YORK, PA  - The York College women's basketball team celebrated their 2022 Senior Day with an outstanding defensive effort as the Spartans downed Eastern 54-41 in MAC Commonwealth action on Saturday. The win closed out the regular season as the Spartans finished the campaign with 19 wins and the third seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Tournament.
Prior to the game, the Spartans honored their four seniors who were playing in their final regular season game on Saturday.
 
Score: York 54, Eastern 41
Records: York 19-5 (13-3 MAC Commonwealth); Eastern 8-17 (5-11 MAC Commonwealth)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got off to a very slow start as Eastern raced out to a 6-0 lead 3:29 into the game. The Spartans answered with a 10-0 run to close out the period. York held the Eagles off the scoreboard for the final 6:30 of the first quarter as York had a four-point lead after 10 minutes of play.
• The Eagles trimmed the Spartan lead to two in the early stages of the second quarter but York quickly pushed the lead back to six. York eventually pushed their advantage to seven at 17-10 on a Taylor Brenneman free throw with 3:16 left in the half. A Camila Sosa three cut York's lead to three but York finished the half with a 7-2 run to take a nine point lead to the half. The run was the exclusive property of Alana Bortner as she scored all seven points to give York some breathing room at the half.
• Senior Kayla Ferris quickly pushed the lead to 11 with a lay up 36 seconds into the second half. The Eagles got to within six twice but York answered with a 7-0 run fueled by back-to-back threes from Savannah Wilson and Ferris, pushing the lead to 13. York would settle for a 10 point lead (38-28) heading to the fourth quarter.
• York put the game away early in the fourth quarter as they opened the period with an 11-2 run to push the lead to 19 with 6:17 left in the game. That 19 point lead would be a high water mark as the Spartans would settle for the 13 point lead as Eastern made a run late when the game was already decided.
 
SPARTAN LEADERS
Kayla Ferris: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, four steals, 1 blocked shot
Alana Bortner: 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Savannah Wilson: 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals
Bradi Zumbrum: 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, 1 steal
 
SPARTAN STATS
The Spartans didn't light it up from the floor as they shot just 33.3% from the field but their defense was again outstanding as they held Eastern to just 28.8% shooting … Eastern shot just 21.7% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play … Eastern is the fifth opponent that the Spartans have held below 30% shooting in a game … York forced 21 Eastern turnovers and turned those miscues into 18 points … York held a 14-2 advantage in in fast break points and an 18-6 margin in bench points … the teams finished tied with 43 rebounds each … York blocked six shots with four coming from Bradi Zumbrum … York blocked at least five shots in a game for the seventh time this year ... the 41 points are the second fewest points allowed by the Spartans this year. 
 
SPARTAN NOTES
York is now 4-1 all-time against Eastern as they have won four straight in the series against the Eagles as York swept the regular season series … York finishes the regular season 8-4 at home … the Spartans have now won at least 19 games in a season for the sixth time in school history with all of those season coming under head coach Betsy Witman … prior to the game, York honored their four seniors as Kayla Ferris, Alana Bortner, Meghan Carlson, and Briaunna Embrey-Banks were recognized for their contributions to the Spartan program … in another pregame ceremony, Ferris was presented the game ball for scoring her 1,000^th career point in Tuesday's win at Albright while Witman was also presented a game ball for her 400^th career win at Albright.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans begin their journey in their first MAC Commonwealth tournament on Wednesday as the tournament's three seed. York finished tied with Widener for second but the Pride won the tie-breaker. York will host Lebanon Valley, the sixth seed, in Wednesday night's quarterfinal round. Tip time from Wolf Gymnasium is set for 6:00 pm.