TROY – The Lady Raiders have won every basketball game but one since returning from the holiday break. FM's record in that January-February play is a most impressive 11-1. The one and only loss was to the Lady Vikings of Hudson Valley who defeated the FM Five 79-70 in the Raiders Den on January 18. On Wednesday evening, the Lady Raiders evened the score by downing the Lady Vikings 76-67 in the Vikings' camp in Troy.

It was an important, but not critical, game for both clubs. The Mountain Valley Conference Championship had already been settled:  FM had won the crown, with Schenectady coming in second and Hudson Valley placing third. (See full conference standings below.) Regardless of Wednesday's outcome, both teams would be going to the Region 3 championship tournament at Onondaga CC. The tourney, which begins a week from Friday, brings together the top eight teams in the region. The FM-Hudson Valley tilt on Wednesday gave each team a chance to strengthen its credentials for the tournament seeding. FM was the better team on Wednesday and is now most likely to be seeded second, behind Onondaga.

Some teams have trouble adjusting to the surroundings in the spacious Hudson Valley arena, but that did not seem to be a problem for the Lady Raiders.  FM used a balanced attack and built a 36-25 lead in the first half. Then, despite a late surge by the Lady Vikings, FM still had that nine-point lead when the final buzzer sounded. The final score was 76-67.

Four Raiders posted double figures for the game. Monae Abrams scored 18, Kassandra Flowers and Sherice Gayle each tallied 14, and Stephanie Rice added 13. In all, eight different players added to the Lady Raiders' ledger.

The Raiders also rebounded well. Adams and Gayle pulled down 17 rebounds each, and Rice grabbed nine. FM outrebounded the Vikings 60-44.

FM held Hudson Valley's outstanding freshmen My'Asia Alston and Shikera Lawson to a total of 30 points, which is almost five points fewer than their average. The two talented players joined the Hudson Valley team during the semester break and entered Wednesday's contest averaging 34.9 points per game between them. HVCC had a record of 4-5 prior to the break, and they've gone 9-3 since Alston and the 6' 2" Lawson joined the team.

FM and Hudson Valley have now split their two regular-season games. If they should meet again in the postseason, it could be a major matchup. The combined scores of their two games are 146 for FM and 146 for Hudson Valley.

Scoring:

FM:  Jordan 5, Chea 2, Flowers 14, Rice 13, Woney 3, Abrams 18, Er. Redwood 7, Gayle 14; Total 76

HVCC:  Lafietra 2, Tomeck 19, Alston 20, Lawson 10, Sangetti-Daniels 11, Janson 5; Total 67.

Halftime:  FM 36 - HVCC 25

National Rankings

Last week the FM squad made their first appearance of the season in the NJCAA national poll. The current weekly poll was announced on Wednesday morning, and FM is still ranked #10 among the nation's Division-III teams.

The #1 team is Rock Valley College (Illinois). Onondaga CC is ranked #2. Anoka-Ramsey CC (Minnesota) is #3.

A total of 15 teams received votes in the national poll.  Hudson Valley made the list for the first time, and was listed in the #14 spot.  Thus, three teams from Region 3 – Onondaga, Fulton-Montgomery, and Hudson Valley – are among the top 15.

This season there are 91 colleges participating Division III women's basketball. The 91 are primarily located in the eastern half of the country, from a line extending from Minnesota to Georgia and eastward. FM's #10 ranking is clearly praiseworthy.

Region 3 Tournament

The seedings for the Region 3 championship tournament will be announced early next week. This website will post them as soon as they are announced.

The tournament will have four games on Friday, February 28. Seed #1 will play seed #8, seed #2 will play seed #7, and so forth. The four winners will play in the semifinals on Saturday, March 1. The two Saturday winners will meet for the Region 3 crown on Sunday. This website will provide full coverage of the Lady Raiders' play at Onondaga.

                             C.J. Bonny, website writer

Mountain Valley Conference Standings (updated 2/20)

Fulton-Montgomery  13-1

Schenectady  10-3

Hudson Valley  8-5

Mohawk Valley  7-6

Herkimer 5-8

North Country 5-8

Adirondack  5-9

Delhi  0-13