BUENA VISTA, Va. – The York College women's basketball handed Southern Virginia its first home loss of the season on Saturday in a 63-57 victory as the Spartans earned a crucial Capital Athletic Conference road win over last season's conference runner-up. 

Records

York 11-7, 2-1 CAC

Southern Virginia 13-4, 1-2 CAC 

Team Stats

Score: York 63, Southern Virginia 57 

FG: YCP 21-for-55 (38.2%), SVU 23-for-55 (41.8%)

3PT FG: YCP 5-for-18 (27.8%), SVU 2-for-10 (20.0%) 

FT: YCP 16-for-20 (80.0%), SVU 9-for-13 (69.2%)

Rebounds: YCP 37, SVU 31

Assists: YCP 14, SVU 17

Turnovers: YCP 16, SVU 15

Blocks: YCP 2, SVU 3

Steals: YCP 7, SVU 8

How It Happened

• The first quarter belonged to York as the Spartans took a 21-10 lead into the first intermission. The Spartans led by as much as 13 in the quarter as the Knights struggled to keep pace after shooting just 4-for-12 from the floor. Kayla Ferris carried the York offense as she led all players with eight points on a 3-for-4 performance from the field.

• The Spartans opened the second quarter on a 7-2, led by Ferris with five of those points, as York owned a 15-point advantage (28-13) with 5:55 left to play in the quarter. From that point, it would be all Southern Virginia as the Knights ended the half on a 9-0 run as they trailed by six (28-22) at halftime.

• A few keys to the first half included points off turnovers as York held an 11-2 advantage in that category. Another factor was Southern Virginia's inability to match York's production from three-point range as the Spartans shot 3-for-9, while the Knights went 0-for-4. Ferris also played a big role in York's success as the junior was the only player for either side to reach double-figures with 13 points.  She went 5-for-8 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from beyond the three-point line.

• The Knights opened the third quarter with a 14-7 run and took their first lead of the game, 36-35, with 5:10 left in the quarter. Head coach Betsy Witman decided to use a timeout to settle her team down and out of the break York regained its composure and finished the quarter with a 43-39 lead. Free throws made a big difference in helping York regain the lead as the Spartans went 6-for-6 from the line, including four by Sammie Matteo.

• Alana Bortner gave the Spartans a shot in the arm on the opening possession of the fourth quarter as she drained a three-pointer to swell the lead to seven (46-39), York's largest lead since the second quarter. The two teams then traded punches over the next five minutes with neither side managing to break away.

• Back-to-back turnovers by Southern Virginia with less than 3:30 to go proved very costly for the Knights as it allowed York to open up a four-point lead with 2:35 remaining. Southern Virginia managed to make it a one-possession game, but two missed shots inside eight feet with 35 seconds left sealed the Knight's fate as York regained possession and then went ahead by two scores. Bortner put the finishing touches on the victory as she drained two free throws to give York a 63-56 lead with nine seconds left.

Spartan Leaders

Kayla Ferris: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals

Molly Day: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks 

Alana Bortner: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists 

Knight Leaders 

Katie Garrish: 18 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist

Savanna Christensen: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks

Courtney McKrola: 5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists

Game Notes

Alana Bortner was a big factor in clinching the victory as she led York with nine points in the fourth quarter … Molly Day was instrumental in keeping York in the game as she led the team with 12 points in the second half … York managed to hold one of the top rebounding teams in the CAC to more than 10 rebounds below their season average (41.2) as the Knights hauled in 31 on the day … York improves to 8-3 all-time against Southern Virginia, snapping a two-game skid against the Knights.

Up Next

The Spartans return home next Saturday as they welcome CAC foe Mary Washington to Wolf Gym. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m

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