BUENA VISTA, VA – The York College women's basketball team suffered a shocking 66-64 loss at Southern Virginia University in Capital Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon. The loss for the Spartans comes just four weeks after the Spartans rolled to a 99-69 win at home over the Knights.

The loss dips the Spartans to 11-12 overall and, more importantly, drops the Spartans into a fifth place tie with St. Mary's in the CAC as York is now 7-9 in the league. The Knights improve to 6-15 overall and 4-11 in the league.

The opening eight minutes of the game went back and forth as neither team held more than a three-point lead. The Spartans seemed to seize control of the game as they went on a 16-5 run to take a 32-19 lead with 5:35 remaining in the first half.

With the Knights on the precipice of being blown out, they gathered themselves and answered the York run with a 17-3 run of their own to take a 36-35 lead with 1:44 remaining in the half. The Spartans scored the final four points of the first half to salvage a three-point halftime lead but the momentum had clearly swung in favor of the Knights.

The Spartans would not get the lead above three in the early stages of the second half. Southern Virginia proceeded to hit the Green and White with a 14-4 run to push out to a seven point lead with 9:03 left in the second half.

SVU would push the lead to nine twice in the next six minutes before the Spartans cut the Knight advantage to just four with 1:09 left. Brianna Bisci (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) hit a three with 9.4 seconds left, cutting the Spartan deficit to one. York was forced to foul and Marissa Belliston split the pair with 3.2 seconds left. York would not be able to get off a shot as they dropped the critical conference game.

The Knights were led by Belliston as she had 16 points and 11 assists while she also had six steals in 40 minutes of action. Ann Kuroki added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds while she also had six assists and four steals. Jamilla Gambee came off the bench to score 15 points and grab seven rebounds. Forward Crystal Cleveland was held to five points but she did grab 11 rebounds and block three shots for the Knights.

Senior Shea Wassel (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) led York with 22 points and nine rebounds. Wassel was 7-for-14 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. She also had two steals in her 22 minutes of work as she was straddled with foul trouble during the game. Sophomore Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md./Mercy) was the other Spartan in double figures with 14 points while she also had eight rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. Morgan Golec (Abington, Md./Patterson Mill) added eight points and seven rebounds off the bench for York.

The Spartans finished the game shooting an ice cold 33.2% including just 23.7% (9-for-38) in the second half. York went just 3-for-22 from three while they shot 65.2% (15-for-23) from three. The Spartans got hurt from the free throw line in the second half as they went just 4-for-9.

Southern Virginia shot 40.9% from the floor while they went 4-of-16 from three. The Knights shot 61.5% from the line in the win.

The Knights thrived on Spartan turnovers (22) and a big rebounding advantage as they out-rebounded the Green and White 51-44. SVU notched 16 steals in the victory.

The Spartans return home to play their final two regular season games of the year starting with a Wednesday night game against Frostburg State. Tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 6:00 pm.

Shea Wassel photo courtesy of David Sinclair