YORK, Pa. – The York College women's basketball team picked up a much-needed 72-55 Capital Athletic Conference victory over PSU-Harrisburg on Wednesday night at Charles Wolf Gymnasium as the Spartans move into contention for a spot in the CAC tournament.

York (8-10, 4-7 CAC) took a 44-20 lead into halftime as freshman Sam Mocniak (Annapolis, Md. / St. Mary's Annapolis) compiled 13 of her game-high 16 points off the bench. In the half, Mocniak went 4-for-5 from three-point range and shot 1-for-2 from the free-throw line.

A three-pointer by Katie Wagner (Glen Rock, Pa. / Susquehannock) capped a 14-5 Spartan run through the first seven minutes and forced the Lions (4-14, 3-8) to take their first timeout of the game. Wagner finsishdd the game with seven points as she went 3-for-5 from the floor, including 1-for-2 from three-point land.

The Spartans opened their lead up to a 23-10 margin over the next three minutes as Mocniak and Shea Wassel (North Wales, Pa. / Lansdale Catholic) combined for eight of York's points on a 9-5 run before PSU-Harrisburg took its second timeout of the half.

York ended the first half with three unanswered buckets in the final 129 seconds, including a pair of fast-break layups by Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md. / Mercy) and Wagner, capped off by a shot clock-milking layup by Julianne Lambert (Hockessin, Del. / Padua Academy) with two seconds left in the half.

Brianna Bisci (Bangor, Pa. / Bangor) knocked down back-to-back three-pointers on a 9-2 Spartan run to open the second half that opened up York's largest lead of the game with a 31-point margin just under two minutes into the half.

The Spartans then went on a six-minute scoreless drought as the Lions racked up 17 points, cutting the York lead from 31 to 11 with 12:02 left to play in the game.

Coming out of a 30-second timeout, York finally broke the Lion run as Sarah Shearer (York, Pa. / West York Area) knocked down a jumper and Hruz hit both of her free throws on the next possession to put York ahead 57-42 with 10:30 remaining.

The Spartans survived the second-half scare by the Lions and would eventually push the lead back above 20 points with a three-pointer by Hruz with 1:58 left in the game.  

York finished the game shooting 40.4% from the field with a 44.0 percentage from beyond the arc, including a mark of 7-for-14 in the first half.

With the win, York is eighth in the CAC standings, one game out of sixth seed and final playoff spot. The Spartans return home on Saturday as they face conference foe Christopher Newport at 1:00 p.m.

Sam Mocniak photo courtesy of Derek Behrenshausen - Assistant Director of Athletic Communications 

Video Highlights of the win over PSU Harrisburg