YORK, PA – The York College women's basketball team overcame nine first-quarter turnovers to race past the Penn State Harrisburg Lions 58-43 with an explosive second half on Wednesday in Capital Athletic Conference play in York. With the victory, the Spartans have now won five of their last six, and eight of their last 10. York was 18-for-25 from the foul line, a game after struggling from the stripe in the road loss to #9 University of Mary Washington.

RECORDS

PSU Harrisburg: 4-14, 2-9 CAC

York (Pa.): 13-5, 7-4 CAC

TEAM STATS

FG Shooting (%): York 19-for-55 (34.5%), PSUH 16-for-60 (26.7%)

Three Point Shooting (%): York 2-for-18 (11.1%), PSUH 3-for-14 (21.4%)

Free Throw Shooting (%): York 18-for-25 (72.0%), PSUH 8-17 (47.1%)

Rebounding: York 53, PSU H 34

Assists: York 12, PSUH 9

Turnovers: York 20, PSUH 18

Blocked Shots: York 9, PSUH 2

Steals: York 9, PSU H14

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• The Spartans jumped out to an early 7-0 advantage in the first three minutes behind four early points from Sam Hruz. Penn St. Harrisburg answered with a pair of runs of their own, of 6-0 and 7-0, respectively, to take the lead with just over three minutes left. York suffered nine turnovers in the opening period, and trailed 15-11.

• With just under three minutes remaining in the half, York trailed 26-17, their largest deficit of the night, before rattling off a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just two. During the run, York managed a few steals on the defensive end, and Sarah Shearer knocked down a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game. The Lions led 28-24 at the break.

• Both teams traded buckets to open the second half. Midway through the third, Harrisburg opened up a 36-29 lead. Katie Wagner converted two free throws with less than four minutes remaining to kick start an 11-0 run to end the quarter. Wagner was good for six of those 11 points during the spurt. York led 40-36 after three after outscoring the Lions 16-8 in the quarter.

• Early in the fourth quarter, Debria Hendricks knocked down an off-balanced jumper as the shot clock buzzer sounded. Additionally, Hendricks was fouled, made the foul shot and extended the York lead to 43-39. After another bucket, Wagner then ripped off seven consecutive points for the Spartans to push the lead to 52-41. Wagner finished with a career-high tying 20 points, with 16 of them in the second half. The Spartans would eventually stretch their lead to 58-43.

SPARTAN LEADERS

Katie Wagner: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Sam Hruz: 12 rebounds, 8 blocks, 7 points, 6 assists, 2 steals

Sarah Shearer: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

LION LEADERS

Shanique Mattis: 8 points, 5 steals, 3 rebounds

Raven Ransom: 7 rebounds, 6 points, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot

Kaitlyn Carmo: 8 points, 3 rebounds

GAME NOTES

The Spartans are 7-1 all time against the Lions and have won five straight in the series … Katie Wagner matched a career high with 20 points, 16 of them in second half … When Wagner is the Spartans' leading scorer, the team is now 6-0 in those games … Wagner also set a career high with eight free throws made (8-11) … Sam Hruz matched a school-record 8 blocks, her third school record in the block department … coincidentally, those three games all came against PSU Harrisburg … York won for just the second time after trailing at halftime (2-4) … The Spartans are now 11-2 when their opponent fails to shoot 70% from the foul line (47.1%) … They advance to 8-1 in games this year when making more free throws than their opponent

UP NEXT

The Spartans head back out on the road on Saturday as they head to Buena Vista, Virginia to face the Southern Virginia University Knights in a Capital Athletic Conference contest. Tip time from the Knight Sports Arena is set for 1:00 pm.

Story written by Cody Manmiller – Asst. Director of Athletic Communications

Katie Wagner photo courtesy of Shane Guise – Athletic Communications Student Photographer

Audio highlights courtesy of Darrell Henry