The Merrimack College Women’s Basketball team will host the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Highlanders in the opening round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at Lawler Arena on Thursday, March 19.
This marks the first time in school history that Merrimack has appeared in the WNIT. The Warriors are coming off their second consecutive semifinals appearance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) playoffs. In their quarterfinal matchup, they defeated Mount St. Mary’s with a score of 62-48, led by Madison Roman’s double-double performance of 22 points and 17 rebounds. Molly Manion contributed 17 points, making all three of her attempts from three-point range. The team was later eliminated by Fairfield, who went on to win the MAAC championship. Se’lah Reddick led Merrimack in scoring during that game with 17 points, along with seven rebounds and four assists.
Several members of the team received end-of-season honors. Head coach Kelly Morrone was named MAAC Coach of the Year for the third time in her career, having previously won twice while coaching at John Carroll University. Paloma Garcia earned Defensive Player of the Year and was selected for the All-MAAC defensive team alongside Oralye Kiefer, who led the conference in blocks. Madison Roman made the All-MAAC first team after leading both her conference and ranking twelfth nationally in rebounds. Lydia Melaschenko was named to the All-MAAC third team after leading in three-pointers and breaking Merrimack’s single-season record for threes.
Roman continued her strong play throughout the season, including an 18-rebound performance against Mount St. Mary’s and averaging 23.5 points per game over two key wins to close out regular season play. She finished with 17 double-doubles this year, placing her twelfth among all NCAA players.
Garcia set a program record with nine steals in a single game against Canisius and has scored double figures in seven of her last ten games while contributing consistently on defense and rebounding.
Graduate student Molly Manion has also been effective recently, scoring double digits in each of her last two games and shooting efficiently from beyond the arc.
