Mercyhurst plays in NEC Tournament against the LIU

Audio By Carbonatix

Long Island Sharks (19-10, 15-4 NEC) at Mercyhurst Lakers (15-15, 15-4 NEC)

Erie, Pennsylvania; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Mercyhurst and LIU square off in the NEC Tournament.

The Lakers are 15-4 against NEC opponents and 0-11 in non-conference play. Mercyhurst is 5-9 in games decided by at least 10 points.

The Sharks' record in NEC games is 15-4. LIU is 0-3 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Mercyhurst averages 9.2 made 3-pointers per game, 3.8 more made shots than the 5.4 per game LIU allows. LIU's 42.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 7.0 percentage points lower than Mercyhurst has allowed to its opponents (49.1%).

The teams meet for the third time this season. Mercyhurst won 58-55 in the last matchup on Feb. 21. Cici Hernandez led Mercyhurst with 17 points, and Kadidia Toure led LIU with 26 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Hernandez is shooting 38.4% from beyond the arc with 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Lakers, while averaging 13.9 points. Jenna Van Schaik is averaging 18.4 points, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.

Toure is averaging 19.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals for the Sharks. Solangelei Akridge is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 8-2, averaging 70.8 points, 25.5 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 9.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 41.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.5 points per game.

Sharks: 8-2, averaging 72.9 points, 34.8 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 5.5 steals and 6.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.2 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.