YORK, Pa. – York suffered just its second loss of the season in conference play as Southern Virginia shot well down the stretch to pull out a 68-61 victory Saturday afternoon in Wolf Gym. The Knights pulled away in the final four minutes of the game after the two teams had played to a tie at the end of each of the first three quarters.

Records

York 13-8, 4-2 CAC 

Southern Virginia 15-5, 3-3 CAC 

Team Stats

Score: Southern Virginia 68, York 61

FG: YCP 19-for-56 (33.9%), SVU 27-for-58 (46.6%)

3PT FG: YCP 13-for-25 (52.0%), SVU 4-for-13 (30.8%)

FT: YCP 10-for-15 (66.7%), SVU 10-for-11 (90.9%)

Rebounds: YCP 37, SVU 36

Assists: YCP 14, SVU 16 

Turnovers: YCP 17, SVU 16

Blocks: YCP 2, SVU 4

Steals: YCP 8, SVU 7 

How It Happened

• The Spartans got off to a cold start as they opened the game 1-for-8 from the floor, while Southern Virginia opened up an 11-3 lead at the first media timeout. York came storming back to tie the score, 16-16, at the end of the first quarter as the Spartans heated up from beyond the arc. Haley Luckabaugh led the way with a pair of three-pointers as the Spartans finished 4-for-7 from three-point range in the quarter.

• Both teams started out slow offensively to start the second quarter before back-to-back three-pointers by Kayla Ferris and Torri Geitner jumped started the York offense and gave the Spartans a 25-18 lead with 3:50 left in the first half. The Knights responded with six unanswered points to force a 25-25 tie, but Molly Day came through with a pair of layups on consecutive possessions as the teams headed into the locker room tied, 29-29.

• Ferris and Alana Bortner delivered two big blows to start the third quarter with back-to-back three-pointers as York took a 25-29 lead. The Spartans relied heavily on the three throughout the third quarter as four of their five made field goals came from beyond the arc. Southern Virginia held serve with an 8-for-15 performance from the field as the game remained tied, 47-47, through three quarters of play. 

• York fell into a hole to start the fourth quarter as the Knights capitalized on a string of Spartan turnovers to take a 58-49 lead with 4:59 left to play. The Spartans found a grove again from beyond the arc as they knocked down a trio of three-pointers down the stretch to cut the SVU lead to 64-60 with 0:51 left. Unfortunately, York managed to score only one more point from that point on as the Knights finished 4-four-4 from the free throw line to seal the victory.

Spartan Leaders

Kayla Ferris: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals, 1 block

Bradi Zumbrum: 5 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 

Haley Luckabaugh: 11 points, 2 rebounds

Knight Leaders

Katie Garrish: 21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks 

Savanna Christensen: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Anna Singer: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

Game Notes 

Southern Virginia shot 51.7% (15-for-29) from the field in the second half, while the Spartans shot 50.0% (7-for-14) from three-point range in the final two quarters … the Knights dominated inside as they out-scored York 34-12 in the paint … Kayla Ferris led York in scoring as she tied her season-high with 17 points … Bradi Zumbrum led the Spartan rebounding effort with a season-high tying 10 boards … York is now 8-4 all-time against Southern Virginia as the two teams split the regular season series. 

Up Next

The Spartans remain at home for the second leg of a three-game home stand as they take on Salisbury on Wednesday at 6 p.m.