FREDERICK, MD – The York College women's basketball team used a huge second half to roll past the Hood College Blazers, 64-40, on Saturday evening at the Odom Fitness Center at Ft. Detrick Military Base in Frederick, MD. The Spartans improve to 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the Capital Athletic Conference while the Blazers fall to 2-9 overall and 0-5 in the CAC.

The opening minutes of the game saw the two squads battle back and forth with neither team able to gain any significant momentum. The Blazers finally pushed out a seven-point lead courtesy of a 7-0 spurt late in the half. The Blazers would ride that run to a 28-23 advantage heading into the half. Prior to today's game, a halftime deficit usually meant a loss for the Green and White as they were 0-6 when losing at the break.

The Blazers built their lead to as many as nine at 34-25 with 17:06 remaining in the game. Freshman Loretta Tonuzi (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) then kick started a massive 39-6 run that covered the final 16:44 of the game as York won the game by a comfortable 24-point margin.

Junior April Sparkman (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) led the Spartans with a double-double as she notched 11 points and 12 rebounds while she also had five assists, two steals, and a blocked shot for the Spartans. Sophomore Khadija Mitchell (Bel Air, Md./Mercy) came off the bench and led York with 13 points in her 20 minutes of action. Senior captain Jamie Polan (York, Pa./West York) added 11 points, four assists, two steals and a rebound. Junior Val Hudson (Bowie, Md./Bowie) recorded a career-high 10 points, as she was 3-for-4 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Freshman Jess Kramer (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) pulled down nine rebounds and chipped in with six points in her second start of the season.

Jen Willison led the Blazers with 20 points, as she was 8-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the line. She also pulled in six boards in the loss. Dyanna Prater contributed nine points and seven assists to the Blazer cause.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 39.6% for the game but it was clearly a tale of two halves for the Green and White. York made just 6-of-26 in the opening stanza while they scorched the nets to the tune of 55.6% in the second 20 minutes. The Spartans shot 33% from three and 83.3% (15-for-18) from the free throw line. Hood shot 40.7% in the first half but the Spartan defense harassed the Blazers into 12.5% shooting in the second half as Hood finished the game shooting 25.4% from the floor. Hood went 1-for-19 from three in the game while they converted 9-of-13 from the free throw line.

York outrebounded the Blazers 43-39 for the game while they forced 25 Hood turnovers in the game.

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Salisbury University for a CAC contest. Tip time in Salisbury, MD is set for 6:00 pm.

GAME BOX

Khadija Mitchell photo courtesy of Zach Clabaugh.