NEC Player of the Week: Denia Davis-Stewart, MER
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NEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DENIA DAVIS-STEWART, MERRIMACK
Sr., F, 6-1, Dorchester, MA/New Mission
Week 16 Stats: 2 starts, 23.0 ppg, 17.5 rpg, 2.5 bpg, .500 FG pct.
Davis-Stewart averaged a monster double-double to pace the circuit in scoring (23.0) and rebounding (17.5) last week. Moving into the top spot on the NCAA Division I leader board with 21 double-doubles, the senior forward notched double-digit points and rebounds on both ends of the Warriors’ split NEC weekend. Davis-Stewart shot 50.0 percent from the field while accounting for 41 percent of Merrimack’s scoring total. The 6-foot-1 post presence also logged 2.5 blocks per outing. Davis-Stewart carried Merrimack to a 59-45 triumph over Sacred Heart on Friday in North Andover, finishing one carom shy of a 25-25 performance. In addition to pouring in a game-high 25 points, the veteran Warrior set the NEC single-game season high with 24 rebounds. She also contributed three blocks, two assists and two steals, leading Merrimack to its 18th victory. Davis-Stewart topped the 20-10 plateau during the Warriors’ visit to second-place Mount St. Mary’s. The veteran forward accounted for 21 points, 11 caroms and two blocks in the 62-53 setback.
NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
NEVENA DIMITRIJEVIC, ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN
Fr., G, 5-3, Kragujevac, Serbia
Week 16 Stats: 2 starts, 19.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, 2.0 rpg, 1.5 spg, .462 3FG pct.
Dimitrijevic led all NEC rookies in scoring (19.0) while pacing the entire circuit in assists per game (6.0) last week. The first-year Terrier sparked an important 80-77 win over NEC rival Bryant, piling up a game-high 27 points to go along with nine assists, three steals and three rebounds. She shot 58.8 percent from the field, including a 5-for-8 clip from downtown, in the victory. Her fifth three-pointer of the game gave SFBK a 75-68 advantage with 2:45 remaining. Dimitrijevic also sank a free throw to provide the Terrier’s with a three-point cushion with 00:07 on the clock. Two days later, the freshman point guard scored in double figures for the fourth straight game. Dimitrijevic tallied 11 points and three assists in a setback to Verrazzano Bridge rival Wagner.
TAKE FIVE
??? Mount St. Mary’s stopped Robert Morris’ run to perfection for the second year in a row. RMU had won its first 14 conference contests until the Mount eked out a 62-59 road win over February 21. Last year, Robert Morris shot out to an 11-0 start to conference play before falling at Mount St. Mary’s.
??? Merrimack senior forward Denia Davis-Stewart has reclaimed the NCAA Division I lead in double-doubles (21), moving past Auburn’s Unique Thompson and Belmont’s Ellie Harmeyer who have 20 apiece.
??? Robert Morris upped its conference record to 15-1 with Sunday’s win over Fairleigh Dickinson, securing the program’s fifth straight overall 20-win season.
??? The Mount, which owns the NEC’s longest active win streak (8 games), became the first RMU opponent to eclipse the 60-point mark in the last 13 games.
??? Wagner’s two-win week has moved Heather Jacobs’ team (6-9) into a four-way tie for sixth place in the NEC standings. The Seahawks are one of six teams vying for the final five NEC Tournament berths (RMU, MSM and SFU have already clinched a spot in the eight-team bracket).
PRIME PERFORMERS (WEEK 16)
The following players earned “NEC Prime Performer status” after accounting for some fine statistical lines...
DENIA DAVIS-STEWART (MERRIMACK)
2 starts (vs. SHU; at MSM), 2 double-doubles, 23.0 ppg, 17.5 rpg, 2.5 bpg, .500 FG pct.; 25 points and 24 rebounds [NEC single-game season high] in win over Sacred Heart
EMILIJA KRISTA GRAVA (WAGNER)
2 starts (vs. CCSU; at SFBK), 21.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, .556 FG pct., .833 FT pct.
BRANDY THOMAS (LONG ISLAND U)
2 starts (at FDU; at SFU), 21.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.5 spg, .607 FG pct.; 29 points [game high] in 28 minutes in road win over Saint Francis U
HALEY THOMAS (SAINT FRANCIS U)
1 start (vs. LIU), 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, .692 FG pct.
BROOKE BJELKO (BRYANT)
2 starts (at SFBK; at SHU), 16.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.0 bpg, .556 FG pct.
LAUREN FRANCILLON (FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON)
2 starts (vs. LIU; vs. RMU), 16.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.5 bpg, .469 FG pct.; double-double in win over LIU
NIKKI JOHNSON (SACRED HEART)
2 starts (at MER; vs. BRY), 17.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg; 3.0 3FGM/g; 21 points [game high] in win over Bryant
JANELLE MULLEN (WAGNER)
2 starts (vs. CCSU; at SFBK), 19.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.5 spg, .467 FG pct.
NEVENA DIMITRIJEVIC (ST. FRANCIS BKLYN)
2 starts (vs. BRY; vs. WAG), 19.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, 2.0 rpg, .462 3FG pct.
KAYLA AGENTOWICZ (MOUNT ST. MARY’S)
2 starts (vs. BRY; vs. WAG), 14.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.0 spg, 2.5 apg, .500 FG pct.; 20 points [game high] in win over Robert Morris
TWEET SHEET
@MountFanBlog
(Feb 21) Huge road win for @Mount_WBB at Robert Morris #GoMountGo
@NationalStat
(Feb 22) Lowest Probability Wins for February 21
12% - WBB: Mount Saint Mary`s 62, Robert Morris 59
@EdwardLeeSun
(Feb 23) Final-??@Mount_WBB?? 62, ??@MerrimackWBB?? 53. Michaela Harrison scored 17 points for the Mountaineers (18-9 overall and 13-2 in ??@NECsports??), which has eight straight wins -- matching their longest win streak in six years. Denia Davis-Stewart had 21 points for the Warriors (18-9, 11-5).
@PohlAdam
(Feb 23) ??@Mount_WBB?? Still a chance at first ??@NECsports?? regular season title since 2001!!! Incredible job by ??@CoachMarchesano?? and her incredible staff and players.
@RandyBrochu
(Feb 23) Huge 3 from Jayla Davis to give @SacredHeartWBB their first 2nd half lead. Big win for @SHUBigRed over Bryant in #NECWBB!!
@CraigCD13
(Feb 23) I don’t ever remember a year with a week and a half remaining that 6 teams were still alive to clinch the two remaining first round home game spots #NECWBB
@CraigCD13
(Feb 23) FDU hasn’t been top 4 seed since 93 & hasn’t won a tourney game since 92. They were battling for a top 4 seed 2yrs ago before 5 straight losses to end the year dropped them to #8. If they can get a 1st Rd home game & bring the #NECWBB tourney back to NJ that would be pretty cool.
@CraigCD13
(Feb 21) Somewhere the 1987 Hawks, 1994 Mount, 2004 Red Flash. 2009 Pioneers, and the 2013 Bobcats can do their toast as they remain the lone members of the NEC’s perfect record club for at least another year #NECWBB
@NelCastNY
(Feb 24) #LIUWBB got a big road win on Sunday beating SFU. LIU is 6-9 & are in a 4-way tie for #5 seed presently w/ 3 gms left to play. If they can get 2 more Ws, they would give them 8 #NECWBB Ws which would tie for the most NEC Ws for them since 2011-12. They reached 8 in 2017-18
@GardellaDan
(Feb 20) Got to talk some @SacredHeartWBB on the “SHU Sports Report” this week. I talked about the constant improvement of Adrianne Hagood, what the freshmen have brought to the Pioneers, and how @jmnetter33’s team has plenty of upside for years to come. #NECWBB #WeAreSHU
TOP 2 GUARANTEED
There is still much to be determined when it comes to seeding for the eight-team NEC Tournament, but one thing is for sure.
Robert Morris (15-1) and Mount St. Mary’s (13-2) are guaranteed top-2 seeds.
With a 1.5-game lead atop the regular season standings, Robert Morris has the inside track to the No. 1 seed and the home-court advantage that comes with it. Mount’s path to the top spot must include a second head-to-head victory over Robert Morris when the two programs clash again on March 2. In Emmitsburg.
Robert Morris has been the NEC Tournament’s top seed on four prior occasions. The Colonials won it all three of those four times and they own a 10-1 record in NEC Tournament games as the No. 1 seed.
Mount St. Mary’s has not owned the No. 1 seed in the NEC Tournament since 2001 when it fell to LIU in the title tilt. The Mount topped the 2000-01 regular season standings with a 13-5 NEC record.
MACK TOUGH FOR MORE THAN ONE REASON
Merrimack senior forward Denia Davis-Stewart leads NCAA Division I in double-doubles (21) and ranks amongst the top-three national leaders in blocked shots (109)*.
Bursting onto the scene during the Warriors’ inaugural DI campaign, Davis-Stewart paces the circuit in scoring (18.3) and rebounding (13.4), but she isn’t the lone force behind Merrimack’s .667 win percentage.
In particular, sophomore guard Kate Mager has matched Merrimack’s step up in class with a step up in personal production.
After making 66 three-pointers as a Division II freshman, Mager enters the final week of her sophomore season as the Northeast Conference leader in three-point field goals (74) and three-point field goal percentage (.435).
Mager averages 11.9 points per game – the 10th-highest output in the NEC.
* - Davis-Stewart is approaching the NEC single-season blocks record (114) that Wagner’s Ugo Nwaigwe set in 2014.
QUOTABLE
CHARLIE BUSCAGLIA (Robert Morris), Head Coach
“Very resilient effort today as we stayed passionate on the defensive end even when the ball wasn’t going in for us. FDU is a very hard working and well coached team. They came into this game playing great, and we knew we needed to earn everything. As much as we have some screws to tighten, there is a lot of positives to take away from this win.”
- after the Colonials grinded out a 48-35 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, clinching the program’s fifth consecutive 20-win campaign
“You have to give (Mount St. Mary’s) credit. You saw a team come out and be able to fight for 40 minutes. We have to fix some things on our end and be better in certain moments. I was proud of us for not quitting, but we have to be better guarding different lineups. We’ll go back to the video and back to work at practice.”
- after RMU suffered its first conference loss of the season - 62-59 to rival Mount St. Mary’s
ANGELIKA SZUMILO (Fairleigh Dickinson), Head Coach
“I thought this was one of our best defensive efforts of the season. To hold this team to 48 points is pretty good, and they’re a very good team, good defensively as well. It teaches us that if you play good defense, you can be in every game, and today had a couple more shots gone in, we would have been in a closer game. If you play good defense, you can be in a position to steal a game.”
- after FDU’ slowed down first-place Robert Morris despite suffering a 48-35 setback