The King’s College Lady Monarchs basketball team returns to the hardwood at Scandlon Gymnasium on Wednesday night for a Freedom Conference tilt against Desales University. The 5-7 Monarchs hold a .500 record (1-1) throughout two games in league play. The Monarchs face a tall task in the 8-5 Bulldogs who stand at 2-0 on the short slate of league games.
King’s boasts a young roster that contains just one senior and is showing a ton of promise hanging in close games with opponents that they are not supposed to hang around in games with.
The Lady Monarchs are led by a two-headed monster scoring attack that features sophomore Kayla Feairheller (12.6 PPG, 17 three pointers) and lone senior Marissa Manning (11.6 PPG) in double digits.
Coach Brian Donoghue, in his tenth season on the sidelines in Wilkes-Barre, sees contributions from sophomore guard Kasey Seitz (7.8 PPG, 15 three pointers), junior forward Jennifer Fabian (6.6 PPG, 7 three pointers), and efficient freshman forward Olivia Hoffman who is averaging 6.6 points per game while shooting an impressive 50 percent from the field.
The Lady Monarchs are tasked with trying to stop the top heavy offense of DeSales. The Bulldogs are averaging 65 points per game and their inside outside duo of forward Morgan McCollian and guard Megan Baird are averaging a combined 27 points per game.
The Bulldogs are missing leading scorer Leandra Sterner who played in just 6 games this season but averaged 17.3 points throughout those games. McCollian has stepped up big in Sterner’s absence with 16.8 points per game dominating in the paint. Baird is a deadly shooter from behind the 3-point arc with 27 threes on the year while shooting nearly 40 percent from deep.
The Monarchs will be tested by a very good DeSales offense through all 40 minutes of Wednesday’s matchup. Coach Brian Donoghue has not been afraid to go to his bench which can be key to change defensive looks against a team that thrives on the offensive end of the court. The Monarchs will look to hand the Lady Bulldogs their first loss of the season when the ball is tipped at 6 pm in Wilkes-Barre.
Donny Hopkins covers King’s sports for WRKC Digital, follow him on Twitter @HopkinsDonny or email him at DonaldHopkins@Kings.edu