12/17/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Women's Basketball team has one more game before the Fall 2021 semester ends, as the Falcons travel to Catonsville, MD to take on the CCBC-Catonsville Cardinals on Saturday, December 18^th. The game is set for a 2:00pm ET tip-off.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (4-3) are on a three game winning streak, with their latest triumph being a 58-56 win over Raritan Valley CC on Thursday night at the Lackawanna Student Union. Lackawanna College rallied from a late deficit to escape with the win, hitting 14 free throws in the second half, eight coming from Nya Morris, including a few crucial free throws late in the game to give the Falcons the lead. Raritan was gifted a chance to tie with 0.6 seconds left, but couldn't grab the rebound and put it back up at the basket in time, giving Lackawanna College the victory. The Falcons had three players in double-figures, led by Morris's 22 points, to go with eight rebounds. Gabrielle Jackson had 13 points, while Thays Torres came off the bench and scored ten points for Lackawanna. The Falcons won despite poor shooting (27%) and a plethora of turnovers (31) in the game.
 
Morris is the team-leader at 18.0 points per game so far this year.  Her 22 points against Raritan was her season-high, and she didt it while going 9-for-13 from the free throw line for the game. Morris has scored in double-figures in all six 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 6.0 rebounds per game as a guard, and is hitting on 46% of her shots this year. Morris has hit nine three-point shots on the year. Gabrielle Jackson is second on the team with 14.1 points per game, scoring in double-figures in her last six games, including her season-high 21 against Union County College. Jackson averages a team-high 3.4 assists per game, and leads the Falcons in three-pointers made on the year with ten.  
 
Daeja Cromartie is third on the team at 7.2 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 66.7% on the year, and is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game this year.
 
Torres is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 6.8 points per game this year. Thays's ten points against Raritan was the second time she hit double-figures this year, with her season-high of 13 points coming against Niagara County CC earlier this season. Torres is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game, and is third on the team with eight steals this year.
 
Lackawanna College is shooting at 39% as a team this season, and has hit 28.6% from beyond-the-arc. Lackawanna is also shooting at 60.1% from the free-throw line. Lackawanna College holds a +6 rebounding margin, and has 36 blocks as a team. The Falcons are holding their opponents to just 33.1% shooting so far this year, and teams have only hit 20.8% 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 153 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
CCBC-Catonsville comes in at 6-5 on the year, having just stopped a three-game skid with a 63-59 win over Anne Arundel Community College on Wednesday evening. The Cardinals had three players in double-figures, led by Cache Waters off the bench with a team-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. Waters went 6-for-13 from the field, and hit three shots from downtown, including the go-ahead three with 1:05 to play, giving Catonsville the lead for good at 61-58. Amaree McKnight had 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting, to go with her five steals. TyKeara Burden had 13 points and 8 rebounds for the Cardinals. Catonsville shot 36% for the game, but were just 3-for-17 from beyond-the-arc, overall, and had 29 turnovers as a team. The Cardinals forced the Riverhawks into 31 turnovers, 20 on steals, and just 32% shooting. The Riverhawks hit seven threes in the contest.
 
The Cardinals are averaging around 65 points per game, while giving up 61.5 on the year. Neither the Cardinals, nor their opponents, are shooting particularly well from the floor (35%/36%) or from three (20%/20%) on the season. Catonsville have forced 27 turnovers per game this year, and average nearly 16 steals per game. However, the Cardinals give the ball away 18 times per game, and are getting outrebounded by a -9 margin so far this season.  
 
The Cardinals have four players averaging double-figures on the year, with Morgan Gause leading the charge at 16 points per game. Gause is shooting 42% from the field, and is also leading the team at 4.9 steals per game this year. Gause has scored in double-figures in ten of her eleven games this season, with her only single-digit scoring output coming against Anne Arundel in her last game. She shot 3-for-12 in that game. Gause has hit the 20-point plateau four times this year, including her season-high of 26 against Camden County College, when she shot 10-for-15 from the field, and hit four three-pointers. She had a season-high nine steals against Harcum College to open the season, and led the team with six steals against Anne Arundel.
 
Waters is the second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game this year. She leads the team in three-pointers made at 18 on the year, and is second on the team with 5.8 rebounds per game this season. She's also second on the squad in steals, at 2.9 per game. Waters has hit double-figures in eight of her nine appearances, including her season-high 23 points against WVU Potomac. She has scored in double-figures in her last five games. Her double-double against Arundel (17 pts, 10 rebs) was her first of the season. She had a season-high five steals in a loss to Prince George's CC earlier this year. Waters leads the team in free throw shooting at 78% for the year.  
 
Amaree McKnight and Sidney Spence each average 10.6 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. McKnight is third on the team at 2.6 steals per game, and fourth on the team in rebounding (4.3 per game). She's hit double-figures in six games this season, including a season-high 20 points in the win against the College of Southern Maryland. She had a season-high six steals in a loss to Louisburg College, and had a season-high eight rebounds twice, against Harcum and Camden County. Spence leads the team in rebounding (6.3 per game) and assists (2.8 per game), to go with her 10.5 points per game. Spence has scored in double-figures five times this season, with her season-high 20 points coming against Monroe College. She had ten rebounds in that game, her lone double-double on the year. Spence had a season-high 12 rebounds in a win over CC Beaver County. She had just two points in the win against Anne Arundel, going 1-for-9 from the field.    
 
The head coach for CCBC-Catonsville is Morris "Stretch" Brandon, entering his second full season at the helm of the Cardinals, and third year in charge. Brandon has over 20 years of coaching experience at multiple levels, leading several high school and AAU programs where he won state championships and had several nationally-ranked AAU teams. Brandon also spent time in the collegiate ranks, serving as an assistant coach with Morgan State University. Brandon was an assistant with Catonsville in the 2018-2019 season, prior to taking over the program. Brandon has a 21-15-1 record in his career. The Cardinals did not compete in women's basketball last season.   
 
Game Information
The match-up is set for a 2:00pm ET tip-off at the Jack Manley Wellness and Athletics Center on the CCBC-Catonsville campus in Catonsville, MD. For fans who cannot attend, there will be a livestream on the CCBC-Catonsville YouTube Channel. To see the game, click HERE.