Eisenhut has set school records in points and steals, and assists. (Photo by Dustin Williamson, The Hill News)

G.P. Gromacki knew he recruited a good group of freshmen when he took over as head coach of the St. Lawrence University women's basketball team four years ago, but he couldn't have expected this.

Gromacki, who was the associate head coach under Fran Grembowicz during the 1997-98 season, has seen three of those players, now seniors, reach 1,000 career points.

"We have a special group of seniors," Gromacki said. "They have taken this program and turned it into one of the top college basketball teams in the country."

Meredith Eisenhut, who reached the milestone near the end of her junior year, became the program's all-time leading scorer earlier this season, surpassing Kristen Ladouceur's record set in 1996. Eisenhut now has 1,372 points and leads the Saints with 12.1 points per game this season.

Nicole Leary and Cara Barbierri joined Eisenhut in the 1,000 point club on the second to last weekend of conference play, with Leary netting her 1,000th against Union and Barbierri reaching the mark a day later against Skidmore.

"We went on the road expecting Nicole to get there," Gromacki said. "But Cara was a nice surprise. It was nice that they did it so close together."

Leary needed 12 points to reach 1,000
in last Tuesday's game at Clarkson ran into early foul trouble, forcing her to
wait three more days. (Photo by Dustin Williamson, The Hill News)

Leary entered the weekend needing just four points, but Barbierri needed 33 to surpass the plateau. Given her season high of 15 points and her 10.0-point per game average, Gromacki thought that Barbierri would reach the milestone this weekend at home.

But the senior class doesn't just score points. Eisenhut has 435 steals and 404 assists in her career, both school records. Leary already has the career record for blocked shots with 204.

"All the individual accomplishments are a testament to how well this team works together," said Gromacki. "You can't have three 1,000-point scorers on a selfish team."

A point that is driven home by the fact that despite Eisenhut's St. Lawrence record for total points, she is ninth in Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference in points per game entering the final weekend of the regular season.

But the Saints know where it is most important to be on top ... the conference standings. St. Lawrence won the regular season UCAA title and closed out the regular season with eight consecutive wins.

Winning the regular season conference title was nice, but in order to guarantee their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, the Saints needed to win the UCAA tournament, something they failed to do last year.

Barbierri has scored in double figures in 11 of St. Lawrence's last 12 games entering the final week of the regular season. (Photo by Dustin Williamson, The Hill News)

Despite the Saints early exit from the conference tournament and first round NCAA loss to Cortland last season, Gromacki and the senior class have amassed a career record of 94-20, an .825 winning percentage. This year's team has a 20-3 overall record, and has clinched at least a tie for the UCAA regular season title with two games remaining.

Even though the senior class has posted impressive offensive numbers, it's St. Lawrence's defense that makes them one of the toughest teams in the East to play. The Saints were ranked second nationally among Division III teams in field goal percentage defense (.307) and scoring defense (48.0) last week.

While St. Lawrence has been one of the hardest teams to score on all season, the Saints faced an early challenge when senior Jen Janeway's season ended with a torn ACL in a 57-56 loss to Ithaca, the team's first loss of the season. Janeway, one of St. Lawrence's toughest defenders, has 190 career steals and 294 career assists.

"Jen has been a leader both on and off the court," Gromacki said. "I never could have envisioned this season without her. The team has adjusted well, but I'd sure love to have her back playing."

The team will earn the right to host the UCAA tournament with a win this weekend against either Hamilton or William Smith. And even if the Saints clinch the regular season title on Friday against Hamilton, they will still look to avenge their only conference loss of the season against William Smith on Saturday.