5 Things To Watch: Landmark Conference Basketball At The Palestra
5 Things To Watch: Landmark Conference Basketball At The Palestra
Four Landmark Conference games emanate from Philadelphia's iconic The Palestra on Jan. 14. Here are five things to watch on Palestra Gameday 2024.
The Landmark Conference returns to Philadelphia on Jan. 14 for the 2024 Palestra Gameday, a full-day festival at one of the true cathedrals of basketball.
A pair of matchups on both the men's and women's side of the Landmark make up the 2024 Palestra Gameday, with the ladies getting the day started. Elizabethtown takes on Groucher in the opener, and Catholic vs. Juniata follows. On the men's side, Drew takes on Susquehanna followed by Moravian vs. Scranton.
Check out five storylines to follow when the Landmark Conferences takes over the Palestra.
We are inching closer and closer to our #LandmarkBBALL gameday at the Palestra!
— Landmark Conference (@LandmarkConf) December 20, 2023
A reminder, tickets are available
🎟️ https://t.co/srV9YMXDua
Gameday Info
🏀 https://t.co/dTtSXSmG5H #MakeYourMark pic.twitter.com/LMzZUXuqMy
Perfection at the Palestra
Should serve hold leading up to Jan. 14, both the men's and women's games at Palestra Gameday will include undefeated teams. Catholic University is off to a 12-0 start at the outset of 2024, tipping off the new year with a 78-50 rout of Landmark Conference counterpart Lycoming.
The Cardinals are ranked No. 15 in the Dec. 31 D3Hoops.com Top 25 and could climb higher once Palestra Gameday arrives. They'll be after a 15-0 mark on Jan. 14 should they get past league matchups at Drew and vs. Scranton before then.
The Drew men, meanwhile, are off to the best start in program history behind an explosive offensive style. The Rangers closed 2023 with an 11-0 mark, averaging 92 points per game with a remarkable six scorers averaging between 10.5 and 15.3 points per game.
If Drew can best through a Jan. 6 matchup of Landmark championship contenders when the Rangers host Catholic, road games at Wilkes and Juniata lead into the opportunity for a 15-0 mark at the Palestra.
Championship Statement Opportunity
While Drew's offensively impressive start has the Rangers undefeated, they may not be the only team going into Palestra Gameday with a meaningful goose egg in the loss column. Drew's opponent, Susquehanna, rolled into 2024 with an unblemished record through its first four Landmark games including a 60-58 thriller claimed over Catholic on Dec. 9.
Cooper Haberern's go-ahead bucket and a steal by Marcus Mitchell down the stretch secured the most noteworthy of three straight Landmark matchups the River Hawks won by single-digits.
Susquehanna can position itself as the Landmark championship front-runner if it can extend its undefeated record at Drew's expense in the Palestra. The River Hawks swept the 2022-23 series with the second win coming on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Defense is for the Birds
Catholic University owes its outstanding start to stifling defense. The Cardinals have surrendered just 55.3 points per game in their 12-0 start with 34.7 percent opponent field-goal shooting.
Catholic combines its shot-contesting ability with aggressive pursuit of the ball, showing up in a whopping 12.3 steals per game. Sarah White leads the Cardinals with three swipes a contest, ranking her in the top 50 of all Div. III players.
Marquis on the Marquee
Leading the Landmark in scoring and 11th in the nation at 22.5 points per game, Moravian's Marquis Ratcliff headlines the second men's matchup at Palestra Gameday.
Ratcliff has scored more than 30 points in three of the Greyhounds' first 11 games and 23-plus points in 8-of-11. In addition to being consistently prolific, Ratcliff scores efficiently with a 57.3 percent field-goal clip heading into 2024.
His 13-of-19 shooting performance on the way to 31 points against Hunter in the Steel Club Classic provided a fitting cap to 2023.
Queen of the Double-Double is King
The Landmark Conference's leading rebounder, Jessica King of Elizabethtown, averages 10.1 boards per game. She's also averaging a fraction below a double-double at 9.7 points per game and has three double-doubles on the season and eight over the last campaign-and-a-half.
King roared into Landmark competition in 2023-24 with a 10-point, career-high 16-rebound in a 75-59 win over Susquehanna on Dec. 9.
