Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Wilkes (3-9, 0-3) at Eastern (8-4, 1-2)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 / 6:00 p.m. 
The Gymnasium / St. David's, PA

LIVE STATS
GoEasternEagles.com

LIVE AUDIO
ESPNWilliamsport.com

AT A GLANCE
WU will go on the road for the first time in 2011, traveling to St. David's to take on Freedom Conference opponent Eastern University. The Lady Colonels have dropped four straight after a two-game winning streak and the Eagles are coming off of a 60-56 win over DeSales on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Colonels lost their fourth straight, losing to Manhattanville 86-65 on Saturday at the Marts Center.

Quickly falling down by 11 in the first half, the Lady Colonels narrowed their deficit to seven points after a layup by So. G Angela Palmerio (Telford, PA/Lansdale Catholic). The Valiants responded with a 24-10 run over the next nine minutes to take a 21-point halftime lead. Manhattanville went on to outscore WU by five points in the second half for the 21-point victory.

Sr. G Sam Lynam (Spinnerstown/Quakertown) led all scorers with 29 points on 11-26 FGs, adding 5 rebounds in 34 minutes. So. G Megan Kazmerski (Kingston, PA/Holy Redeemer) added 12 points and 3 steals while Palmerio chipped in with 8 points off the bench for the Lady Colonels.

GOING FOR 1,000
Sr. G Sam Lynam (Spinnerstown/Quakertown) continued her climb to 1,000 career points on Saturday as she dropped 29 on Manhattanville. She now stands at 787 in her three-plus seasons, needing just 213 more to reach the milestone. With 13 games remaining, Lynam needs to average 16.4 ppg to reach the mark. In her 10 games played, Lynam has scored at least 16 eight times.

BIG TIME SCORER
Lynam's 21.4 ppg tops the Freedom Conference and is the highest average she's had in her career. She's gone for 20 points four times, including a 29-point effort on Saturday against Manhattanville, and has hit 30 on two different ocassions, with a season-high 32 points in the Lady Colonels comeback win over Susquehanna.

Averaging just 28.4 mpg, Lynam leads WU with a 41.9 FG% (75-179) and an 84.3 FT% (43-51).

HITTING DOUBLE-FIGURES
Lynam has scored in double-figures 41 times in 66 career games at WU,
including all 10 games that she's played in this season. She's scored at least 20 points in her career 10 times, including three 30-point performances, with a career-high of 33 points coming against Arcadia as a sophomore.

DOUBLING HER EFFORTS
Averaging a career-high 21.4 ppg this season, Lynam is scoring more than twice as much as her career average coming into the year of 10.2 ppg.

Helping her scoring totals rise has been an increase in her shooting efficiency. Coming into this season, Lynam had a 33.9 FG% and a 24.7 3FG%. So far this year, she's converting 41.9 pct of her FGs and 33.3 pct of her 3FGs. Her FT% has remained constant throughout her career, as she's converting 83.1%.

Lynam's 28.4 mpg so far this season is also a career-high, besting her 21.2 mpg as a sophomore.

FINDING HER GROOVE
After averaging just 6.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg over the season's first four games, So. G Megan Kazmerski (Kingston, PA/Holy Redeemer) has stepped up her game, averaging 10.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg over the past eight. As a freshman last season, she led WU with 11.5 ppg.

Reaching double-figures in scoring in six of the past eight games, she netted a season-high 18 points on 7-14 FGs against Susquehanna. She also grabbed 14 boards against the Crusaders, getting her 1st double-double of the season and 4th of her career.

So far this season Kazmerski leads WU with 6.2 rpg, is 2nd with 9.4 ppg, 3rd with 30.4 mpg and has 18 assists and 3 blocks.

PICKING PASSES
In addition to scoring and rebounding, Kazmerski tops the Lady Colonels in steals, totaling 26 so far this season. Her 2.2 spg is t-9th in the conference, as she has 2+ swipes in nine games this year.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
After scoring 5.3 ppg last year, Jr. G Whitney Connolly (Liberty, PA/Liberty) has started to improve her offensive game, hitting double-figures in scoring five times this year, including four of the past seven games. Against Albright, she set a new career-high with 17 points on 6-9 FGs, hitting 5-7 from the line.

Over the past seven games, Connolly is averaging 10.9 ppg and 5.1 rpg while hitting 30-36 FTs and dishing out 16 assists. Against Baptist Bible, Connolly went 5-8 from the floor and scored 12 points, getting 8 points and 8 rebounds the following game against Susquehanna and 14 points and 6 rebounds against TCNJ on Dec. 11.

Through 12 games, Connolly is 2nd on the team with 24 assists, 3rd with 8.8 ppg and 4th with 4.8 rpg.

RUNNING THE POINT
Adding more scoring to her game this year is So. G Amanda Pawlowski (Nanticoke, PA/Holy Redeemer), who averaged 7.3 ppg during her first six games after scoring 4.0 ppg last season. Although she's scored just 13 points over the last five games, Pawlowski leads the team with 26 assists and is averaging a team-high 31.6 mpg.

She's hit double-figures twice this season, scoring 12 against Baptist Bible and MIT, combining for a 57.1 FG% (8-14).

Pawlowski had her best game of the season against Baptist Bible, going 3-4 from the field and 5-7 from the line, adding 5 boards and 3 assists.

ALL-AROUND THREAT
One of the most versitile players for the Lady Colonels, Sr. G Brittany Ely (Montrose/Montrose) is 2nd on the team with 5.8 rpg and has 14 steals while scoring 4.1 ppg and dishing out 15 assists.

Ely posted her 2nd career double-double against Western New England with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, adding 3 steals and 2 assists for WU.

She's grabbed at least 6 rebounds in six games this year and has a team-leading 19 offensive boards.

STEPPING UP
Stepping into a more full-time role this year, Sr. G Erin Schneider (Colchester, CT/Holy Name) has produced, ranking 4th on the team with 7.3 ppg while dishing out 21 assists. Her 15 made 3s are 2nd on the team, as she's hit at least one in nine of 12 games played.

Schneider has hit double-figures in scoring twice this season, getting a season-high 17 against MIT, going 6-11 from the field and 4-7 from 3 in 30 minutes. She also scored 10 points on 4-7 FGs against TCNJ, hitting 2-3 of her 3-point attempts.

PROVIDING A SPARK
So. G Angela Palmerio (Telford, PA/Lansdale Catholic) has given the Lady Colonels an energy off the bench, scoring 4.8 ppg and grabbing 2.8 rpg. She has proven she can score, netting a career-high 13 points in just 24 minutes against Western New England and has a 44.5 FG% (20-45) and a 35.5 3FG% (6-17).

She also also given the Lady Colonels a rebounding presence, getting at least 4 boards in five games, including 7 in 22 minutes against PSU Hazleton. In her first start of the season, Palmerio had 8 points, 7
rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals against Marywood.

OFF THE BENCH
So. F Sam Rohn (Levittown/Neshaminy) and Fr. G Helen Lawry (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills - Ballston Lake) have given the Lady Colonels extra minutes off the bench this year, as Rohn averages 11.7 mpg and Lawry 17.9 mpg.

After averaging 1.8 rpg in her first four games played, Rohn picked it up, grabbing 3.2 rpg in 11.8 mpg over the next five games.

Playing in nine games this season, Lawry's minutes have been steady, notching a season-high 23 against TCNJ. She's averaging 2.2 rpg from her guard position, including 5 boards in the comeback win over Susquehanna. She also added 5 points in 19 minutes against the Crusaders.

FROM THE FOUL LINE
Lynam leads the the team with an 84.3 FT%, going 43-51 from the charity stripe. She's gone to the line in all 10 games that she's played, and has converted at least 5 free throws six times.

Connolly is 2nd on the Lady Colonels with an 81.8 FT%, going 28-33 over her last five games. She's converted 36-44 from the line this season, including an 8-8 performance against Susquehanna.

As a team, the Lady Colonels are shooting 66.5%, hitting 153-230. Over the last five games, WU has converted 72-100 from the line, a pct. of 72.0.

THE CAPTAINS
The Lady Colonels are captained by the trio of Ely, Schneider and Connolly, the only junior of the group.

Ely brings her all-around game back to the Lady Colonels for her final season, as she has 63 games and 54 starts under her belt. Starting 20 of 25 games a season ago, she was 3rd on the team in minutes with 27.0 mpg.

Schneider, the 2nd senior captain, is also one of the most experienced Lady Colonels. Playing in 61 career games, she has logged nearly 1,000 minutes on the court for Wilkes.

The lone junior for the Lady Colonels, Connolly has played in 49 games at Wilkes, getting 23 starts a season ago, averaging 27.4 mpg.