1/14/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Women's Basketball team will do their best to bounce back after their buzzer-beater loss on Tuesday, as they play host to another nationally ranked opponent on Saturday, January 15th. The opposition will be the NJCAA DII #7 CCBC Essex Knights, and the game is set for a 1:00pm ET tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union, the first game of a doubleheader with the men's team, and will be video livestreamed on the Lackawanna College Athletics YouTube Channel at www.lackawannafalcons.com/YouTube. 
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (5-5) were last in action on Tuesday, when they took the NJCAA DIII #4 Monroe College Bronx Express all the way to the wire. Lackawanna College squandered a 13-point lead, regained control and held a three-point lead with ten seconds remaining, only for the Express to hit a game-tying three-pointer, then get a steal and score the game-winning lay-up as time expired to win 63-61, denying the Falcons a massive upset in stunning fashion. Lackawanna College was led by Gabrielle Jackson and Ny Jackson, who scored 14 and 13 points, respectively. The Falcons shot 30% for the game, and outscored the Express 25-to-12 off the bench. Monroe shot 34% for the game, but went 14-for-19 from the free throw line, shooting almost 30 percentage points better than their season average.
 
Nya Morris, one of the usual starters who has missed the last two games, 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 6.6 rebounds per game (second on the team) 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, after missing the first game of the new year, returned to action against Monroe Bronx. Gabby is second on the team with 13.0 points per game. She has scored double-figures in seven of nine games this year, including her season-high 21 against Union County College. Jackson averages a team-high 3.6 assists per game, and averages 4.2 rebounds per game as a guard. Jackson scored 14 points despite battling foul trouble against Monroe Bronx, and made a season-high five free throws for the Falcons.
 
Ny Jackson is third on the team with 8.4 points per game this year. She's scored in double-figures four times this season, and has scored more points in her last two games (34) than she has in her first six appearances (33). Ny scored a season-high 21 points in the win against ASA Brooklyn, when she hit five three-point shots and scored 15 points in the first half alone. Jackson is shooting 46% from the field, and 44% from beyond-the-arc in her last two games.    
 
McKeyah Duley is the fourth leading scorer, averaging 8.2 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 17. She also averages 6.0 rebounds per game, tied for third on the squad with Thays Torres. Twice she's grabbed her season-high of 12 boards, against both Essex County and Catonsville.
 
Ashanté Amos is the fifth-leading scorer at 8.1 points per game this year. Amos had hit double-figures in four of her last five games before her six-point performance against Monroe Bronx, 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 tied with Gabrielle Jackson for first on the team is assists per game (3.6). Amos is second on the team with 16 made three-point shots.
 
Thays Torres will also see time, and she's averaging 7.3 points per game this year. Thays has hit double-figures three times this year, and scored a season-high of 13 points against Niagara County CC earlier this season. Torres is averaging six rebounds per game, and is second on the team with 16 steals this year. Thays had eleven points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the win over ASA, and followed that up with five points, seven rebounds, and a season-high five steals against Monroe Bronx.
 
Daeja Cromartie will also see significant time for the Falcons. The veteran leader is averaging 6.0 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 five points and a season-high 20 rebounds against Monroe Brooklyn. Cromartie is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game, a team-best.  
 
Lackawanna College, averaging 73.6 points per game, is shooting at 38.3% as a team this season, and has hit 31.4% from beyond-the-arc. Lackawanna is also shooting at 61.5% from the free-throw line. Lackawanna College holds a +5 rebounding margin, and has 42 blocks as a team. The Falcons are holding their opponents to 33.5% shooting so far this year, and teams have only hit 21.3% 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 67.7 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 Knights of CCBC Essex come into the contest undefeated at 13-0 on the season, and with a #7 ranking in the latest NJCAA Division II polls. The Knights are coming off a 93-53 win over Penn State York last Saturday to open the 2022 portion of their season. The Nittany Lions had previously been unbeaten, and were the #1 team in the USCAA heading into the match-up, but the Knights rocketed out to a 25-5 lead after just one period, and had separate scoring runs of 20-0 and 23-0 in the first half to take a 56-10 lead at the break. The Knights shot 45% for the game (52% in the first half with nine three-pointers), and placed four players in double-figures on their way to the win. Vanessa Woodfolk and Jaelyn Swann each scored a game-high 20 points for the Knights. Woodfolk was 8-for-11 from the field, while pulling down nine rebounds, and Swann hit six three-pointers.
 
Essex averages 99.5 points per game, while giving up a stout 48.5 on the year. The Knights have put up some gaudy offensive numbers so far this year, topping 100 points on four separate occasions, including a season-high 153 points against Allegany College of MD. The Knights have won by double-digits in all but one of their 13 wins this season, including margins of 50, 56, 80, 93, and 130, coming in the 153-23 win over Allegany College of Maryland. The Knights shoot 41% from the field as a team, and average nearly 43 three-point attempts per contest, hitting around 30% and averaging 13 three-pointers per game. The Knights average over 22 offensive rebounds per game, and hold a +19 rebounding margin per game. Even with the gaudy numbers, it's the defense that powers the Knights. Essex holds their opponents to 28% shooting overall, and under 20% from downtown on the year. The Knights force an average of 31 turnovers per game, 19 of which end up in steals.
 
Lyric Swann is the leading scorer at 23.8 points per game. She hits around 44% of her shots, and leads the team in three-point percentage (35%) and free throw shooting (86%). Swann leads the team in assists per game (7.6) and is second on the team in steals per game (3.6). Swann has scored in double-figures in all ten of her appearances this year, and she's scored over 20 points in seven different games this year. Swann had a season-high 41 points in the win against Hagerstown CC, where she made a season-high 15 field goals, nine three-pointers, and shot a scorching 65% for the game. Swann had a season-high 13 assists against Harcum to start the year, and has gone over double-digits in assists twice this year. She had a season-high seven steals against Jamestown CC. Swann missed three games at the end of the first half of the year, and returned with 13 points and eight assists against PSU York.
 
Patricia Anumgba is second on the team with 20.3 points per game this year. She leads the team with 48% shooting on the season, and leads the team with 4.7 steals per game. She's third on the team with 7.5 rebounds per game, and averages 4.2 assists per game. Anumgba has hit double-figures 12 times this season, and six times she's topped 20 points on the year. Her season-high of 35 points came against Monroe College Bronx, where she hit a season-high 16 shots against the Express. She has three double-doubles on the year, and has hit her season-high 11 rebounds twice this season. Her season-high seven assists came against Brunswick CC. She also had a season-high eight assists against Hagerstown CC this year. Anumgba had 17 points in the win over PSU York.
 
Jaelyn Swann is third on the team with 13.6 points per game this year. Swann shoots around 37% on the season, and is second on the team at 34% shooting from downtown. Swann has scored in double-figures 11 times this season, including in her last seven games, and has scored over 20 points on three separate occasions. Her season-high was 21 points against Monroe College where she hit eight field goals against the Mustangs.  She hit a season-high six three-point field goals against Anne Arundel CC, and then matched that against PSU York. Her season-high nine rebounds came against Union County. She scored 20 points to lead her team against PSU York, and grabbed six rebounds.
 
Vanessa Woodfolk is fourth on the team with 12.5 points per game, and leads the team with 10.1 rebounds per game. Woodfolk is hitting around 45% of her shots, and also leads the team with 1.9 blocks per game. Woodfolk scored in double-figures five times this season, and had her season-high 21 points against Anne Arundel CC. Woodfolk scored a team-high 20 points against PSU York, and had a season-high eight field goals in the contest. Woodfolk has a pair of double-doubles on the year, and had a season-high 14 rebounds against Jamestown CC, and has hit double-figures in rebounds six times this year. She pulled down nine rebounds against PSU York, to go with her 20 points.
 
The head coach for CCBC Essex is Mike Seney, in his third year in charge and second full season with the Knights. Seney led the Knights to a 30-2 record in his first year, where the Knights won 19 straight games, took the Region XX DII Championship, and qualified for the DII National Tournament before the pandemic shut down their magic season. Seney came to Essex after five seasons as the head coach at Harford CC, where he led their squad to an impressive 135-15 record in his tenure, making the NJCAA DI tournament four times, and winning five straight Region XX DI Championships. Seney started as an assistant at Harford in 2013, then, after the Owls started 2-4 in 2014, he took over, and led them to a 21-2 record and a Region XX championship.  
 
Game Information
The match-up is set for a 1:00pm ET tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union in Scranton, PA on Saturday, January 15^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 and Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson providing the color Commentary. You can watch along via the link HERE.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Wednesday, January 19^th, when they travel to Trenton, NJ to take on the Mercer County CC Vikings. The game is the first of a doubleheader with the men's teams, and will start at 5:00pm ET.