12/6/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's basketball will look to get back on track this weekend, as the Falcons travel to take on the Middlesex College Colts on Saturday, December 7^th, in Region XIX Division II women's basketball action.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm ET inside the Middlesex College Physical Education Center in Edison, NJ. The game is the first of two for the day, with the men's teams following at 3:00pm ET. Both games will have a video livestream available via the Middlesex College Colts TV, linked HERE.
 
About Lackawanna College
The Falcons (6-4, 3-2) enter the weekend on a two-game skid in region play, after winning their first three. Their most recent result was a 79-65 setback on the road at Raritan Valley CC on Tuesday, December 3^rd. Lackawanna led that game by as many as nine points at one point, and were within a possession nearing the midway point of the fourth quarter, but Raritan hit big three-point shots down the stretch, while the Falcons struggled from the field, going 3-for-18 in the final quarter, and not making a shot over the final five minutes. You can read the full game recap HERE.
 
Through their first ten games, the Falcons are averaging 72.3 points per game, while giving up 71.6 points per game against. Lackawanna is shooting 35.9% from the floor this season, while shooting 25% from three-point range. The Falcons have also struggled from the line, hitting 57.8% of their attempts. Lackawanna's opponents are hitting 37.5% from the floor and have hit 31% of their three-point shots. Lackawanna has an even rebounding margin, averaging 44.6 boards per game. The Falcons are averaging 19.6 turnovers per game, while forcing 19.7 per game this year. Lackawanna averages 11.7 steals per contest, while its opponents average 10.3 swipes per game. Lackawanna is averaging 4.2 blocks per game.
 
Sophomore forward Salote Franklin (Philadelphia, PA) leads the team with 17.9 points per game this season, eighth in the region and fourth in DII. Salote is shooting 46.5% from the floor and averages a team-high 10.9 rebounds per game, third in DII. She also has 26 steals, first on the team. Salote had 30 points in the season-opening victory against CCBC Catonsville back on November 1^st, shooting 13-for-21 from the floor, while pulling down eight rebounds. She set a season-high for rebounds with 18 in the win against Richard Bland College on November 2^nd, putting up 19 points for her first double-double of the season. Salote has scored in double-figures in nine of ten games this year and has six double-doubles on the year. She set a season-high with eight assists in the win against Essex on Tuesday, November 19^th. Franklin had 15 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and a season-high five steals in the win against Delaware Tech on November 23^rd. Salote also leads the Falcons with 14 blocks this year. She had 22 points and 13 rebounds in the loss at Raritan earlier this week.
 
Sophomore guard Jayla South (Long Pond, PA) is second on the team with 14.2 points per game this season, ninth in DII. South is shooting 33.8% and has made a team-best 13 three-point shots through the early going. She averages 6.2 rebounds per game, third on the team, and has 28 assists, second on the squad, along with 19 steals so far this season. South has scored double-figures in eight games so far this season, scoring her season and career-high with her 42 points against Essex on November 19^th, making 15 shots and hitting six three-pointers in the win. She also had eight rebounds and season-highs in assists (7) and steals (5). Jayla had 13 points and six rebounds, along with a pair of blocks, in the loss at Raritan Valley.
 
First-year guard Ania Crocker (Freeport, NY) is averaging 12.4 points per game this season, 16^th in DII, and is shooting 37.4% from the floor. Crocker averages 5.8 rebounds per game and has 29 assists, first on the team. She also has 25 steals, second on the team this season. She's tied for third on the team with eight rejections this year. Crocker scored her season-high against Jamestown on November 16^th, exploding for 28 points and a season-best 13 rebounds in the win on November 16^th. Crocker went 13-for-23 from the floor in the win. She set a season-high with seven steals against Richard Bland College on November 2^nd, where she also set her season-high with five assists. Crocker matched that season-high with five assists against Essex on November 19^th, scoring 26 points, grabbing five rebounds, and posting four steals in the win. Ania struggled at Raritan, scoring four points on 2-for-11 shooting. She did put up four assists.
 
Sophomore guard Desiree White (Carlisle, PA) is fourth on the team with 11.4 points per game through her first five games, hitting eight three-point shots and shooting 29.5% from the floor to start the season. White averages 3.8 rebounds a game and has six steals through her first five contests. Desi has hit double-figures twice this year, scoring her season-high in the loss to Montgomery on November 12^th, where she had 26 points, including four three-pointers and six free throws, along with three steals. Against Catonsville, she had 13 points and four boards. Desi led the team last season, averaging 16.9 points per game and hitting a team-high 40 three-pointers. She missed five games with injury, but returned last week against Union. She had nine points and four rebounds in the loss at Raritan Valley.
 
Sophomore forward Saraiah Franklin (Philadelphia, PA) is averaging 8.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game through her ten appearances. Franklin is shooting 43.7% from the floor and has 25 assists on the year. Saraiah had one of her best games of the year against Essex, scoring 14 points and setting a season-high in assists (5), along with matching her season-highs in rebounds (12) and steals (3). Against Harcum on November 21^st, she had a season-best 23 points, scoring 13 in the fourth alone, while going 8-for-9 from the free throw line and pulling down eleven rebounds. She had 12 points and eight rebounds in the win against Del Tech on November 23^rd. Saraiah has two double-doubles on the season. She had five points, three rebounds, and four assists in the loss to Raritan.
 
Sophomore forward E'ternity Aiken (Wilkes-Barre, PA) is averaging 6.5 points per game through her four contests this year, scoring a season and career-high of 15 points in the win against Richard Bland College. Aiken is 9-for-19 (47.4%) from the floor and has 24 rebounds through four games. She also has seven steals. Aiken had 15 points and eleven boards in the win against Richard Bland College. She also had four steals and a pair of assists. Aiken played for the first time in six games last week against Union, coming back from injury. She had four points and five rebounds against Raritan Valley.
 
Head coach Monica Spence is in her third season at the helm of the Falcons. Spence spent a year as an assistant before taking over the program in 2022. Before her time at Lackawanna, Spence spent time coaching at youth levels and in semi-professional men's basketball. Spence is a Wilkes-Barre native, who played her high school basketball locally at Wilkes-Barre GAR. Spence is 27-29 in her time as the head coach for the Falcons.
 
About Middlesex College
The Colts (4-4, 1-2) picked up their first Region XIX win earlier this week, knocking off Essex County College in an eleven-point victory on Tuesday night. Middlesex dropped a 100-40 loss to Union back on November 21^st and lost at home to Mercer County CC by 29 on November 26^th. The Colts also have wins at Hagerstown and at home against Anne Arundel and SUNY Orange.
 
Middlesex is averaging 60.5 points per game this year, while giving up 63.5 points per game on the year. In games with stats, the Colts are shooting 36.8% from the floor and 28.8% from beyond the arc, but are just 48.1% from the free throw line. Their opponents are shooting 34.7% from the floor and 26% from downtown. The Colts have a +1.7 rebounding margin, averaging 39.7 rebounds per game this year. They average 26 turnovers per game, and force 22 per contest, which includes nearly eleven steals per game. The opposition averages 15.3 steals per game. Middlesex averages 5.9 blocks per game.
 
Sophomore guard Kezia Feaster leads the Colts in scoring with 12.7 points per game this year, shooting at 39.1% from the field and 31.8% from deep. Feaster averages four rebounds per game, along with 1.4 assists per game and just over one steal per contest. Feaster has scored in double-figures in four games this season going into the Essex game, scoring a season-best 23 points in the win against Anne Arundel back on November 16^th. She had 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists. She has twice gone for her season-high at six boards, going for 13 points and six rebounds in a loss to Cecil on November 12^th. She also had three assists in that game. She had five points and one steal in the loss to Mercer on November 26^th.
 
First-year guard Alyssa Rice is second on the team, averaging 11.9 points per game this year. Rice shoots 32.7% from the floor and is a 68.8% shooter from the free throw line. Rice averages a team-high 2.4 assists per game, along with a team-best 2.4 steals per game. Rice also averages 3.7 rebounds per game. Rice has reached double-figures in five games coming into the Essex contest, scoring her season-best in the loss to Mercer, hitting 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting, while also putting up a season-best four assists. She had ten points and a season-best seven rebounds in the win at Hagerstown CC on November 2^nd.
 
Sophomore forward Amya Green is third on the team, averaging 10.6 points per game and shooting a team-best 57.9% from the floor. She's second on the team with 8.7 rebounds per game, and averages about a steal and an assist per game. Green has scored in double-figures five times this season, going for double-digit rebounds in three of those games. She had season-highs in points (15) and rebounds (18) in the loss to Cecil College, making seven shots from the field and pulling down ten offensive rebounds. Green had 14 points and ten rebounds in the loss at Union on November 21^st. Against Mercer, she scored ten points and pulled down eight rebounds.
 
Sophomore center Angelina Peralta-Almonte is tied for fourth on the team at 7.7 points per game, but leads the Colts in rebounding (10.9 per game) and blocks (4.1 per game). Peralta-Almonte shoots about 29% from the floor this season and is just 38.7% from the free throw line. She had season-highs in points (15), rebounds (18), and blocks (7) in the win at Hagerstown. Peralta-Almonte has two games with double-digit points, and four games with double-digit rebounds. Her other double-double came against Anne Arundel, scoring eleven points and securing 12 rebounds. She had five points, six rebounds, and seven blocks against Mercer.
 
The head coach for the Colts is Michel Powell, now in her 19^th season at the helm of the program, and in her 25^th season overall coaching in junior college. Powell, a Union College graduate, played basketball for the Owls for two years before transferring to Kean University, where she was a member of the 1987 Final Four team. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in recreation management, and was a teacher for over 30 years of physical education at St. Mary's of The Assumption, her HS alma mater. Powell joined the coaching ranks in 2000, taking over the Essex County College job, a post she held for six seasons, where she won 133 games and took a Garden State Athletic Conference title, along with a pair of Region XIX runners-up finishes. She's a two-time GSAC Coach of the Year, and has won over 250 games at Middlesex, where she also has a GSAC championship and two runners-up finishes in the region.
 
The Matchups
Last year, both Lackawanna and Middlesex met three times on the court. The Falcons won the two regular season contests by separate nine-point margins, including a crucial win on the road that put Lackawanna into the Region XIX playoffs, but Middlesex got the last laugh, knocking the Falcons out of the playoffs with a 58-51 win in Scranton, PA.
 
Saturday's game is scheduled for a 1:00pm ET start inside the Middlesex College Physical Education Center in Edison, NJ. The game is the first of two for the day, with the men's teams following at 3:00pm ET. Both games will have a video livestream available via the Middlesex College Colts TV, linked HERE.
 
The next game for the Falcons will be another road contest in Region XIX DII play, as Lackawanna heads to Trenton, NJ to take on Mercer County CC. Tip-off is set for 5:00pm ET inside the Mercer County CC gymnasium, and the game is the first of a doubleheader, with the men's teams set to follow at 7:00pm ET.