WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The York College women's basketball squad needed a gritty second half effort to remain unbeaten with a 68-62 win over William Paterson University in the opening round of the Hoops for Hounds Classic at Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA.

The Spartans, who are now 9-0 overall, will face the host Warriors in the tournament championship game on Tuesday afternoon. Lycoming blasted Rosemont 73-52 in the tournament's first game to set up the tournament championship match up.

The Spartans and Pioneers didn't show any Christmas break rust as they combined to score 35 first quarter points as William Paterson took an 18-17 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. The Spartans led 15-10 with 1:46 left in the period but the Pioneers ended the quarter on a flurry with an 8-2 spurt.

The Pioneers pushed out to a game-high 23-17 lead on an Ariana Gomez bucket with 8:29 left in the first half. That pushed the overall William Paterson run to 13-2 as they looked poised to blow put the Spartans away early. The Green and White battled back and tied the game on a Debria Hendricks (Red Lion, Pa./Dallastown) lay up with 6:49 remaining in the stanza. The Pioneers responded with a quick 5-0 run and would hold the lead until Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md./Mercy) hit a half court heave at the buzzer, tying the game at 32 heading to the intermission. Sophomore Sam Mocniak (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's Annapolis) collected a steal and pitched it to Hruz who took a dribble and let it fly from just inside the midcourt line as the shot easily beat the buzzer.

The Spartans maintained the momentum of Hruz's shot after the break as York ripped off the first six points of the half. York maintained the lead until Paterson's Jackie Rodriguez buried back-to-back three pointers with 1:48 left in the quarter, tying the game at 46. Ashley Castillo gave the Pioneers a 48-46 lead 23 seconds later with a lay up off a Spartan turnover.

York answered with a Morgan Golec (Abingdon, Md./Patterson Mill) lay up and a Karli McFatridge (York, Pa./York Catholic) three to put York up 51-48. Rodriguez split a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to cut York's lead to 51-49 heading to the final quarter.

WPU opened the final quarter with five straight points to push their lead to 54-51 two minutes into the period. York tied the game for the tenth and final time when Katie Wagner (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) split a pair of free throws with 7:15 remaining. The Spartans took the lead on their next possession as Sarah Shearer (York, Pa./West York) hit a lay up off a pass from Hruz.

The Spartan lead bounced between two and four points over the next six minutes before a pair of Hruz free throws pushed the Spartan lead to 66-60 with 33 seconds left in regulation. After a pair of Rodriguez free throws cut the lead to four with 11 seconds left, Hruz closed out the game with two more hits from the stripe to provide for the final six-point margin. The six-point lead would match York's biggest of the game.

Shearer scored a season-high 15 points to lead the Green and White. She was 6-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free throw line in the win. Shearer added six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 26 minutes of action. Hruz notched her fifth straight double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while she also had six blocked shots, five assists and two steals in 34 minutes of work. Hruz was 4-for-9 from the floor including 1-for-2 from three. She knocked down all four of her free throw attempts in the victory.

Golec was the third Spartan in double figures with 11 points off the bench for York. Golec banged out a season-high three-point field goals in her 14 minutes of action. Sophomore Morgan Kuehne (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) added eight points, three assists and two steals in her 27 minutes of play.

The Pioneers placed three players in double figures led by Brittany Harden as she tallied 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. Harden was 7-for-14 from the floor in the game. Rodriguez added 12 points and three assists while Alex Milne recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Milne was 5-for-11 from the field in her 37 minutes of play.

York finished the game shooting 44.6% from the field including 5-of-15 from three. York converted 13-of-20 (65%) from the free throw line. Paterson shot 39.1% from the floor and 31.6% (6-for-19) from three. The Pioneers struggled from the line as they went just 6-for-11 (44.4%).

For the third straight game, the Spartans lost the battle on the glass as WPU outrebounded York 40-35 while they also held an 11-7 advantage in second chance points. Both teams committed 20 turnovers in the game as the Pioneers held a slight 21-18 edge in points off turnovers.

The Spartans will be in search of their second in-season tournament title of the year as they won the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on November 22 against McDaniel. York will be looking to win their second Hoops for Hounds Tournament after they won the title in their last tournament appearance in 2007. Tip time in Willamsport will be 3:00 pm.

Sarah Shearer photo courtesy of David Sinclair

Video of Sam Hruz Half Court Buzzer Beater (Courtesy of Lycoming Athletic Communications)

Audio Highlights courtesy of Darrell Henry, the Voice of the Spartans