MAAC Women's Hoop News And Notes

News and notes from around MAAC women's basketball ...

- You want offensively challenged teams? Welcome to the world of women's basketball in the MAAC so far in non-conference play.

Games might be exciting and close, but they're definitely not high-scoring. So far, through 59 games played by conference teams the average per-game point production by MAAC members is 54.1 points per contest.

That's down considerably from last season when only one team (Rider) averaged fewer points per game than this year's league-wide 54.1 per-game average. A year ago MAAC teams averaged 59.9 points per outing overall.

Of course the lesser production to date can easily be attributed to many of the conference teams taking on non-league opponents from higher-level leagues, so it should be interesting if scoring goes up some when league play begins.

Until then, though, some scores might continue to look like they were recorded in a half, rather than over a full 40 minutes. Like ...

- In a game this past Thursday Fairfield dropped a 30-29 decision against Villanova. The Lady Stags shot just 21.6 percent from the field in the contest, including 1-of-15 from 3-point territory.

- The Siena women scored 59 in a 63-59 loss against UAlbany on Saturday night. That 59-point total actually was the second-highest single-game production recorded by a conference team over the past six days encompassing 14 games. Only a 62-point "explosion" by Manhattan in a 62-48 victory over fledgling Division I program NJIT accounted for more points by a MAAC team over the past six games.

- Marist only scored 40 points in its most-recent contest, a 49-40 setback when it hosted St. Bonaventure on Saturday night. The point total is believed to be the program's lowest in head coach Brian Giorgis' tenure as head coach, now in its ninth season. Marist starters Katie Oliver (no points), Corielle Yarde (1 point), Erica Allenspach (3 points), Elise Caron (4 points) and Brandy Gang (5 points) combined for just 13 total points.

- Usually high-powered Canisius only scored 35 points in a 57-35 setback against Duquesne on Saturday. The Griffs, though, did extend their NCAA record for consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 491. And, 6-foot-4 freshman center Jamie Ruttle continues to impress. She had seven points and 10 rebounds in the contest. She has averaged 8.7 rebounds over the past three games. Ruttle and another 6-4 freshman Canisius center, Jen Lennox, each average 5.5 rebounds per contest on the season, the 14th-highest total among league players thus far.