YORK, PA - The York College women's basketball team
suffered their first defeat of the season on Wednesday night
falling 70-50 to Capital Athletic Conference foe #1 Mary
Washington. The loss sets the Spartan record back to 6-1 (2-1 CAC)
while the Eagles remain perfect at 6-0 (3-0 CAC).
Mary Washington zipped out to a fast 5-0 start after a pair of
Liz Hickey lay ups and a Lisa Tracy free throw. The Spartans were
able to close the early deficit to one with a Keli Ward
(Nottingham, Pa./Oxford) lay up and two Kristen
Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) free throws. Quickly ending
the short Spartan run, Amanda Bates nailed a triple and Hickey laid
in her third lay up of the game to increase the early lead to 10-4
with 15:29 remaining. York looked rattled throughout the beginning
of the game and Mary Washington was able to capitalize on the early
jitters.
At the 9:20 mark, another Hickey lay up stretched the Eagle
advantage to 14 points at 23-9. The Spartans then proceeded to go
on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to a mere five points at 27-22 with
5:12 remaining in the opening stanza. Amanda Andrews
(Fallston, Md./Fallston) keyed the run as she tallied nine
points over the 4:08 span including a big three-point bucket
slashing the lead to five. The five-point deficit would be as close
as the Spartans would come for the rest of the game.
Only 18 seconds after Andrews' three, Katy Larson answered
with a three of her own. Larson would tally ten straight points on
a pair of triples and four free throws. Larson's barrage
increased Mary Washington's advantage to 15 at 37-22 with
1:56 left in the first frame. Hickey would add a jumper followed by
a Kaitie Clarkin three before York's Andrews would close out
the half scoring with a deuce in the paint. Altogether, the Eagles
went on a 15-2 run in the closing five minutes to take the 42-24
lead into the halftime break.
The story of the opening 20 minutes was the Eagles'
dominance on the glass. Mary Washington grabbed 28 rebounds to
York's 16 including an 11-4 advantage in offensive boards.
Carrying the momentum over to second half, the Eagles never let
the Spartans come up for air. Mary Washington would even increase
their margin to 24 on two separate occasions at 51-29 and 55-31
five minutes into the period.
York showed a bit of spark with about eleven minutes remaining
as Daly tallied three lay ups. Amy Fry (Carlisle, Pa./Big
Spring) and Jaimie Sapp (Bluemont, Va./Loudoun
Valley) tossed in two scores to bring the Spartans to
within 13 at 61-48 with 5:08 left in the game. York could not cut
the lead anymore.
A steady diet of Ashton Mitchell short-range jumpers and lay-ups
in the second half spelled the end of the Spartans' five-game
winning streak. The junior tallied eleven points in the frame to
keep York at bay.
The green and white ended the game shooting 36.5% from the floor
besting Mary Washington's 34.4%. Unfortunately for the
Spartans, the better shooting numbers were unable to overcome the
Eagle's sizable rebounding advantage. Mary Washington ended
the game owning a 50-38 margin in caroms including 20-10 on the
offensive glass.
The Spartans were paced by Andrews' 16 points on 6-of-17
shooting including 3-of-9 from distance. The junior guard also
chipped in with three assists, two blocks, and two steals in 39
minutes. Ward had another steady game as the Spartan point guard
registering 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks
playing all 40 minutes. Daly added a respectable eight point and
eight rebounds.
Mitchell led the Eagle offense with 16 points on 7-of-13
shooting. Larson poured in 15 points as she also added four
assists. The 6'3” Hickey was the third Eagle to reach
double-figures in scoring with 12 while she led all players with 13
rebounds and four blocks. Hickey's size and incredible
wingspan bothered the Spartans on both the offensive and defensive
ends of the floor throughout the 40 minutes.
The green and white returns to action on Saturday with a road
trip to CAC rival Salisbury. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm.
GAME BOX
Amanda Andrews photo courtesy of Eric Linsley
