LORETTO, Pa. — The Canisius women’s basketball season continues at 11 a.m. Tuesday, as the squad plays a pre-Thanksgiving matchup against the Red Flash in the annaul Kids Day game.
Canisius enters the contest with a 1-2 record, coming off a 73-64 loss to Akron. The Griffs started slow allowing Akron to outscore them 31-13 and couldn’t recover from the deficit. The team got the lead to single digits twice in the contest, slashing the score to six and then seven at two different times in the fourth quarter, but Hannah Plybon’s 39 point effort sealed the Griffs’ fate. The offense was led by Lauren D’Hont and Sara Hinriksdottir, with both reaching double figures with 16 and 15 points, respectively. D’Hont’s 16 points was a new career-high for the senior, as she also set a new career-best in field goals with seven. Sara Hinriksdottir had her best game as a Griff, making a difference a lot of different areas. Hinriksdottir scored 15 points, recorded seven rebounds, six assists and five blocks for the all-around effort. Canisius has four players averaging double-figures for the season with Margret Halfdanardottir leading the team with 12.3 points, while Maria Welch (12.0), Lauren D’Hont (11.3) and Sara Hinriksdottir (11.3), all have double-digit point totals. As a team the Blue and Gold scored 65.7 points per while allowing opponents 71.0. Canisius is also shooting 31.8 percent from long-range while opponents are hurling at a 43.1 percent clip. Rebounding has been an issue so far for the Blue and Gold as Canisius is averaging 33.0 boards per game while opponents are taking down 41.7. Canisius has done a much better job protecting the basketball winning the turnover margin +5.0 (10.7-15.7)
The Griffs finished the 2015-16 regular season with a 13-17 record, and an 8-12 conference mark. Canisius had a fairly successful non-conference campaign, going 5-5 overall and recording the highest winning percentage in non-conference action since 2008-09. The team was forced to deal with a fair number of injuries which hampered the team’s starting lineup. Towards the end of the season Canisius had both point guards, Tiana Mills and Tamara Miskovic out for the season, and was dealing with an injury to its rebounding leader, Jasmine Mungo. None of the three saw action in the teams only MAAC tournament game in March. Despite the injuries Canisius headed into the postseason slated to play rival Niagara on March 2. The Blue and Gold swept the Purple Eagles with a pair of close victories during the season. The MAAC tournament proved to be different as Niagara’s Tiffany Corselli got hot from three-point land, hitting 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, as she helped lead the Purple Eagles to a one point victory over the Griffs, 65-64. Crystal Porter had the winning shot on her hand but rang it off the rim in the losing effort. The Griffs finished the season with Crystal Porter earning All-MAAC Second Team honors and Maria Welch making the conference all-rookie team.
This is the eighth time in program history that Canisius has faced the Red Flash, while its the third time under head coach Terry Zeh. The Griffs have won five of the seven matchups against the Red Flash. Canisius first played Saint Francis (Pa.) in 1987 and proceeded to lose the first two meetings, with the rematch taking place in 1988. Since the 1989 matchup, Canisius has reeled off five-straight victories, including its most recent match up, in 2015. The Griffs bested the Red Flash last season, 77-52 at the Koessler Athletic Center.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
