POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (December 27, 2013) – The No. 20/23 Vassar College women's basketball squad will head nearly 2,200 miles from Poughkeepsie over the next five days to take part in the Vegas Hoopla Tournament, hosted at the Centennial Hills Community Center in Las Vegas, NV. The Brewers will take on No. 3 Amherst College Saturday at 6 p.m. PST, before finishing the trip on December 30 with a test against Gwynedd-Mercy College. The Brewers have not played since defeating then No. 3 Montclair State 63-58 in the Athletics and Fitness Center back on December 11.

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Game Details
Opponent: vs. No. 3 Amherst College (8-0/0-0 NESCAC) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Las Vegas, NV
Facility:  Centennial Hills Community Center (500)
Date: December 28, 2013
Time: 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST
Live Video

Game Details
Opponent: vs. Gwynedd-Mercy College (3-5/1-2 CSAC) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Las Vegas, NV
Facility:  Centennial Hills Community Center (500)
Date: December 30, 2013
Time: 2 p.m. PST/5 p.m. EST
Live Video

What to Look For
The Brewers have been idle for over two weeks, having come off one of the biggest wins in programs history with the victory over No. 3 Montclair State. Vassar will take on the team that replaced the Red Hawks in the No. 3 position of the polls, creating another opportunity for Vassar to make its case as one of the best teams in the nation. Watch to see what team adjusts best to the travel from the Northeast to Las Vegas, especially after the holiday break. Seniors Hannah Senftleber (Burlington, VT/Burlington) and Cydni Matsuoka (San Francisco, CA/John F. Kennedy) will be big, making sure the squad focuses within the lights of Vegas. Amherst is quite the test for Vassar, as AC has lost just twice in the regular season over the last five years.

A Look at the Lord Jeffs
The third-ranked Lord Jeffs of Amherst College come into Vegas Hoopla with an 8-0 record, having defeated Bridgewater State 86-73 back on December 12 their last time out. Head coach G.P. Gromacki and his squad has already played two Liberty League foes this year, knocking off Skidmore College 63-52 and RPI 80-57 back in November.

The Lord Jeffs are solid in many different categories, but especially at not turning the ball over. Amherst is 13^th nationally in turnovers per game, surrendering just 13.5 per game. This turns out to be a good thing, as the squad has a pair of forwards in Megan Robertson and Marly Giddens who both shoot over 50 percent from the floor. Giddens leads the team in scoring, chalking up 14 points per game to go with 7.4 rebounds a night, while Robertson is just behind with 13.9 points and 9.6 boards a night. The Lord Jeffs shoot 42.2 percent as a team, including a very strong 33.6 clip from behind the three-point line. Cheyenne Pritchard is one of only two players (Robertson) to start all eight games for Amherst, and averages nine points per game, firing a blistering 46.7 percent from downtown. Freshman Jaimie Renner also posts double-digit points per game, pouring in 10 a contest. AC out-rebounds its opponents on average by just over than seven rebounds, and has taken nearly 200 free throws on the season. Amherst will also battle Marywood College while in Vegas.

Amherst Projected Starting Lineup: F - Megan Robertson (13.9 PPG), F - Marley Giddens (14.0), F - Meredith Doswell (7.4), G - Jaimie Renner (10.0), G - Cheyenne Pritchard (9.0)

Against Amherst All-Time
Saturday's affair between the Lord Jeffs and Brewers will be their second meeting on the women's basketball floor, and first since the 2003-14 season. Just over ten years ago, Amherst came to Poughkeepsie and handed the Brewers a 59-40 loss. All-time, the Brewers are 2-25 against teams in the New England Small College Athletic Association, with both wins coming against Connecticut College.

A Look at the Griffins
Gwynedd-Mercy College fought through a five-game losing streak after winning its first game of the season, but has rebounded to take its last two contests heading into Vegas Hoopla. GMC has been one of the best teams in the Colonial States Athletic Conference over the last eight years, averaging just under 20 wins per season over that span. Head coach Keith Mondillo and his squad is among the most unselfish teams in the nation, coming into the weekend 17^th in assists per game with 18.3 helpers per game. Defense has been what has hurt the Griffins this year, allowing over 70 points per outing and 21 personal fouls per game, both in the bottom 10 percent of Division III.

Nicole Dougherty paces the scoring for the Griffins, posting 11.6 points per game, as she is in the top 15 nationally in free throw shooting, making 32 of her 36 shots from the line. Lauren Smith is the only other player on the squad posting double-figures, pouring in 10.3 points per game, though Natasha Matthews is just below the threshold with 9.7 points per game. No Griffin player is grabbing over six rebounds per game, but the squad does have six players pulling in over three a game. GMC does have a solid three-point shooting team, with three players shooting over 39 percent from downtown. Also, the Griffins are a pretty deep squad, playing 10 players 11 minutes a game or more with no one averaging over 25 minutes per night. Gwynedd-Mercy actually has played its best basketball away from The Griffin Complex, going 2-1 on the road as opposed to 1-4 at home.

Gwynedd-Mercy Projected Starting Lineup: F - Nicole Dougherty (11.6 PPG), F - Natasha Matthews (9.7), G - Lauren Smith (10.3), G - Jordan Dominic (7.6), G - Kelsey Yori (6.0).

Against Gwynedd-Mercy All-Time
The contest on Monday will be the first time the two squads have played each other in women's basketball, as Vassar is 5-3 against teams all-time from the CSAC. GMC and Vassar have one common opponent this season, Montclair State University. VC knocked off the Red Hawks by five, while the Griffins lost 80-51 to MSU.

Dungeon Defense
The Brewers have been solid on offense, but have won six games to open the season thanks much in part to their defense. VC is third nationally in Division III in scoring defense, and has the sixth-best field goal percentage defense in the nation. That also includes the nation's second-best three-point field goal defense.

That's Mine
Despite playing just nine players most games, the Brewers have been very strong on the boards. Coming into this weekend, Vassar has pulled in on average 14 more boards than its opponents, which is seventh-best in the country.

Stat Stuffers
With the New Year on the horizon, the Brewers appear to be statistically one of the favorites within the Liberty League. As of December 27, Vassar tops eight team statistical categories, including scoring margin and field-goal percentage.

Hannah Storm
Senior Hannah Senftleber is coming off back-to-back monster double-doubles, averaging 21 points and 18.5 rebounds over her last two games. Senftleber was named as Liberty League and ECAC Upstate Player of the Week, along with earning D3hoops.com Scoutware Team of the Week accolades.

Field Goal Is Good
Senior Cydni Matsuoka added to her records held at Vassar the last time out, as she rose to the top of the field goals made list at Vassar with 538. Matsuoka passed former teammate Brittany Parks '12, who held the previous record with 535.

Helping Hand
Matsuoka is bearing down on the career assists record, trailing current record holder Erin Harper '06 by just 12 helpers. Matsuoka has 414 assists throughout her career to date.

Michelle Answers The Bell
Junior Michelle Foreman (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) came off the bench and was huge against No. 3 Montclair State, tying a career-high with 11 points while also posting two huge steals at the end of the game to seal the victory.

600 Club
Hannah Senftleber became only the second player for Vassar since 1999 to post 600 rebounds in a career, as she eclipsed that mark against Montclair State.

Big Minutes
Sophomore Rose Serafini (Milton, Ontario, Canada/Milton District) had a huge game her last time out, making all four field goals to go with five rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.

Six and Ohh!
The Brewers enter Vegas Hoopla with a 6-0 record, marking the third consecutive season VC has earned a 6-0 start to the year. In the previous two years though, the seventh game proved problematic, as the Brewers fell both times.

Up Next
After Vassar returns from Sin City, the Brewers will finish non-conference play Tuesday, January 7 against the Hawks of Hartwick College at 6 p.m. at home in the AFC.