ARLINGTON, Va. – The Capital Athletic Conference Tournament continues in the Verizon Sports Arena tonight, as the top-seeded Marymount women's basketball team hosts fourth-seeded Mary Washington in a semifinal matchup at 7 p.m.
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How We Got Here
The Saints tied history in the CAC, being just the second team since the inception of the league back in 1990 to earn 17 conference victories in women's basketball in a single season. With their 17-1 tally, they were named regular-season champions with their road victory over Mary Washington last Saturday and an upset victory by York on the road at now second-seeded Christopher Newport, the only team in the league that defeated Marymount this season. As the regular-season champion, the Saints earned the top seed in the CAC tournament and a first-round bye.
How They Got Here
After the Saints and Spartans pulled off victories on Saturday to close out the regular season, Mary Washington with their 12-6 league record earned the fourth seed in the tournament. On Tuesday night, the Eagles hosted fifth-seeded Salisbury University for the first round and held out a rally by the Sea Gulls for the 50-42 knockout. Tory Martin came off the bench to lead the Eagles in scoring for the night with 11 points, while Jordan Pamlanye pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Season Series
Through the two games played in the regular season, the Saints outscored the Eagles by a combined score of 106-82, sealing up the season sweep. Although UMW had the better field-goal percentage (40.8 percent compared to 35.7 percent), Marymount dominated the rest of the categories, including rebounds (71-53), assists (23-17), steals (24-15), and assist/turnover ratio (0.7, 0.3). Sophomore Regan Lohr, who currently averages 14.6 points per game, paced the scoring for the Saints with 32 total points in the two games, spurred by her 21-point effort at home on January 13. Senior Leah Hurst also has had a good season series against the Eagles, averaging 10 points and 6.5 assists in the two games. In Saturday's game, her fifth point of her game-high 11 was her 1,000-point milestone in which she'll be honored at the beginning of the semifinal game on Thursday night.
Postseason History
There is a lot of history between these two squads in the CAC postseason, as this is the seventh-straight year Head Coaches Ashlee Rogers and Deena Applebury meet in the league tournament. Beyond Rogers' tenure, the two squads have met the last 11 of 12 season with the Eagles holding a 7-4 edge. However, looking at the program title count, Marymount doubles Mary Washington's championships, 12-6. The last time they met in the tournament was the semifinals in 2017 in Fredericksburg, as the Saints fell in overtime, 56-54.
Home Court Advantage
Marymount is riding an 18-game win streak in the Verizon Sports Arena, dating back to 2017. The last time the Saints fell at home was on January 8, 2017 to No. 8 Christopher Newport, dropping a 54-51 decision. A perfect 11-0 record this season has MU outscoring its opponents, 776-543, on a 44.5-shooting percentage. Beyond their impressive offensive front, the defensive side is where the statistics shine, forcing an incredible 23.9 turnovers per game (263 total). Of the 263 turnovers, 169 were calculated as steals for Marymount. In terms of scoring by individuals, four of the five typical starters for the Saints average higher points per game at home than they do on the road (Hurst 11.5, Lohr 14.0, McQueen 12.4, Viscuso 13.5).
What's Next?
The winner of tonight's game will move on to the conference championship on Saturday, February 24. If the Saints advance, they will host the title game due to being the top seed in the tournament. Should the Eagles win, they would travel to the winner of the other semifinal matchup between second-seeded Christopher Newport and third-seeded York (Pa.). Tipoff is to be announced.