BRONX, N.Y. – The York College women's basketball squad knocked off previously unbeaten SUNY Poly 68-63 in the championship game of the CUNY Coaches vs. Cancer Classic hosted by Lehman College in the Bronx, N.Y. on Friday afternoon. The win gives York their first tournament championship of the year after finishing second at their own Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in November.

RECORDS

SUNY Poly: 9-1

York (Pa.): 8-3

TEAM STATS

FG Shooting (%): York 26-for-71 (36.6%), SUNY Poly 22-for-62 (35.5%)

Three Point Shooting (%): York 7-for-23 (30.4%), SUNY Poly 6-for-20 (30.0%)

Free Throw Shooting (%): York 9-for-13 (69.2%), SUNY Poly 13-for-13 (100.0%)

Rebounding: York 48, SUNY Poly 40

Assists: York 15, SUNY Poly 7

Turnovers: York 17, SUNY Poly 19

Blocked Shots: York 4, SUNY Poly 2

Steals: York 9, SUNY Poly 12

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• The Wildcats got off to a quick start in the first quarter as they scored the first five points of the game and eight of the first ten to take the early 8-2 lead. That would be SUNY Poly's biggest lead of the game. York bounced back to tie the game at 12 and take a 15-12 lead on a Sam Mocniak three pointer with 1:09 left in the first. York took a 15-14 lead after one quarter of play.

• The opening stages of the second quarter saw the two teams go back and forth. York pushed out to a 24-19 lead on a Sam Hruz three pointer but the Wildcats quickly tied the game at 24 on a layup and three-pointer from Stevie Ray. Taylor Aybar would give the Wildcats a 30-29 lead with 3:42 before the half but York ended the second quarter on an 8-4 run to take a 37-34 lead to the break.

• SUNY Poly came out of the break and forged a 40-40 tie over the opening four minutes of the third quarter. The Spartans then ripped off seven straight points as Katie McGowan and Morgan Golec each hit a lay up followed by a Mocniak three as the lead grew to 47-40. The Wildcats cut the Spartan lead to 50-46 but York got another Mocniak three and a Morgan Kuehne lay up to close the third quarter with a 55-46 lead. The nine-point advantage was York's largest advantage of the game.

• SUNY Poly battled back at the start of the fourth quarter as they opened the half on a 14-5 run, erasing the Spartans' nine-point lead and tying the game at 60 with 2:58 left in regulation. On the ensuing possession, senior Sarah Shearer got a huge offensive rebound followed by a Hruz lay up, giving York the 62-60 lead. The teams traded fruitless offensive possessions, trimming almost a minute off the clock. Kristaijah Jackson missed a jumper and Mocniak collected the defensive rebound with 1:27 left. Shelby Kralik notched a steal and the Wildcats called timeout with possession with 1:03 left. Jackson missed a lay up on Poly's ensuing offensive set and York earned the defensive team rebound. The Wildcats fouled and McGowan sank a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left, giving York a 64-60 lead. Jackson misfired on a third straight shot and Mocniak pulled in another rebound. She was harassed into a turnover but Kiersten Leos missed a lay up with Shearer pulling in the defensive rebound. Hruz was fouled and sank two more free throws, pushing York's lead to 66-60. York fouled Ray behind the arc and the guard sank all three, cutting their deficit in half with 11 seconds left. McGowan hit a lay up with under ten seconds to ice the game and give York the tournament championship.

SPARTAN LEADERS

Sam Mocniak: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 3-for-9 from three

Sam Hruz: 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocked shots

Katie McGowan: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, 3 steals

Morgan Kuehne: 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists

WILDCAT LEADERS

Stevie Ray: 27 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals, 9-for-23 from the floor

Khristaijah Jackson: 16 points, 12 rebounds

Shelby Kralik: 8 points, five rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

GAME NOTES

This is the first meeting between the two programs … junior Sam Mocniak was named the tournament MVP and Katie McGowan earned all-tournament team honors … SUNY Poly came into the game averaging 76.3 points per game while they were outscoring their opponents by 18.7 points per game … The Spartans held the Wildcats to 13 points below their season average … Poly guard Stevie Ray entered the game averaging 24.1 points per game while forward Khristaijah Jackson is adding 17.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game … Ray and Jackson got theirs in the game but York limited the rest of the Wildcats to a combined 20 points … McGowan has scored 38 points in her last three games while she has pulled in 15 rebounds in those three games … McGowan is 12-for-19 from the floor and 14-for-18 from the free throw line in the last three contests … the Spartans made seven three pointers, tying their second highest total of the year … the five point win was the first single digit Spartan win for the season … both teams were very good from the free throw line as York was 9-for-13 while the Wildcats converted 13-for-13 from the stripe … the Spartan championship is their first since last year's York College Coaches vs. Cancer Championship when York downed McDaniel 74-69 in overtime on November 22 in York … York had lost in the championship game in their last two in-season tournaments (December 29, 2015 @ Lycoming and November 19 vs. Eastern) … sophomore Debria Hendricks dished out a career-high six assists in her 15 minutes of action … Sam Hruz is closing in on 600 career rebounds as she now has 591 career caroms … Sam Mocniak now has 19 three pointers in 11 games this year, besting her previous season best of 18 that she had as a freshman in 26 games.

UP NEXT

The game concludes the Spartans' non-conference schedule as they head back into league play on Wednesday, January 4 when the Marymount University Saints come to Wolf Gymnasium. Tip time in York is scheduled for 6:00 pm.

Photos courtesy of Robert Cole and Lehman College Athletics