WHAC QUARTERFINAL PREVIEW: Women's Basketball set to take on Cougars in first round of WHAC Tournament
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cleary (Mich.) (14-15, 12-10) | 11 | 12 | 17 | 18 | 58 |
|
Rochester Christian (Mich.) (20-9, 18-4) | 19 | 12 | 24 | 12 | 67 |
(Rochester Hills, MI) - The Rochester Christian women's basketball team will be making its ninth straight appearance in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament when it kicks off on Wednesday evening. The Warriors will be taking on a relatively familiar opponent in the Cleary Cougars in the Quarterfinals after having just played them 10 days ago.
GAME INFORMATION
#2 Rochester Christian Warriors vs #7 Cleary
February 25 | 7 PM | Garth Pleasant Arena | Rochester Hills, MI
Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets
ABOUT THE COUGARS
The Cougars are led by first-year Head Coach Elyse Schlump, who has a 14-14 record with the Cougars and a 65-51 record overall.
Four different Cougars average over 10 points per game, with Izzy Dugal leading the bunch, averaging 16.1 (8th in the WHAC), while Samantha Hoelscher (14.7), Melanin Holman (10.7), and Jess Andrew (10.0) all average double-digit points. Melanin Holman and Jess Andrew lead the passing attack, averaging 4.2 and 3.9 assists per game.
Samantha Hoelscher is the top rebounder for the Cougars, averaging 9.5 rebounds per game, which is fourth-best in the WHAC, while Izzy Dugal is second on the team with 7.2 rebounds per game. Melanin Holman is ranked fifth in the WHAC this season with 2.7 steals per game, while Samantha Holscher (1.8) and Jess Andrew (1.2) all average a steal per game.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS
The Warriors are led by Head Coach Jared Ocampo, who is in his third season leading the Warriors. Ocampo has an overall record of 43-43 at RCU.
Four different Warriors led the scoring effort for RCU, with Kendal Zeiter leading the group, averaging 13.4 points per game, while Samone Andrews contributed 12.7, Jacey Somers with 11.6, and Ashley Loon putting up 10.2 a game. Loon sits at third in the conference in three-point percentage, hitting 39.3% of her attempts from deep. Amal Younes leads the passing attack as she averages three assists per game, while only turning over the ball 1.6 times a game.
The rebounding effort for RCU is led by Kendal Zeiter, who averages 8.3 rebounds a game, with six coming on the defensive end. Jacey Somers is second on the team as she averages 5.3 a game. Five different Warriors average over a steal per game, with Shahd Bakkar (1.6) leading the group, with Samone Andrews (1.5), Ashley Loon (1.4), Amal Younes (1.3), and Kendal Zeiter (1.2) all averaging over a steal per game. Kendal Zeiter and Jacey Somers both average over a block a game, as they are third and fourth in the conference, respectively, with Zeiter blocking 1.8 a game and Somers blocking 1.1.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (PREVIOUS MATCHUPS)
Overall, the Warriors led the record against the Cougars with a 4-2 record, including a 2-0 record this season. Cleary has won the only postseason game between these two squads, winning 80-66 in the 2025 WHAC Opening Rounds.
These two teams first squared off on January 3, with the Warriors coming away with a 70-37 win. Four different Warriors led the scoring with Ashley Loon tallying 20 points, Jacey Somers scoring 16 points, while Kendal Zeiter and Samone Andrews rounded out the RCU scoring with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Cleary was led by Melanin Holman and Makenna Jarratt, each scoring eight points. Kendal Zeiter won WHAC Defensive Player of the Week honors following the game, tallying eight blocks as well as recording a double-double with 15 rebounds.
The second matchup between these two teams occurred on February 14th as the third-to-final game of the regular season, with the Warriors earning a 74-58 win. Leading the scoring in the game was Samone Andrews with 20 points, while Cleary's Samantha Hoelscher tallied 17 points. Hoelscher would lead the rebounding effort on both sides with 14 rebounds, 10 of which came on the defensive end.
STAT COMPARISON
|
RCU |
STATS |
CU |
|
19-9 (18-4) |
RECORD (WHAC RECORD) |
14-14 (12-10) |
|
1,903 (68.0) |
POINTS (PER GAME) |
1,839 (65.7) |
|
1,690 (60.4) |
POINTS ALLOWED (PER GAME) |
1,800 (64.3) |
|
732-1,696 (43.2%) |
FG MADE-FG ATTEMPTED (FG %) |
678-1,789 (38.0%) |
|
145-515 (28.2%) |
3-PTS MADE-3-PT ATTEMPTED (3-PT %) |
114-477 (23.9%) |
|
294-430 (68.4%) |
FT MADE-FT ATTEMPTED (FT %) |
369-598 (61.7%) |
|
39.8 |
REBOUNDS PER GAME |
42.9 |
|
36.6 |
OPP. REBOUNDS PER GAME |
38.5 |
|
16.0 |
ASSISTS PER GAME |
15.1 |
|
17.0 |
TURNOVER'S PER GAME |
15.9 |
|
10.1 |
STEALS PER GAME |
8.8 |
|
4.0 |
BLOCKS PER GAME |
2.3 |
WHAC TOURNAMENT
The top 8 teams in the regular-season standings qualify
Higher seeds host in all rounds
Quarterfinals - Wednesday, February 25
G1 #1 Indiana Tech vs #8 Cornerstone - 6:00pm
G2 #4 Aquinas vs #5 Siena Heights - 5:30 pm
G3 #2 Rochester Christian vs #7 Cleary - 7:00pm
G4 #3 Lourdes vs #6 UNOH - 5:30pm
Semifinals - Friday, February 27
G5 Winner G1 vs Winner G2
G6 Winner G3 vs Winner G4
Championship - Monday, March 2
G7 Winner G5 vs Winner G6