points per game so far this year. The Lions are hitting around 19% of their three-point attempts, and 36% overall from the field this year. Raritan is outrebounding their opponents by a +2.6 margin this year. The Lions are holding opponents to just 24.4% shooting from beyond-the-arc this year, and have forced 19.5 turnovers per game on the season.
 
Brie Opdyke leads Raritan Valley in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game this season. Opdyke is one of two players averaging double-figures for Raritan this season. She's scored in double-figures in nine games this year, including a season-high 25 points in the win at Passaic County CC. She's scored over 20 points in four games this year, and is shooting around 41% from the field on the season, and is the team-leader in rebounds at 7.7 per game. Opdyke has had a pair of double-doubles in her last two games, and had a season-high 15 rebounds against Mercer, to go with her 14 points in the win. Opdyke is second on the team with 2.5 assists per game on the year.
 
Judith Girones Gonzalez is second on the team with 10.3 points per game this year, and leads the team with 2.0 steals per game. Gonzalez has scored in double-figures in six games this season, including a season-high 19 points in the win against Mercer, making nine shots in the loss. Gonzalez had five steals against Monroe CC, a season-high, and has one double-double on the season, when she scored ten points and grabbed eleven rebounds against Delaware Tech.    
 
Rocio Martin Munoz is third on the team with 8.2 points per game, but she has not played in the last six games for the Lions. She leads the team at 3.0 assists per game, including a season-high five assists against Sullivan County CC. Micaela Etlinger is the team leader at 7.0 rebounds per game, to go with her 7.6 points per game. Etlinger hit double-figures three times on the year, and has one double-double, which came against Harcum College when she had 14 points and 13 rebounds against the Bears.
 
Micaela Etlinger is third on the team with 7.7 points per game this year, and is second on the team at 6.8 rebounds per game. Etlinger has scored in double-figures four times this year, and had a season-high 16 points against Essex County College, where she hit 7-of-8 free throws against the Wolverines. Etlinger has hit double-figures in rebounds twice this year, including a season-high 13 against Harcum, where she also scored 14 points for her lone double-double on the year. Etlinger had five points and eight rebounds in the win against Mercer.
 
The head coach for Raritan Valley is Philip Herro, in his seventh season at the helm for the Lions. Herro was hired to help transition the program from club to varsity status, and oversaw that transition in the 2015-2016 season. He quickly developed Raritan into a team to be reckoned with in Region XIX, going 22-9 in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. Herro's teams have made three Region XIX semi-finals, and four Region XIX playoffs overall. Herro is 80-68 in his seven years in charge.  
 
Game Information
The match-up is set for a 5:00pm tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union in Scranton, PA on Thursday, December 16^th. Tickets for the game will be sold at the door, and are $5 (Adults) and $3 (Students). Lackawanna College students will be admitted for free with their student ID. For a reminder about the Lackawanna College spectator policy, please click HERE.
 
LAST CALL: The women's basketball team is selling lottery tickets until THIS FRIDAY, December 17^th. Tickets are twenty dollars ($20) and play off of the January 2022 Pennsylvania Lottery Evening Pick 3 Daily Number. All prizes are cash, and winners have an opportunity to win anywhere from $75 to $250.
 
Anyone interested in purchasing tickets can email coach Joya (She said it was okay!) at whittingtonj@lackawanna.edu, or flag down a women's basketball player.
 
The game will be video livestreamed on the Lackawanna College YouTube Channel, for those who cannot attend. Steve Young will hand the play-by-play, while Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson will provide the color commentary. You can see the stream HERE.