BUENA VISTA, VA – The York College women's basketball team remained unbeaten in 2015 as the Spartans rolled past Southern Virginia 72-46 in Capital Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Buena Vista, Virginia.

The Spartans are now 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the league. The Knights fall to 1-5 overall and are now 0-3 in the league.

The Green and White started off slowly as they scored just six points in the opening five minutes of the game. The Spartans got on track in the second part of the quarter as the Spartans scored six straight to take a 12-5 lead with 2:44 left in the first. The Knights would score four of the final six points of the quarter as York led 14-9 after one.

York sprinted out of the gate in the second quarter as the Spartans ripped off six straight points to start the stanza as they pushed out to a 20-9 lead. The Knights cut the lead to seven twice over the next three minutes but York pushed their advantage to 13 on a Sarah Shearer (York, Pa./West York) jumper with 3:09 left in the half. The Spartans would maintain their lead there as they took a 34-21 margin to the break.

The Spartans got off to another fast start after the intermission as they began the third quarter on a 7-2 spurt to take a 41-23 lead. The Knights trimmed their deficit to 14 on a Larissa Macfarlane jumper with 6:00 minutes left in the period. The Spartans would then hit the Knights with an 11-2 spurt that covered 5:03 and pushed the York lead to 23 at 52-29. The Spartans finished the third quarter outscoring SVU 21-12 in the stanza as they carried a 22-point lead to the fourth.

The fourth period saw head coach Betsy Witman give meaningful playing time to a number of her reserves as the Spartan lead never dipped below 22 the rest of the way. York grew the lead to 29 on two different occasions before the Spartans settled for the 26-point win. The 26-point margin of victory is the Spartans' second largest of the year and is the fourth time York has won by 20 points or more.

Junior standout Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md./Mercy) recorded her second straight double-double with 13 points and a career-high tying 15 rebounds in her 33 minutes of work. Hruz was 5-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. Hruz also blocked four shots which tied her season high. Hruz led the Spartans with a season-high five steals.

Sophomore Morgan Kuehne (York, Pa./Red Lion) was the other Spartan in double figures with 12 points in her 20 minutes of play. Kuehne was 5-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line. Kuehne added three rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Sophomore Katie Wagner (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) chipped in with eight points, three rebounds, and two steals while freshman Julia Strothers (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) tossed in a career-high seven points in a mere four minutes of action. Shearer recorded six points and seven rebounds for the Green and White.

Macfarlane led the Knights as she tallied 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor including 1-for-2 from three. She added five rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal in 37 minutes. Shelby Winsor added eight points and six rebounds before fouling out late in the third quarter.

Neither team did a good job of taking care of the ball as the Knights turned the ball over 39 times while York committed a season-high 33 miscues. The Spartans scored 34 points off the SVU turnovers while the Knights converted the Spartan mistakes into 27 points.

The Spartans shot 41.7% from the floor including 3-for-16 (18.8%) from three. York made just 9-of-16 from the stripe, their second straight contest in which they shot below 60% from the line.

The Spartans held the Knights to just 26.7% shooting from the floor while they were just 1-for-10 from three. Southern Virginia went 13-for-21 from the line in the loss. It is the second time this year York has held an opponent to below 30% shooting from the floor in a game.

York outrebounded the Knights 51-41 in the game and also held a 34-18 margin in points in the paint.

The Spartans step out of conference play on Wednesday when they host Goucher College in a non-conference tilt at Wolf Gymnasium. Tip time for the game is set for 6:00 pm.

Sam Hruz photo courtesy of David Sinclair