Women’s Basketball Road Slate Closes Saturday at Simmons

BOSTON – The Suffolk women's basketball hits the road for the final time in the regular-season Saturday, Feb. 11 when the Rams travel to cross town and GNAC rival Simmons for a 1 p.m. tip-off. 

SOCIALIZE
Stay up-to-date with all the latest news and notes on Suffolk Athletics by connecting with the Rams on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Be sure to use the hashtag #RamNation for an insider's look at Suffolk's teams and student-athletes.

LAST TIME OUT
In her 100th career start, senior Kelsey Schiebel led the Suffolk women's basketball team to a 63-56 win at Albertus Magnus Wednesday night at the Nest.          

MORE READING: Women's Basketball Stops Albertus Magnus, 63-56

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
Suffolk collected its 11th victory over conference competition Wednesday night, being just the third team in Rams' women's basketball history to gain 11 league wins in one season joining the 1999-00 (19-7, 11-1 GNAC) and 2007-08 (20-9, 11-2 GNAC) squads. With just two games remaining on the regular-season scheduled, Suffolk's (16-7) 11-3 league ledger puts the Rams in second-place in the south standings behind Emmanuel, who is 12-2. 

The Rams produced the fourth-best offense in the league with 67.0 ppg, shooting the best percentage from downtown at a 35.2 connection rate on the three-ball. Kelsey Schiebel and Georgia Bourikas pace Suffolk's well-balanced attack with 10.9 ppg and 10.5 ppg, respectively. 

Defensively, Suffolk sits atop the conference in rebounds, grabbing 47.0 rpg including the best defensive boards per outing with 32.3. The Rams are outrebounding their opponents by a 9.1 margin, which sits in the second spot in the conference. Caitlyn Caramello and Katelyn Rourke are the main ingredients to Suffolk's success on the boards. Caramello pulls down 7.4 rpg with Rourke recording 7.2 rpg. Alexandra Clarke contributes 6.5 rpg with Bourikas and Alexis Hackett adding 5.8 rpg and 5.5 rpg to the effort.  

SOMETHING 'BOUT THE SHARKS
Simmons is winless in February with setback at Rivier and Albertus Magnus and will play at home for the first time in the second month of the year Saturday versus Suffolk. The Sharks have not won a GNAC contest since defeating Lasell Jan. 19 to sit at 5-7 in league play and 6-12 on the year. 

Liz Brasca leads the Sharks on both sides of the hardwood with the senior forward producing 11.3 ppg and 8.6 rpg. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
The Suffolk, Simmons rivalry dates back to 1984 and is one of the oldest in the Rams history with the blue-and-gold leading 22-13. The Rams have rattled off seven straight wins over the Sharks.

EYES ON THE GAME
  

THE ELITE OF THE ELITE
Tuesday night Kelsey Schiebel became just the fourth Ram in Suffolk women's basketball history to not only play in, but start 100 games, joining the ranks of Illiana Quadri '15 (112 GP/1110 GS), Jacqueline Vienneau '13 (110 GP/108 GS) and Katie Librandi '02 (105 GP/103 GS).  

JOINING THE ELITE
Thursday night Kelsey Schiebel joined an elite group of Rams with her 100th career appearance in blue-and-gold. Schiebel is now one of 16 Suffolk women's basketball players to take the hardwood in 100 games.  

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Since November 28 the GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week has donned Suffolk blue-and-gold with Alexis Hackett earning six honors, including four straight from Dec. 12 - Jan. 16, and Katelyn Rourke picking up the nod twice, Dec. 5 and Jan. 23. 

BEST ROOK IN NEW ENGLAND
After collecting her fifth GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week nod this season, Suffolk women's basketball's Alexis Hackett earned another recognition as the NEWBA named her Rookie of the Week, the association announced Monday afternoon.   

MORE READING: NEWBA Recognizes Hackett as Rookie of the Week, Again

The pre-game shows are set to launch 15 minutes prior to tip-off of all contests and fans can follow along at mixlr.com/suffolkfreeradio/.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk returns home to the friendly confines of Regan Gymnasium for its final regular-season showdown Saturday, Feb. 18 when Emmanuel stops. Prior to the 1 p.m. tip, the Rams will honor the playing careers of their graduating seniors, Georgia Bourikas, Caitlyn Caramello, Alexandra Clarke and Kelsey Schiebel.