Sophomore center Leah Macy was all smiles cutting down the net after Mercy won the 6th Region Tournament. (Twitter Photo)
It’s only going to be a first-round matchup but many years it would perhaps be a state tournament championship game to see two teams as good as Cooper (29-3) and Mercy (24-9) playing each other.
Instead, they will meet tonight with the winner advancing to Friday’s quarterfinal to play the Simon Kenton-Henderson County survivor.
Coach Justin Holthaus got his team to the state tourney for the first time in school history last year and got wins over Pikeville and Bowling Green before losing to eventual champion Sacred Heart in the semifinals to finish 25-10.
Cooper is led by Whitney Lind , 6-2 forward who averages 13.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game is a Lehigh signee. She shoots almost 55 percent from the field.
Returnee Liz Freihofer averages 10.1 points per game and Logan Luebbers Palmer (8.6 points) and Kay Freihoffer (7.0 points) are also back.
“A lot of girls on our team if they played for other teams in the region would be starters,” Holthaus said. “The girls are so unselfish and willing to share the ball. They just want to win games.
“Last year everything was new to us and we did not know what to expect. The aura of Rupp Arena will still be there but we kind of know what to expect.”
Cooper has regular-season wins over state tourney teams Bowling Green, Simon Kenton, Frederick Douglass and Mercy along with a respectable 12-point loss to Sacred Heart in early December. Cooper beat Mercer 67-64 on Jan. 27 behind 31 points from Lind who was 11 of 18 from the field and 7-for-8 at the foul line.
Mercy got 37 points from standout sophomore center Leah Macy against Cooper on 12 of 19 shooting from the field and 13 of 15 at the full line. She also had nine rebounds.
“It really does start with Macy for them,” Holthaus said. “She can play inside or outside. We tried to take her away and were not very successful. But she also has a lot of good players around her.”
Mercy coach Nick Cann has two young players out with injuries. Senior guard Mary Smith played in the regional tournament but is not yet 100 percent.
“Smith has been a leader since I got here. She’s a game. She is tough, hard nosed. She can put the ball in the hole but is also an unselfish passer,” Cann said.
He’s not sure about sophomore guard Alyssa Murphy’s availability.
“She played limited minutes in the regional and had kind of a setback in the regional final. We hopes she will be able to play,” the Mercy coach said. “She is a huge part of our team and both ends of the floor. It’s easy to watch her handle the ball and shoot but she’s also one of our top defenders.”
Murphy averages 13.4 points per game and has 43 3-pointers. Smith averages 9.8 points and has 39 3’s.
Macy leads the team with 24.5 points and 13 rebounds per game while Emma Barnett contributes 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Macy shoots 62 percent from the field and 81 percent at the foul line (she has taken 188 free throws).
