ARLINGTON, Va.- For the first time since 2015, the No. 5 Immaculata women's basketball team is headed to the conference semifinals, and they will travel to No. 1 Marymount on Thursday night in the first ever Atlantic East Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.  The teams are playing for a spot in the Atlantic East Championship game on Saturday against the winner of No. 2 Cabrini and No. 3 Marywood.
 
ATLANTIC EAST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
No. 5 Immaculata @ No. 1 Marymount (Arlington, Va.)
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PREVIOUS MATCHUPS
January 9^th, 2019: Marymount 64, Immaculata 40
-The first ever Atlantic East matchup between these two schools took place at Alumnae Hall, and the Macs fell behind 36-20 at the break, and were unable to stage a comeback in the second half.  Despite a tough day offensively, the Mighty Mac defense played well, forcing 20 turnovers and not allowing a single made three point basket.   Sophomore Theresa Kearney led the Macs with 11 points and junior Annie Kohutka added nine.  The Saints had three double figure scorers as Gabriella Haddad (17), Katie McShea (13), and Tyffani McQueen (12) all reached the mark.
 
February 2^nd, 2019: Marymount 85, Immaculata 54
-The Saints completed the season sweep of the Macs at Marymount just two and half weeks ago in IU's first trip there as a conference opponent.  Katie McShea had a double-double with 33 points and 14 boards.  For the Mighty Macs, senior Amber Ballinger was on point from beyond the arc, hitting five of seven attempts, and scoring 21 points.  Sophomores Shannon Kelly (13), and Brielle Rigo (10) also reached double figures.
 
NEWS & NOTES
-The Mighty Macs are 8-18 this season with a 4-8 Atlantic East mark and the Saints finished as the top seed with an 11-1 conference record and 20-5 mark overall
-The Mighty Macs advanced to the Atlantic East Semifinals with a big 66-56 road win at No. 4 Neumann on Monday night.  The Mighty Macs led nearly the entire time and forced 25 turnovers to slow the Knight attack.  Ballinger led the way with 19 points with four three pointers and Rigo had 18 points and nine boards. IU lost the lead briefly in the third quarter, but got it back late in the period and never trailed again
-Marymount's lone conference defeat came at Cabrini on January 23^rd and they enter the semifinals on a six-game winning streak.  They earned the top seed by tiebreaker over the Cavaliers after defeating them in the season finale.
-The Mighty Macs were sixth in the conference in points per game at 55.2 and Marymount was third at 67.0.  The Saints excel on the other end of the floor where they top the Atlantic East at 48.3 points allowed per game and the Macs are second best in the conference in that department at 60.8 points allowed per game.
-The Mighty Macs look to Kearney (13.0) and Ballinger (12.0) to lead their attack as they are seventh and tenth, respectively in the Atlantic East in scoring this season.  Marymount has three in the top eleven, including two of the top three.  Katie McShea is second in the league at 15.8 points per game, Regan Lohr is third at 15.0, and Gabriella Haddad is 11^th at 11.9.
-A win would send the Mighty Macs to the conference championship for the first time since 2015 when they were on the tail end of back-to-back trips to the conference final
-With a win, the Macs will travel to either Marywood or Cabrini, while a Marymount victory ensures they will host the winner of the other semifinal