Merrimack College’s women’s basketball team will host Niagara for their final regular season game this Saturday at noon in North Andover, Massachusetts. The game will also serve as Senior Day, with the team set to honor three graduating players: Claudia Gallegos, Lydia Melaschenko, and Se’lah Reddick.
The Warriors have secured the third seed for the upcoming conference tournament in Atlantic City, which begins in March. They are scheduled to play the sixth-seeded team on Saturday, March 7th at 2:30 p.m.
In recent weeks, Merrimack has demonstrated strong performance by winning 14 of their last 18 games and holding opponents to under 60 points in ten of those contests. Their latest victory came against Canisius, where Oralye Kiefer achieved a career-high of 23 points. Madison Roman contributed significantly last week as the Warriors won their fifth straight game before that streak ended against Manhattan. The team also completed a season sweep against Sacred Heart and defeated Siena by 19 points with four players scoring double digits, led by Lydia Melaschenko’s 22 points.
Last Thursday, Merrimack forced overtime with a buzzer beater and eventually beat Marist for their fourth season sweep. Two weeks ago, they held Rider to under 40 points—a rare defensive accomplishment for the program over the past two seasons. Senior Lydia Melaschenko broke the single-season record for three-pointers made (77) during this stretch.
Lydia Melaschenko leads the MAAC conference in three-pointers per game and ranks sixth nationally with an average of 3.07 per game. She recently scored four three-pointers each against Siena and Rider, setting new marks for both her personal record and the program.
Madison Roman leads the conference in rebounds and recorded nine rebounds along with nearly matching her career-high point total during the win over Canisius. She has collected sixteen double-doubles this season and is among league leaders in defensive rebounds.
Junior guard Paloma Garcia set a program record with nine steals during Thursday’s win over Canisius. Garcia has reached double figures in scoring five consecutive games and gathered five or more rebounds in six out of her last nine games.
Defensively, Merrimack continues to excel by limiting opponents’ scoring opportunities; they have kept teams below 60 points twelve times over their last eighteen games. The Warriors lead their conference in blocks (112), while Roman leads all players in defensive rebounds (212), and Garcia is third in steals (72).
As Merrimack prepares for its final home game and postseason run, attention remains on both honoring its seniors and maintaining strong play across all areas of competition.
