NEWPORT NEWS, VA – The York College women's basketball squad dropped a 62-51 Capital Athletic Conference decision at Christopher Newport University in a rematch of the 2014 conference championship game on Saturday in Newport News, Va.

The Captains improve to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the league while the Spartans are still in search of their first conference win as the defending league champions are now 0-4. York is 4-7 overall with the loss.

The Spartans played well early on as the teams were back and forth in the opening 12 minutes of the game. York held a 16-14 lead on a Katie Wagner (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) free throw with 8:47 remaining in the first half. The Captains would then hit the Spartans with a 10-0 run to take a 24-16 lead with 5:30 showing on the clock.

York battled back to cut their deficit to two at 27-25 on a Sarah Shearer (York, Pa./West York) lay up with 2:15 remaining in the half. The Captains answered with a Makenzie Fancher triple to quickly push the lead to five before CNU settled for the 32-28 lead at the break.

The Green and White came out of the intermission and trimmed the Captain lead to one, at  36-35, on a Brianna Bisci (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) triple 4:11 into the second half. CNU answered with a 10-2 run to forge a 46-37 lead with 13:04 left in the game.

York trimmed the Captain lead back down to five with 11:38 remaining but that would be as close as they got the rest of the way. CNU slowly pulled away over the final ten minutes of the game to register the 11-point win.

Camry Green led the Captains with a double-double as the All-CAC forward registered a pair of game-highs with 15 points and 19 rebounds. She was 5-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-9 from the line in the win. Green also went over the 1,000 career point plateau with her first bucket of the day. Fancher added 11 points while Kendra Stone was the third Captain in double figures with 10 points. Stone also had seven rebounds and three assists in the game.

Wagner and Shearer led the Spartan offense with 10 points each. Wagner added four rebounds and a pair of assists in 23 minutes. Shearer contributed four rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior Kailee Knight (Crofton, Md./South River) led York on the glass as she registered a season-high 14 boards in a spot start. Sophomore Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md./Mercy) contributed eight points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and two steals in her 36 minutes of work. The six blocks sets a new career-high as she continues to lead the conference in blocked shots (32) and blocked shots per game (2.9). Sophomore Morgan Golec (Abingdon, Md./Patterson Mill) chipped in with nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists in 28 minutes of action.

The Spartans shot the ball poorly in the game as they converted just 26.3% (20-for-76) from the floor and went just 5-of-30 (16.7%) from three. The Green and White also struggled from the charity stripe as they went just 6-for-13 (46.2%).

Christopher Newport wasn't much better shooting the ball as they went 22-for-66 (33.3%) from the floor and 3-for-15 (20%) from three. The Captains more than doubled the Spartans' production at the free throw line as they went 15-for-27 (55.6%) in the win.

CNU held a 56-52 edge on the glass but the Spartans had an 11-6 advantage in second-chance points. York did a good job of taking care of the ball against the pressure of the Captains. York committed 17 miscues, which cost them 18 points.

The Spartans continue their grueling stretch of conference games as they host Marymount University on Wednesday night in York. Tip time against the 7-4 Saints is slated for 6:00 pm.

Sam Hruz photo courtesy of David Sinclair