ST. PETERSBURG, FLA – The York College women's basketball team survived a furious fourth quarter rally as they held off Berry College 58-50 in the opening round of the St. Pete Shootout at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The win extended the Spartan win streak to ten as York has not since their season opener against Johns Hopkins.
 
Score: York 58, Berry 50
Records: York 10-1, Berry 5-5
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans had a strong first quarter as they locked down Berry on the defensive end of the floor, limiting the Vikings to just five points. The game was tied at two early but York scored the next 13 points to take the 15-2 lead. They would end up with a ten point edge at the end of one.
• The Spartans kept rolling in the second quarter. Berry cut the lead to eight but the Spartans ripped off a 13-3 run to push the lead to 28-10 on a Cassidy Arnold offensive rebound and put back with 4:53 remaining in the half. York increased the lead to 33-13 with 2:29 left but York went scoreless the rest of the quarter while Berry hit two threes late to trim York's lead to 14 at 33-19.
• The third quarter was a carbon copy of the first as York locked down the Vikings, holding them to just six points. Loras trimmed York's lead to 11 but the Spartans put together a 9-0 spurt to push the lead to 20 at 42-22. The York lead reached 22 as Meghan Leininger drilled a three just before the horn to give York a 47-25 lead.
• York's Bradi Zumbrum gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the game with the opening bucket of the fourth quarter as York led 49-25. From that point, the Spartan offense went cold while the Berry bench bunch got into the game and turned the momentum squarely in the favor of the Vikings. Berry slowly trimmed the lead as they were down 20 with 8:25 left, 15 at 6:09 and finally ten at 3:08.
• Berry cut the lead to seven with 2:35 left but senior Alana Bortner drilled a clutch three to put York back up by ten. The Vikings continued to play hard and force numerous Spartan turnovers. Sarah Wright got a lay up, a steal and another lay up to cut York's lead to six at 56-50. After a pair of fouls, Bortner hit a pair of free throws to put York up eight with 13 seconds left. York would kill off the remainder of the game for their tenth straight win.
 
Spartan Leaders
Kayla Ferris: 22 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists , 4 steals, 1 block, 9-for-11 FG, 3-for-3 FT
Cassidy Arnold: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
Alana Bortner: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Bradi Zumbrum: 7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 blocked shot
 
By the Numbers
The Spartans committed a season-high 23 turnovers and have turned the ball over 43 times in their last two games but York won both games … York shot a chilly 17.4% from three (4-for-23) for the game … York went to the free throw line a season-low nine times … York was very unselfish with the ball as they had 19 assists on their 24 field goals … the Spartans held their seventh opponent this year to 50 points and below in the win … York won the battle on the glass by eight as they out-rebounded their fifth opponent in 11 games … the Spartans were credited with four blocked shots and that's the fourth time they have gotten four swats or more in the game … York had 11 steals in the game, the sixth time this year they have reached double figures in thefts in a game.
 
Spartan Notes
The meeting between the two programs is the first in the history of the program … this is York's fifth game in Florida under the guidance of head coach Betsy Witman as York is now 2-3 in the sunshine state … senior Kayla Ferris continues to sizzle as she reached 20 points for the second straight game … Ferris has shot 20-for-30 from the floor in her last two games while she also has pulled in 18 rebounds, dished out eight assists and recorded six assists in the two wins … Cassidy Arnold reached double figures for the fourth time this year and the first time since her 13 point outburst against Elizabethtown … the game featured two teams leading their conference's in defensive scoring … York is allowing 51 points per game while Berry entered the game allowing 51.3 points per game which leads the Southern Athletic Conference.
 
Up Next
The Spartans turn around and face Loras in the second game of the St. Pete Classic. Tip time at the McArthur Center is set for 3:00 pm in St. Petersburg. Loras faces Washington & Lee in their opening game of the tournament on Saturday evening at 7:00 pm.

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