Senior Kievanna Lacey wants the ball in her hands in clutch moments. Photo by David Sinclair

By Ryan Scott
D3hoops.com 

The Marymount women beat Capital Athletic Conference foe Christopher Newport on December 5. CNU didn't lose again... until Marymount came to town on Saturday and took both the game and the CAC regular season title with a 52-46 victory.

It's a microcosm of Marymount's season—an incredibly talented, successful team overshadowed by conference rivals (two of whom remain ahead of the Saints in the D3hoops.com Top 25). In the end, though, the CAC tournament will run through Arlington.

"We weren't aware, until after the game, that they had a 17-game win streak," said Saints coach Ashlee Rogers. "We knew they were Top 25, but we were just focused on winning the game to claim first place and putting ourselves in the best position for the conference tournament. And we did it. Our girls played 40 minutes of Marymount basketball."

Marymount basketball has been taking a toll on opponents all season. In addition to the strength of returning seniors Kievanna Lacey and Miranda Krott, sophomore Nicole Viscuso has shined in the post.

"Nicole has really emerged for us," says Rogers. "We knew she always had it in her and we're really glad to see her hard work over the summer pay off."

Viscuso, who is leading the team in both points and rebounds, got a lot of experience and confidence being the focal point of the offense early in the season when both Lacey and Krott missed time due to injury.

"Nicole emerged as one of the best players, not only on our team, but in the conference," says Rogers. "When Miranda came back, with Nicole playing out of her mind, our coaching staff said, 'we have to get them on the floor at the same time,' so we changed our offense six games into the season. It was a risk that paid off."

As strong as the offense has been, though, it's defense that runs the ship at Marymount. Currently fourth in the country in scoring defense, the Saints allow only 45 points per game, which comes in handy against a team like CNU that loves to score. On Saturday, no one scored a point in the first four minutes of play. From there both teams traded runs, keeping the game tight until the fourth quarter when Lacey took over the game with big play after big play.

"Kievanna has always been one of our go-to players," says Rogers. "She knows when she needs to step up. Not that she won't come and play for 40 minutes, but you could tell yesterday she wanted that game. She knew what was on the line and she was the one to throw the rest of the team on her back and say 'this is how we're going to do it.'"

Lacey agrees: "Our senior class is the only class that knows what it feels like to actually cut down a net, winning the CAC, winning the CAC tournament, and going to the NCAA [tournament]. So our senior class really has the drive and we're pushing everyone else so they can have that experience as well."

Lacey learned leadership firsthand, sharing the court with 2014 Jostens Award winner Katelyn Fischer for two years.

"Katelyn was a great leader," says Lacey. "One of the big things I learned from her is sometimes you just have to be a little hard on people. People can take constructive criticism. I can give it and I can take it as well. That's one of the things I struggled with that she taught me how to do."

Adds Rogers, "Ever since Katelyn has left, Kie has really taken over that spot as go-to player. I just know I can rely on her."

That trust is key, because putting together a championship season is not just about showing up to play. Marymount has invested a lot of time and effort on the recruiting trail, in practice, and in the mental aspects of the game to achieve the success they've found thus far.

"Our roster has gotten a lot bigger," says Rogers, who was forced to play with a roster of just eight players last season, due largely to injury. "We've been able to have more competitive practices than last year, just because of our roster size. [It's] being able to scrimmage more five-on-five that's been able to elevate our level of play."

This large contingent of freshmen are getting the same education this year's senior class got in the same position, getting to contribute and learn from a talented team focused on going far.

"We have a wide spread of people who actually want to play," says Lacey of her team's tenacity. "The difference from last year to this year is the hunger of everyone to be on the court. Even our practice team – they push us every day. They're pushing us for the next game and even trying to take someone's spot. That's what motivates us going forward."

The importance of intensity and focus came into view early in the season. "No coach ever wants to lose," says Rogers of her team's two consecutive losses (to Stevenson and Messiah) early in the season, "but I think those losses came at the right time."

"We lost the championship of our tip-off tournament to Messiah," she said. "I walked in the locker room with our runner-up plaque and I put it in the ledge of the white board and I told the girls it was staying there the rest of the year because if we wanted to truly meet our goals, then we needed to be reminded of that Messiah game. We didn't want to be runner-up anymore this year."

It hasn't happened yet.

The Marymount women will host the winner of Salisbury and York at home on Thursday and, if they win, the CAC Championship game on Saturday.

Catholic rounds into form

The Catholic men's basketball team was voted No. 6 in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll. It was a lot of expectations to live up to for a squad that returned the entire lineup from a 23-win season last year. The Cardinals took three early road losses and fell from national attention. The team buckled down and carried on, losing only two more contests all season and winning the final eight regular season contests to finish atop the Landmark and take the top tournament seed. Catholic hosts Juniata on Wednesday and looks to be peaking at just the right time.

CAC gives back with START

York College just wrapped up its 14th edition of START. "Students of Today Are Referees of Tomorrow" specifically seeks to recruit and train college students and local fans as referees and officials in a variety of sports. A number of D-III conferences, including the CSAC and the MAC sponsor similar events throughout the year and across all sports. Hundreds of interested parties have been through York's program and many of them are working high school and college games in the area. The START program is free to current college students.

York has a special connection to the referee community; its all-time leading scorer, Andy O'Brien, currently works for the NBA D-League and refereed a number of NBA summer league games this year. While O'Brien began his career before the START program came to York, his example is a great inspiration for local fans and students to be involved in the game on a deeper level.

Quick hits

With Wednesday night's win over Muhlenberg, the Swarthmore men's basketball team secured its 18th victory on the season, which is the most in the history of the program, dating back more than 100 years. They won number 19 on Saturday and look for magic number 20 in the Centennial Tournament next weekend.

On the women's side of the Centennial, Dickinson made the conference tournament. With 15 wins, the Red Devils secured their best overall finish since 2009-2010 and surpassed their win totals from the last two years combined.

Only one Mid-Atlantic women's team was ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25 preseason, Catholic. After the regular season ended we had five – Scranton, Albright, Muhlenberg, Christopher Newport, and Mary Washington.

Milestones

Brendan Boken needs just 30 points to break the Scranton all-time scoring record. He's averaged that much over the Royals' last four regular season contests. They play at Susquehanna on Wednesday.

Nancy Funk from JHU got win No. 650 over Washington College on Saturday. Catholic's Jay Howard hit 1,000 points; he's only a sophomore. Tim Stewart of McDaniel also hit the century mark. Senior Wayne Lennon of Wesley notched 200 assists.

Chime in

We are always on the lookout for good Mid-Atlantic region stories. I'm especially interested in statistical milestones and behind the scenes successes – these aren't always as easy to find in headlines and box scores. Contact me at ryan.scott@d3sports.com or @ryanalanscott on twitter.

Around the Mid-Atlantic was written by Ryan Scott during the 2015-16 season. He now writes Around the Nation.