Box Score NEWPORT NEWS, VA – The York College women's basketball team saw their fantastic 2019-20 season come to close with an 86-66 loss to top seeded Christopher Newport in the 2020 Capital Athletic Conference women's basketball championship game on Saturday in Newport News, VA.
The Spartans, who were picked to finish fifth in the preseason coach's poll, finished the year with a mark of 17-11. The Captains advance to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in the last eight years as they won all 12 of their CAC games this year. The title is CNU's third as a member of the CAC.
Juniors Kayla Ferris and Molly Day earned All-Tournament honors for the Spartans.
Records
York (Pa.): 17-11
#22 Christopher Newport 23-4
Team Stats
Score: York 66, #22 Christopher Newport 86
FG: York 25-for-67 (37.3%), CNU 27-for-55 (49.1%)
3PT FG: York 9-for-29 (31%), CNU 7-for-17 (41.2%)
FT: York 7-for-11 (63.6%), CNU 25-for-29 (86.2%)
Rebounds: York 34, CNU 41
Assists: York 22, CNU 16
Turnovers: York 18, CNU 17
Blocked Shots: York 5, CNU 6
Steals: York 5, CNU 8
How It Happened:
• The Captains could not have gotten off to a better start in the game as they hit York with an 18-7 run over the first 4:22 of the game. The Captains eventually pushed the lead to 13 before York scored the final five points of the quarter as CNU led 22-14.
• The Spartans' Kayla Ferris opened the second quarter with a three pointer and suddenly York trailed by just five. However, the Captains doubled that lead to 10 over the next four minutes of play. York trimmed their deficit to eight before CNU increased the lead back to 11 heading to the half.
• The third quarter proved to be York's undoing as the Captains opened the second half on a 8-0 run that quickly pushed their lead to 19 just 2:06 into the half. The Spartans worked the lead down to 14 points twice but CNU ended the third quarter on an 11-3 run that gave them a 24-point lead heading to the final quarter.
• To the Spartans credit, they fought back in the fourth quarter as they cut the Captain lead down to 12 on back-to-back threes from Haley Luckabaugh midway through the quarter. Unfortunately for York, their deficit was too large and the Captains cruised to the 20 point win.
Spartan Leaders:
Haley Luckabaugh: 21 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 3PT FG
Kayla Ferris: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal
Molly Day: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal
Alana Bortner: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assist, 1 blocked shot
Captain Leaders:
Anaya Simmons: 26 points, 8 rebobunds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal, 20 minutes of play
Sondra Fan: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
Natalie Terwillinger: 8 points, 8 rebound, 3 blocked shots
Notes:
The Spartans finish their tenure in the CAC with an all-time tournament mark of 28-27 … the championship game appearance for the Spartans was their sixth as they finish 2-4 in championship games … York is 2-3 against CNU in the CAC Tournament … CNU is now 8-4 in the CAC Tournament since joining the league for the 2013-14 season … York is now 7-13 all-time against the Captains as CNU swept the three games this year … CNU is now 10-0 at the Freeman Center this year and are riding a 20-game home win streak dating back to last year … The Spartans shot just 11 free throws in the game compared to 29 for the Captains … CNU went 7-for-8 from the stripe in the fateful third quarter … CAC Rookie of the Year Anaya Simmons had 14 of her game-high 26 points in the third quarter … sophomore Haley Luckabaugh led York with 21 points … Luckabaugh finished the year with three 20-plus point efforts and 17 double figure efforts for the year … junior Molly Day finished her year with her 19th double digit scoring game of the year … junior Kayla Ferris concluded her year with her fourth straight double figure effort as she concluded the year with 14 double figure efforts … sophomore Alana Bortner closed out her sophomore year with her 18th double figure game of the year.
Up Next
The game closes out the Spartans campaign. Head coach Betsy Witman is slated to return her entire team next year as the Spartans head to the MAC on July 1.
