1/11/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Women's Basketball team looks to make it two wins in a row to start 2022, when they play host to the NJCAA DIII #4 Monroe College Bronx Express on Tuesday, January 11^th. The game is set for a 5:00pm ET tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union, and will be video livestreamed on the Lackawanna College Athletics YouTube Channel at www.lackawannafalcons.com/YouTube.  
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (5-4) got the new year off to a positive start with a dominant 88-46 win over ASA College Brooklyn in their last contest this past Saturday. After a tight first quarter, the Falcons outscored the Avengers 50-19 in the second and third quarters, thanks in part to the season-high 16 three-pointers they hit, as a team. Ny Jackson had a team and season-high 21 points, 15 coming in the first half, and was one of five different Falcons to score in double-figures. McKeyah Duley had 19 points, hitting a season-high five three-pointers, while Ashanté Amos had a season-high 17 points, while dishing out seven assists. Lackawanna College shot 41% overall, and hit 61% from downtown in the second half. The Falcons were outstanding on defense, forcing 22 turnovers and holding their opponents to 26% shooting overall, and just 3-for-26 from beyond the arc. The Falcons had an impressive performance, despite missing two of their usual starters.
 
Nya Morris, one of the usual starters who did not play against ASA Brooklyn, is the team-leader at 20.7 points per game so far this year.  Her 37 points against CCBC-Catonsville was her season-high, and she did it while going 12-for-13 from the free throw line, and hitting 11 field goals in the contest. Morris has scored in double-figures in all seven of her appearances this year. Morris won her second EPAC Player of the Week award for her efforts against Catonsville and Raritan Valley, scoring 59 points, shooting 17-for-36, and going 21-for-26 from the free throw line in both games. Morris also leads the team with 2.6 steals per game, averages a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game as a guard, and is hitting on 47% of her shots this year. Morris has hit 12 three-point shots on the year, third-most on the squad. Gabrielle Jackson was the other starter who missed the ASA Brooklyn game. Gabby is second on the team with 12.9 points per game. She has scored double-figures in six of eight games this year, including her season-high 21 against Union County College. Jackson averages a team-high 3.9 assists per game, and averages 4.6 rebounds per game as a guard. Jackson scored a season-low four points against CCBC-Catonsville, shooting just 1-for-10 for the game, but she had seven assists for the Falcons.   
 
Ashanté Amos is the third-leading scorer at 8.4 points per game this year. Amos has hit double-figures in four of her last five games, and set season-highs for points in back-to-back games against Catonsville (14) and then ASA (17). Amos's seven assists against ASA was her season-high, and she is second on the team is assists per game (3.1). Amos is second on the team with 14 made three-point shots.
 
Duley is the fourth leading scorer, averaging 8.3 points per game this season. Her 19 points against ASA was the first time in six games that she had hit double-figures, and just the second time all season. Duley had a season-high 25 points in a loss to Essex CC in November, where she hit four three-pointers. Her season-high from downtown is the five threes she hit against ASA. Duley leads the team in three-point shots made at 16. She also averages 6.2 rebounds per game, good enough for second on the squad. Twice she's grabbed her season-high of 12 boards, against both Essex and Catonsville.
 
Thays Torres is fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 7.6 points per game this year. Thays scored eleven points against ASA Brooklyn, which was the third time she hit double-figures this year. Thays scored a season-high of 13 points against Niagara County CC earlier this season. Torres is averaging just shy of six rebounds per game, and is second on the team with eleven steals this year. Thays had eleven points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the win over ASA.
 
Daeja Cromartie will also see significant time for the Falcons. The veteran leader is averaging 6.1 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. Daeja had four points and nine rebounds against ASA Brooklyn. Cromartie is shooting an efficient 60.5% on the year, and is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game this year.
 
Lackawanna College, averaging 75 points per game, is shooting at 39.1% as a team this season, and has hit 32.0% from beyond-the-arc. Lackawanna is also shooting at 61.9% from the free-throw line. Lackawanna College holds a +4 rebounding margin, and has 39 blocks as a team. The Falcons are holding their opponents to 33.5% shooting so far this year, and teams have only hit 19.6% of their three-point attempts against the Lackawanna College defense, ranking the Falcons 10^h in the NJCAA out of teams that have played at least seven games. Opponents are averaging just over 68 points per game against the Falcon defense.   
 
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 154 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 Express of Monroe College Bronx come into the contest with a 9-1 overall record, and boasting a #4 NJCAA DIII ranking in the latest national polls. The match-up with the Falcons will be the first game in 32 days for the Express, which hasn't played since Friday, December 10^th, the only loss of the season for Monroe. In that game, a 79-42 setback to current #7 and undefeated NJCAA DII CCBC Essex, the Express were undone by a lights-out opening quarter from Essex, which held Monroe scoreless from 6:20 to go in the opening period until just under a minute to go, turning a close score into a 25-8 deficit. The Express would get it as close as eleven in the second quarter, but Essex came out of halftime and shot 63% from the field in the third quarter, ballooning their lead well out of reach. Monroe shot just 32% as a team, and committed 30 turnovers, which Essex turned into 36 points. Zyane Rowe Ramirez scored a team-high 19 points for the Express, and her three three-pointers represented the only shots from downtown for Monroe on the evening. Nyeira Spady added eight points for the Express. The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak to open the season for Monroe.
 
Monroe College Bronx averages 64 points per game, while giving up a stout 41 on the year. The Express are usually shoot around 35% on their shots for the season, while holding their opponents to just 29% overall. The Express are an excellent defensive outfit, holding opponents to just 17% shooting from downtown, and averaging nearly 19 steals per game this season, while forcing around 26 turnovers. Monroe owns a +11 rebounding margin on the year, and averages close to 18 offensive rebounds per game.    
 
Rowe Ramirez is the leading scorer at 11.6 points per game this year. She shoots around 37% on the year, and is the team-leader in threes with eleven treys hit so far this year. She averages 3.1 assists per game, also a team-high. Rowe Ramirez has hit double-figures four times this season, and her 19 against CCBC Essex was her season-high. She had season-highs of seven rebounds and six assists in the win over Hostos Community College earlier this year, a game where she scored 14 points. In that game, and the CCBC Essex contest, Rowe Ramirez has hit a season-high seven field goals. She has had a season-high five steals twice this year.
 
Second on the team is Nyeira Spady, averaging 11.2 points per game. Spady is the defensive stalwart for the Express, leading the team in blocks (1.3) and averaging 3.7 steals per game this year, second-best on the team. She's second on the team in rebounds per game (9.1), and is second on the team in shooting (41.7%). Spady has hit double-figures five times this season, with her season-high of 24 points coming against Springfield Tech CC back in December. Against Springfield, she hit a season-high eight field goals, and pulled down seven rebounds. Her season-high on the glass came against Middlesex County College to open the year, where she pulled down 14 boards. Spady has three double-doubles on the season. Against Orange County she came close to a triple-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down ten rebounds, while also swiping a season-high nine steals.
 
Tariah Bryant is third on the team at 8.8 points per game, and a team-high 3.8 steals per game this year. Bryant also is second on the team in assists, at 2.7 per contest. Bryant has scored in double-figures five times this year, including a season-high 17 points against Hostos Community College in November. She scored in double-figures in her first four games this year, but has only hit the mark once in her last five games. She has had a season-high seven steals twice this season. She scored three points and grabbed six rebounds in the loss to CCBC Essex.
 
Crystal Traverso is fourth on the team at 7.7 points per game, and is the team's second-leading three-point shooter with eight made triples on the year. She's hit double-figures three times this season, including a season-best 12 points against the Borough of Manhattan CC. In that game, she went 6-for-8 from the floor in just 17 minutes of action. Traverso scored two points, with a rebound and an assist against CCBC Essex.
 
Another player to look out for is Magnama Traore, the team-leader in rebounds per game (10.1). Traore averages nearly six offensive rebounds per game, while scoring just over six points per game. She's hit double-figures twice this year, and her season-high was a 13-point performance against UConn Avery Point. She also pulled down 17 rebounds in that game, securing her lone double-double of the year. Her season-high in rebounds this year was 19, coming against Hostos Community College. Traore had just two points and one rebound in the loss to CCBC Essex.
 
The head coach for Monroe College Bronx is Jeremy Thompson, in his third year in charge and second season with the Express. Monroe College went 19-13 in Thompson's first year in 2019-2020, making the Region 15 tournament as a three-seed and earning just the second-ever Region tournament win in program history. Before coming to the Express, Thompson spent time at CCNY, helping the Beavers to a CUNYAC Final Four appearance in his last season. He also was an assistant at both Mitchell College and Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut, each for a season. Thompson started the AAU program Connecticut Sound, helping them to a Connecticut State Championship. Thompson had spent time in the AAU circuit in the Nutmeg State for years beforehand, and got his start in coaching at Staples HS in Westport, CT. Thompson is 28-14 in his time at Monroe College Bronx.     
 
Game Information
The match-up is set for a 5:00pm ET tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union in Scranton, PA on Tuesday, January 11^th. Tickets will be sold at the door for both students ($3) and adults ($5), and Lackawanna College students get in free with their student ID. All spectators will be required to wear a mask at all times while attending today's game. A reminder that the current spectator policies for the 2021-2022 school year is available HERE.
 
The game will be video live-streamed on the Lackawanna College YouTube channel, with Steve Young providing the play-by-play. You can watch along via the link HERE.
 
The Falcons will next host the NJCAA DII #7 CCBC Essex Knights on Saturday, January 15^th, in the Lackawanna Student Union in Scranton, PA. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm ET, and will be the first of a doubleheader, as the men's basketball team will follow with their game against CCBC Catonsville at 3:00pm ET.