POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (December 26, 2015) – The Vassar College women's basketball team (1-5) will look to end the 2015 calendar year on a high note this week, traveling to Salem, Massachusetts to take part in the Salem State Holiday Classic. Vassar College will battle host Salem State in the opening game of the tournament, playing either Wheaton College (MA) or Rutgers-Newark Wednesday. The Brewers have lost four straight coming into the week, falling on the road by three to New Paltz back on December 8.

Game Details
Opponent: at Salem State (3-6, 0-0 MASCAC)
Links:
(Vassar's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(Salem State's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Salem, MA
Facility: Twohig Gymnasium
Date: December 29, 2015
Time: 4 p.m.
Coverage: (Live Video)
 
Game Details
Opponent: vs. Wheaton (MA) (6-3, 1-1 NEWMAC) OR Rutgers-Newark (4-6, 1-4 NJAC)
Links:
(Vassar's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(Wheaton's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(Rutgers-Newark's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Salem, MA
Facility: Twohig Gymnasium
Date: December 30, 2015
Time: 2 p.m. OR 4 p.m.


What To Look For
The Brewers will have been off since December 8, a three-week hiatus from game action when they take the floor against the Vikings of Salem State. It will be imperative that the Brewers take care of the ball this week in Salem, as VC has been plagued by the turnover bug this season. Vassar is coming off a three-point loss to New Paltz on the road that saw the Brewers shoot a season-best 46.3 percent from the field, but 29 turnovers stifled the strong shooting. If Vassar can hold onto the ball and continue to shoot the strong percentage from the floor, it should be a tough squad in Salem.
 
A Look At The Vikings (3-6, 0-0 MASCAC)
Both Salem State and Vassar will be looking to break a four-game losing streak on Tuesday night, as the Vikings have dropped each of their games in the month of December thus far. The last time out for Salem State was on December 12, a 28-point loss to Endicott College on the road. Defensively, the Vikings are strong inside as they boast the 31^st most blocks per game in Division III with 5.2 rejections per night. Kia Fernandes leads that charge with 24 total blocks on the season. The Vikings lead the MASCAC in free throw percentage, making 71.4 percent from the charity stripe per game, while also pulling in the most defensive caroms per game with 29.0 a night.
 
Junior Kaitlyn Bryan has started all nine games for the Vikings and has led the team in scoring, as she has poured in 12.0 points per game, while Fernandes is chalking up 11.0 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds per night. Malissa Saad has connected on 44 percent from downtown this season, scoring 6.7 points per game, while Tyra Scott has added 7.4 points and 5.6 boards per contest this season. Sarah Callahan has started all nine games, adding 5.3 points per game along with a team-high 17 assists.
 
Against Salem State All-Time
Vassar has not played against Salem State before this week, as Tuesday's meeting will be the first between the two teams.
 
A Look At The Lyons (6-3, 1-1 NEWMAC)
Wheaton is having a strong season thus far, though the Lyons are coming off a loss back on December 10 to Tufts University, 58-45. Before that game though Wheaton had been riding a three-game winning streak, with wins over Maine-Augusta, Coast Guard and New Jersey City University. The Lyons have been very balanced this year, as they are the NEWMAC's top free throw shooting squad at 76.6 percent, ranking 12^th in the country currently. Wheaton also paces its conference in blocks with 40, while also holding the NEWMAC's top three-point field-goal defense. Wheaton has taken the most threes this year in the NEWMAC with 178, but is shooting just 27 percent from behind the arc.

The Lyons are paced by the strong efforts from senior Kiley Shoemaker, who comes into the game ranked first in the NEWMAC in blocks per game with 2.89, while also posting the second-best scoring rate in the league with 17.1 points a night. Shoemaker is also second in rebounds per game in the conference with 9.4 caroms a contest, while senior Rebecca Arnone is also scoring 12.8 points a game. Emily Cuthbertson has started all nine games for the Lyons, leading the conference in minutes per game with 34.8 while pouring in 8.1 points a night. Oppie Morris has started opposite of Shoemaker up front this year, and is pulling down 7.1 rebounds at the other forward position while adding 7.1 PPG as well.

Against Wheaton All-Time
The Lyons and Brewers have never played each other before, though Vassar College has played the other Wheaton College in Illinois back in 2006.

A Look At The Scarlet Raiders (4-6, 1-4 NJAC)
The Scarlet Raiders have gone 4-6 on the young season, but road games have been the undoing of the Rutgers-Newark team. The team is 0-3 on the road, including falling to Stockton University its last time out back on December 12, dropping a 87-66 decision to the Ospreys in Pomona, NJ. Rutgers-Newark sports the NJAC's fifth-best scoring offense with 63.5 points per game, allowing 65.8 points a night on average. Rebounding has hurt the Scarlet Raiders at times this year, as they have the NJAC's lowest defensive rebounding percentage at 60.7 percent. On offense though, Rutgers-Newark has shot well from downtown, making 31.2 percent from behind the three-point line.

The go-to player for the Scarlet Raiders has been Maria Simmons, who leads the New Jersey Athletic Conference in scoring with 20.9 points per game. The junior guard is shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, while pulling in 6.6 boards a night and dishing out 6.6 assist per contest. Simmons chalked up 28 points, along seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in that loss to Stockton. Running mate Arianna Williams is on the floor for nearly every minute of every game, averaging 39.2 minutes per game while posting 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per outing. Williams leads the team in made three-pointers with 30, while also having 12 blocks and 36 steals. Shala Glenn has started all 10 games and added 11.9 PPG, while Nikki Sammartino playing 27.5 minutes a game while posting 5.1 points a game.

Against Rutgers-Newark All-Time
The series with Rutgers-Newark and Vassar dates back to 2005, as VC took the first meeting with the two teams 53-51 at the Stevens Tournament. VC lost to the Scarlet Raiders four years later in Newark 55-48.

Queen Of The Blocks
Senior Rose Serafini (Milton, ON/Milton Area) is slowly making her way up the all-time career block list, as she sits second all-time right now with 136 swats. She trails Erin Haeuser by just 31 rejections coming into the week with 19 games to play this season.

Take Care Of The Moon
Senior Alex Moon (Mission Hills, CA/Bishop Alemany) is fifth in the Liberty League in assists to turnover ratio with a 1.33 mark, and is also in the top 200 in Division III.

How About A Call
In Division III women's basketball with 419 teams, Vassar has made the fewest free throws in the entire country despite shooting a very respectable 67.1 percent from the line, second-best in the Liberty League.

No High Fives
The Brewers have come up short in their last four games, and haven't lost five in a row since the 2008-09 season though all five games were in Liberty League play. Since joining the Liberty League, VC has never dropped five straight non-conference games.

Spread The Glass
The Brewers have had five different players lead them in rebounding a single game this season, as senior Caitlin Drakeley (Woodbury, CT/Nonnewaug) is the only player to repeat as the team's leading rebounder.

Stepping Up
Freshman guard Nicole Teta (Maspeth, NY/Archbishop Molloy) had her best game as a collegiate the last time out, posting eight points, four boards, five steals and three assists.

Same Five
This season, the Brewers have started the same starting lineup in each of their six contests.

Captain Coll
Senior Colleen O'Connell (Maywood, NJ/Immaculate Heart Academy) has only played 13 minutes per game this season, but she been very efficient. She is averaging 4.3 points per game and is shooting 50 percent from the floor and is 4-of-5 from downtown while turning the ball over just twice all season.

Up Next
Vassar will open its Liberty League slate January 8 at St. Lawrence University, taking on the Saints in Canton, NY at 6 p.m. in the first of 16 conference slates in 2016.