FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The York College women's basketball team couldn't take advantage of a golden opportunity to upset the ninth ranked University of Mary Washington Eagles as the Spartans dropped a 66-60 decision on Saturday night in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Spartans went 22-for-42 from the free throw line in the loss.  

RECORDS

#9 Mary Washington: 16-1, 9-1 CAC

York (Pa.): 12-5, 6-4 CAC

TEAM STATS

FG Shooting (%): York 16-for-51 (31.4%), UMW 18-for-48 (37.5%)

Three Point Shooting (%): York 6-for-20 (30%), UMW 2-for-9 (22.2%)

Free Throw Shooting (%): York 22-for-42 (52.4%), UMW 28-for-39 (71.8%)

Rebounding: York 41, UMW 44

Assists: York 8, UMW 7

Turnovers: York 16, UMW 19

Blocked Shots: York 2, UMW 4

Steals: York 5, UMW 7

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• The Spartans got off to a good start in the game as they held the lead the majority of the opening 10 minutes. York had a 17-9 lead on a Katie McGowan jumper with 1:41 left in the first quarter. The Eagles scored four of the final five points of the quarter as York led 18-13 after the first period.

• The Spartans opened the second quarter with a Morgan Golec three to push the lead back to eight. The Spartans used an 8-0 run to push their advantage to 30-19 midway through the second quarter. The Eagles cut into the lead but York pushed it back to 11 on a pair of McGowan free throws with 1:26 left. That matched the largest lead of the game for the Green and White. The Eagles outscored York 4-1 in the final 1:10 of the quarter as the Spartans took a 35-27 lead to the break.

• York held on to the lead for most of the quarter until the Eagles tied the game at 45 on a Brianne Comden lay up with 56 seconds left in the period. Taylor Barton hit a pair of free throws with 21 ticks left followed by Debria Hendricks splitting a pair at the line as the Eagles took a 47-46 lead to the final period. The Eagles outscored the Spartans 20-11 in the third quarter. York went 7-for-13 from the line in the quarter while the Eagles went 9-for-11.

• The final quarter went back and forth for the first six and a half minutes of the period. The first seven minutes featured three ties and five lead changes. The game was tied for the last time at 58 as Katie Wagner split a pair of free throws with 3:33 left in the game. Megan Green gave the Eagles the lead for good just under a minute later as she hit a lay up, putting the Eagles up 60-58. That would start a 6-0 Mary Washington run that put the nail in the Spartans' coffin with 33 seconds left. York could not get any closer than four the rest of the way as they fell by six. York's last field goal came with 4:06 left in regulation as the UMW defense locked down the Spartan offense. The Eagles iced the game at the line as they went 10-for-16 while the Spartans went 5-for-10 from the line and 4-for-18 from the floor.

SPARTAN LEADERS

Katie McGowan: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

Sarah Shearer: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 4-for-6 from the floor, 2-for-2 from the line

Sam Hruz: 13 rebounds, 2 points, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots, 3 steals

Morgan Golec: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

EAGLE LEADERS

Brianne Comden: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal, 7-for-14 from the floor

Megan Green: 14 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot

Elizabeth Dofflemyer: 9 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals

GAME NOTES

The Spartans have lost three straight against the Eagles as Mary Washington is now 46-25 all-time against York … the Spartans lost starting forward Morgan Kuehne to a pregame mishap as she suffered a hand injury and was unavailable for the game … the 42 free throw attempts is tied for the fourth highest total in school history … the school record is 50 against Salisbury on January 28, 2006 … York went 32-for-50 (64%) in that game against the Sea Gulls … the 42 free throw attempts are a season high by 12 (30 vs. Frostburg on January 11) … since shooting 80% from the line in the win over Frostburg State, the Spartans are 42-for-78 (53.8%) from the line in their last three games … the loss snaps the Spartans' season-high four game win streak … the Spartans had just eight assists on 16 field goals, their lowest assist total of the year and the first time they failed to get into double figures in assists for the year … the loss is the Spartans' first went leading at the half as they were 11-0 when holding the halftime lead in a game … Mary Washington outscored the Spartans 24-14 in the paint … the Spartans turned Mary Washington's 19 turnovers into 21 points while the Eagles got just 10 points off the 16 Spartan miscues … the Spartan bench outscored the starters 40-20 … Brianne Comden, who played the game on a bad ankle that would cause her to leave the game late, scored 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor and 6-for-10 from the line … Comden led the Eagles in the win at York as she had 19 points … senior Sam Hruz pulled down 13 rebounds in the loss … Hruz now has eight games with double digits in rebounds … Hruz is averaging just over seven boards per game since returning from injury … Katie McGowan is averaging 12.2 points per game over her last five games while she is averaging 6.6 rebounds per game over that same stretch … McGowan has scored 101 of her 132 points for the season in the last nine games.

UP NEXT

The Spartans return home on Wednesday evening when they host PSU Harrisburg in a Capital Athletic Conference contest. Tip off from Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 6:00 pm.   

Katie McGowan photo courtesy of David Sinclair Photography