YORK, PA - The York College women's basketball team rattled off their fifth straight victory with a 67-38 win over Hood College Wednesday night in their Capital Athletic Conference opener.  The green and white improve to 5-0 (1-0 CAC) on the season while Hood drops to 0-5 (0-1 CAC).

York got off to another fast start to open the game, jumping out 6-0 within the first three minutes.  Chanel Perez (Biglerville, Pa./Gettysburg) won the opening tip as point guard Keli Ward (Nottingham, Pa./Oxford) gained possession.  The alert junior found a wide-open Kristen Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) for an easy lay-up.  Daly would add two more lay-ups to give York the early 6-0 advantage.  Throughout the beginning of the game, the Spartans continued to get open looks at the rim but were simply unable to convert.  After Daly's six, the green and white only managed four points over the next 6:32.  

Despite the early shooting woes, the Spartan defense was in shut down mode.  York did not allow Hood to score for the first 10:34 of the game.  During this span, the Spartans increased their lead to 15-0.  The Blazers finally tallied with 9:26 left in the half on a Jen Willison lay-up.  

Now up 15-2, the Spartans would go on to score 16 more points in the frame while Hood fought back with 14 of their own.  York would go into the halftime break with a 31-16 lead.  Neither squad played very effectively on the offensive end in the first 20 minutes.  Hood shot a dreadful 28% on 7-of-25 shooting while the Spartans were not much better hitting 10-of-32 field goals for 31.3%.

Perez opened the scoring for the green and white in the second half, nailing a pair of free throws to increase the Spartan lead to 33-16.  The Blazers continued to battle, slowing down the game in an effort to limit York's possessions.   Hood's Allyson Lethbridge canned a jumper with 16:48 left to bring her squad to within 17.  That would be as close as the Blazers would get the rest of the game.

The Spartans steadily increased their lead throughout the closing 15 minutes.  York's advantage grew to as much as 31 at 65-34 with 3:54 remaining after freshman forward Jaimie Sapp (Bluemont, Va./Loudoun Valley) knocked down a couple free throws.  After two Willison lay-ups with a pair of Daly free throws in between, the Spartans walked away with the 67-38 victory.

Daly continues her stupendous senior campaign tallying her second double-double of the year with 20 points and 14 rebounds.   Ward poured in 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out six assists.  Freshman standout April Sparkman (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) chipped in seven points to go along with ten rebounds and two blocks.

Willison's ten points paced the Blazers while the sophomore also pulled down six rebounds.  Jessica Parrish contributed seven points and five boards in the loss and Sara Wastler added six points and six rebounds.

York hits the road this Saturday traveling to Stevenson, Md. to take on Villa Julie.  The CAC match-up is set to tip-off at 2:00 pm.

GAME BOX 

(Photo Courtesy of Eric Linsley)