SALISBURY, MD. – The York College women's basketball team buckled down on the defensive end after a slow start to defeat Salisbury University 67-59 on Wednesday in Capital Athletic Conference play at the Maggs Center in Salisbury. After falling behind 26-11 in the first quarter, the Spartans held the Sea Gulls to just 33 points in the final three quarters to earn their fourth CAC victory in five games.

RECORDS

York (Pa.): 8-4, 4-1 CAC

Salisbury: 6-6, 1-4 CAC

TEAM STATS

FG Shooting (%): York 25-for-63 (39.7%), Salisbury 25-for-71 (35.2%)

Three Point Shooting (%): York 3-for-11 (27.3%), Salisbury 3-for-11 (27.3%)

Free Throw Shooting (%): York 14-for-19 (73.7%), Salisbury 6-for-11 (54.5%)

Rebounding: York 38, Salisbury 52

Assists: York 11, Salisbury 14

Turnovers: York 12, Salisbury 19

Blocked Shots: York 4, Salisbury 6

Steals: York 8, Salisbury 5

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In York's first game back from its holiday trip to Florida, Beth Wiseley drove across the lane and converted a lay up in its opening possession. The Spartans missed their next five attempts from the field, though, before Katie Wagner was fouled while also making a lay up. She opened with six of York's first eight points. York started just 2-for-8 from the field, enabling plenty of run outs for Salisbury in the opening period, falling behind 14-6 at the midway point of the quarter. Debria Hendricks put York into double digits with just 2:18 left in the first. Hendricks would add a free throw before the quarter ended with York trailing 26-11.

• York started the second quarter with a Logynn Fuller jumper and then a steal from Wiseley. Just before the shot clock sounded on the next possession, Wiseley banked in a jumper to give York the first four points of the period. The lead grew to 15 in consecutive possessions, but it was Morgan Kuehne knocking down a pair of jumpers to keep York within arm's length. Despite Salisbury shooting over 60 percent from the field, York trimmed the deficit to 10 when Sam Mocniak nailed York's first three of the game just after the midway point of the second. Then, for the first time since it was 19-10, the Spartans cut the Sea Gull lead to single digits when Wagner and Katie McGowan linked up on an impressive give-and-go. Next to step up was Haley Luckabaugh, trimming it to seven after she calmly made a mid-range jumper. York finished the half on a 10-1 run, locking down on the defensive end to head into the break down 37-33 after outscoring the Sea Gulls 22-11 in the quarter.

• Kuehne nailed two long balls in the first three minutes of the second half to pull the Spartans even at 39-39. York leveled the score three times before taking its first lead since 2-0 when Kuehne knocked down another jumper. Kuehne and Wagner led a 15-3 run in the third quarter to propel York to a double-digit lead by the end of the period, leading 54-44. For the second consecutive 10-minute period, York scored at least 21 points while conceding less 11 in the process.

• The Sea Gulls cut the Spartan lead to open the fourth, but three straight lay ups from Hendricks put York back up 13 with six minutes to go. At the midway point of the quarter, though, both teams entered a bit of a drought. Neither team scored for 1:20, but Salisbury nailed a three with 4:02 to go, cutting York's lead to eight.  Kuehne, who finished with 16 points, made another key field goal to move the lead to 10 again. Five straight points from Salisbury cut the lead to five with a minute to play, but Kuehne and Fuller each knocked down free throws to successfully complete the York comeback 67-59.

SPARTAN LEADERS

Katie Wagner: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

Morgan Kuehne: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

Debria Hendricks: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

SEA GULL LEADERS

Kaylyn French: 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists

Rachel Ryan: 13 points, 13 rebounds

GAME NOTES

The Spartans are now 20-21 all-time against the Sea Gulls as York has won five of the last six match ups between the two teams … Katie Wagner set a new career-high with 22 points, eclipsing her previous high of 20 set three different times in her career … Wagner now has three straight games with double figures in scoring as she is averaging 16.7 points per game over her last three contests … Wagner now has 899 career points as she closes in on 1,000 for her career … the nine field goals made marked a new career high for Wagner … senior Morgan Kuehne continued her strong play as of late with her third straight double figures performance with 16 points … Kuehne is averaging almost 14 points per game in her last three games … junior guard Debria Hendricks set a new career-high with 13 points as she was a blistering 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-5 from the stripe in her 20 minutes of action … the Spartans attempted a season-low 11 three point field goals in the win while their three makes were the second lowest total of the year … York's 11 assists tied a season-low … York held Salisbury to just 24.3% shooting from the floor in the second half including 1-for-6 (16.7%) from three while the Sea Gulls converted just 3-of-7 from the stripe … the Sea Gulls battered York on the boards, holding a 52-38 advantage on the glass … Salisbury used that rebounding advantage to hold a 15-6 edge in second chance points … the Spartans forced Salisbury into 19 turnovers which York turned into 21 points … the Green and White held a very slight 34-32 edge in points in the paint in the win.

UP NEXT

The Spartans will stay on the road to take on Southern Virginia University on Saturday. Tip off is set for 1:00 p.m. against the Knights at the Knights Sports Arena.

Audio Highlights courtesy of Darrell Henry - The Voice of the Spartans