By: St. John Fisher Athletics
After winning its fifth Empire 8 Championship in program history last weekend, the St. John Fisher College women's basketball team is laser focused as the Cardinals are set to do battle with Eastern Connecticut State at 5 p.m. on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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HOW WE GOT HERE: The Cardinals earned their first Empire 8 Championship since 2015 after cruising to a 74-53 win over The Sage Colleges last weekend. Fisher, which had advanced to the conference title game in each of the two previous seasons jumped out to a huge lead in the early goings before holding a 36-point advantage late in the game. Fisher, which started the year nationally-ranked, won the E8 Regular Season Championship by two games and cruised past Hartwick in the semifinal round before claiming its fifth Empire 8 title and the right to represent the conference in the NCAA Championship as a result.
WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE: Historically, Fisher is one of the most successful programs in Division III as the Cardinals have qualified for the NCAA Championship 15 times in all. With 984 all-time wins, the Cardinals are among the winningest programs in Division III history. The program finished as the national runner-up twice in 1988 and 1990. More recently, Fisher reached back-to-back national tournaments in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
POSTSEASON PRAISE: The Empire 8 released its All-Conference awards prior to the Championship last week and Fisher was well-represented. Sophomore Ella Eckert was named First-Team All-Conference after earning an Honorable Mention as a freshman while Miranda Lynch was named Second-Team All-Empire. Julia Mertsock was named Honorable Mention All-Conference while Fisher was named Coaching Staff of the Year as head coach
Melissa Kuberka alongside
Hannah Rehbaum,
Dana Cohan,
Maggie Tabone and
Liam Lazore guided the Cardinals to 19 wins during the regular season.
PICASSO, VAN GOGH, FISHER: Two used paint to create their masterpieces, the third uses the paint to master its opponents. Through 27 games, Fisher has been extremely successful on the block – a trait few teams have been able to match. Eckert enters the championship nearly averaging a double-double as her 14.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game lead Fisher. With 10 double-doubles under belt including three in the last four games, Eckert is capable of taking over a game. Fisher has two more post players that are capable of inflicting damage including Mertsock who is averaging 10.8 points and 7.2 rebounds while Mallory Wood has provided a big spark off the bench with 4.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
THE LYNCH PIN: The Cardinals' impact down low also has a huge affect on the team's perimeter shooting. With Eckert and Mertsock drawing double teams, Lynch has taken advantage behind the 3-point arc this season as the sophomore sharpshooter has buried more triples than anyone else in the conference with 75 including six that came last weekend in the Empire 8 Championship. Lynch, who is averaging a shade over 12 points per game this year and was named the Empire 8 Championship's Most Valuable Player, is shooting nearly 42 percent from distance and has made at least one 3-pointer in all but two games this season. Earlier this month against Alfred, the Webster native nearly tied a program record after sinking seven from downtown.
SCOUTING EASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE: The Warriors (23-4) will be making their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship after winning the Little East Conference Championship behind a 49-44 win over Rhode Island College on Sunday. Eastern Connecticut State, which has won its last five games, enters the weekend ranked third in the Little East in offensive production at 67.0 points per game. The Warriors featured a potent 1-2 punch led by Anna Barry who was named the conference's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year after averaging just over 14 points per game and nearly nine boards this season. Mya Villard will enter play on Friday having recently been named First-Team All-Conference for the third consecutive season with a team-leading 15.0 points per game. Fisher will need to lock Villard down as the senior has accounted for 1,647 career points – good for second most in Eastern's history.
On the defensive end of the floor, the Warriors are big and can bottle up the paint when needed. Barry leads the team and is among the national leaders in blocked shots with 81 while Eastern has averaged over 40 rebounds per game. If stats hold true, this game has the potential to be a slugfest with both teams capable of scoring the ball inside and rebounding.