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For the second straight year, King’s and Misericordia are in serious contention for the MAC Freedom women’s basketball championship.
Both teams have been two of the best in the league this season, despite a bit of a losing skid for the Monarchs, who were the final undefeated team remaining in the MAC Freedom at 6-0 near the end of January.
King’s had lost four straight heading into Wednesday’s contest against Delaware Valley, the only winless team in conference play. The Monarchs got back on track with a 71-42 victory on the road.
“Our confidence and execution are different. We got loose with our defensive rules and turnovers plus poor shot selection on the offensive end,” King’s coach Caitlin Hadzimichalis said. “That, on top of our lack of rebounding, has been a problem and that’s a tough combination when you’re trying to win games.”
King’s still sits in a playoff spot with a 7-4 conference record in a tie with Eastern for third place. They also boast the highest scoring offense in the MAC Freedom with 73.7 points per game, 0.1 ahead of the second highest scoring team, Misericordia.
The Monarchs are led by the top three scorers in the conference, Rebecca Prociak, Samantha Rajza and Mackenzie Yori.
Prociak has been arguably the league’s most dominant player this season as well. She averages a double-double with 18 points per game and 10.5 boards per game.
The Cougars, meanwhile, have lost only once in conference play to DeSales, with both teams at 10-1 atop the league.
Misericordia may have been in this position last season, but the Cougars made it back with a significantly different cast of players, including four new starters.
“Losing those seniors plus another two starters who decided to walk away before the season began have not been easy, but our players responded the best way possible and took the ‘my turn’ approach,” Misericordia head coach Jason Rhine said. “You can plan for graduation, but you can never plan for players walking away for personal reasons, so the approach was simple — get ready to roll and do it quick.”
Tessa Zamolyi has been one of the players to step up for the Cougars. The lone returning starter is fifth in the conference in scoring and first in rebounds, averaging 15.2 points per game and 10.6 rebounds. Jordan Barth has also had a strong season, scoring 12.1 points per game and hauling in 9.1 rebounds per game.
Now with three games left both teams enter a stretch run that could potentially see these teams meet in the playoffs. They also have another regular season meeting with each other.
For Misericordia, they likely will be a top two seed while the Monarchs will sit third or fourth.
“Everything is still in front of us and within our control; no hitting the panic button,” Hadzimichalis said. “We can’t change past losses and we can’t play other games around the league, so our mindset is on executing for the greater good of the team.”
King’s will wrap the regular season up with a game against its local rival, Wilkes, on Saturday and then Misericordia and Stevens next week.
“The game plan is to focus on controlling our controllables,” Hadzimachalis said. “Defense and taking care of the ball is going to be key.”
The Cougars had trouble with 2-9 Wilkes on Wednesday and their three remaining games come against the three other teams currently holding playoff spots. They play DeSales Saturday, a game that could decide who will have the top seed for the playoffs. They then play King’s and Eastern to close things out.
“The other teams in the conference have proven themselves to be a force on any given night and so we have to be prepared to get their best shot,” Rhine said. “I have a lot of respect for the coaches and teams in our conference.”