YORK, PA-The York College women's
basketball team kept on rolling as the Spartans posted their 17th
straight win, downing an out-manned Hood College Blazer squad,
92-45, in a Capital Athletic Conference contest on Wednesday
night in York. The 17 consecutive wins for the Spartans continues
to extend the school record streak as the Green and White are now
17-1 overall and 10-0 in the CAC. The Blazers fall to 3-15 overall
and 1-8 in the league. The Spartans are currently ranked 13th in
the nation according to the d3hoops.com Top 25 and #14
according to the WBCA USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
The Spartans actually fell behind 1-0, 20
seconds into the game but it would not take York long to assert
their will. York scored 11 straight points over the next 2:28 of
play. The spurt was fueled by sophomore April Sparkman
(Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) as she connected on three
bombs from distance as all three buckets came off passes from
senior point guard Keli Ward (Nottingham,
Pa./Oxford). The Blazers cut the lead to eight before the
Spartans hit the Blazers with another run, this one an 11-2 spurt
to push the York lead to 22-5. The Blazers trimmed York's
lead to 14 with 8:58 remaining in half. However, York got a triple
from Donna Figenshu (Kennett Square,
Pa./Unionville) that started a 12-3 run that increased
York's advantage to 35-13. The Spartans' first half
lead grew to as many as 30 points before York settled for a 51-22
edge at the break.
The second half was much of the same for the
Spartans as York head coach Betsy Witman seized
the ability to get her starters rest and play her reserves. Every
Spartan who dressed played a minimum of five minutes in the contest
with no starter playing more than 27 minutes.
The Spartans opened the second half with a 9-2
spurt and the lead would not fall below 34 the rest of the way.
York's lead grew to as high as 48 before the hosts settled
for the 47-point win. It is the Spartans' ninth win by 31 or
more points this year.
York was led by Sparkman as the sophomore
poured in 22 points, one short of her career-high, in 25 minutes of
action. Sparkman was 8-for-12 from the floor, 3-for-4 from three
and 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Ward was simply brilliant yet
again for the Green and White. The senior, who is the reigning
CAC Player of the Week for the third time this season, had 17
points and 10 assists for her fourth consecutive double-double and
the 23rd of her career. Ward narrowly missed her third career
triple-double as she collected seven rebounds and had six steals in
just 23 minutes of work. Ward was 6-for-7 from the floor, 1-for-2
from three, and 4-for-4 from the line. Senior Amanda
Andrews (Fallston, Md./Fallston) was the third Spartan in
double figures with 15 points in 24 minutes of work. Figenshu came
of the bench to tally eight points and hand out a career-high six
assists in her 19 minutes of play.
Hood received 16 points from senior guard
Jessica Parrish. Jen Willison led the Blazers with 10 rebounds
while she also contributed eight points and three assists.
The Spartan defense was outstanding all night
as they recorded a school-record 24 steals. The Green and White
forced 32 Blazer turnovers which they turned into 41 points. York
held the Blazers to 31.1% shooting from the floor while Hood
converted 29.1% from three. Conversely, the Spartans shot 53% from
the floor and 50% (8-for-16) from three. The Spartans shot
73.7% from the free throw line while Hood was just 12-for-21
(57.1%).
The Blazers did out-rebound the Spartans 33-31
as they are just the third team this year to beat the Spartans on
the glass.
The Spartans put their win streak on the line
on Saturday night as they travel to Stevenson for a Capital
Athletic Conference contest. Tip time in Stevenson, MD is set
for 5:00 pm.
GAME BOX
April Sparkman photo courtesy of Eric Linsley
