YORK, PA – The York College women's basketball team used a stout defensive effort to edge Lebanon Valley College 50-44 in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth tournament.
The Spartans, who are the tournament's third seed, advance to face second seeded Widener in the semifinals on Friday. The Spartans and Pride finished with identical 13-3 conference marks during the regular season and split their two regular season games.
 
Score: York 50, Lebanon Valley 44
Records: York 20-5, Lebanon Valley 11-15
 
How It Happened
• The first quarter was back and forth with neither team able to sustain any momentum. The Dutchmen had a 6-2 lead early only to have York go on an 8-0 run to take a 10-6 lead. LVC's Christina Fernandez hit back-to-back threes as they took a 12-10 lead but Savannah Wilson canned a triple with 17 seconds left in the quarter as York led 13-12 after one.
• Scoring was at a premium to start the second quarter for the Spartans. The Dutchmen were just a touch better early in the quarter as they outscored York 8-2 over the first six minutes of the period. York tied the game at 20 before the Dutchmen scored four points over the final 41 seconds of the quarter to take a 24-22 halftime lead.
• The Dutchmen scored the first five points of the second half as their lead grew to 29-22. An uneasy feeling started to permeate Wolf Gymnasium as the Spartans didn't score for the first four minutes of the quarter. Senior Kayla Ferris helped steady the Spartans with a driving lay up followed by a huge Alyssa Hocker three to get the Spartans right back into the game. The Dutchman went back up by five but Hocker hit another big three to get York back to within two. Ferris then got a steal and a lay-up followed by a second driving lay-up to put York up 35-33 with 1:27 left in the third. A pair of Kennedy Kuffa free throws tied the game for the fifth and final time but York's Brooklyn Naylor converted a pair of free throws to give York a 37-35 lead after 30 minutes of play.
• The Dutchmen took their final lead of the game on a Samaya Santiague three 1:55 into the fourth quarter but Wilson responded with a huge three of her own as York took the 40-38 lead. York got three straight stops followed by an Alana Bortner three to put York up five.
• The Dutchmen scored four of the next six points of the game as York led 45-42 with 3:49 left in the game. After the teams traded stops, Wilson hit another triple to put York up 48-42. Jamie Youngkin hit a jumper in the lane for the Dutchmen's last points of the night with 2:33 remaining in the game. The teams would take turn getting stops until Bradi Zumbrum sealed the game with two free throws with nine seconds left to give York their six-point margin of victory.
 
Spartan Leaders
Kayla Ferris: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocked shots, 5 steals
Savannah Wilson: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Alyssa Hocker: 10 points, 6 rebnounds
Alana Bortner: 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
 
Spartan Stats
York earned their 12^th single-digit win of the year … the Spartans held the Dutchmen to just 30.2% shooting from the floor for the game … York went a stellar 8-for-15 (53.3%) from three, their highest percentage of the year by 10.3% … while York was making their three pointers, LVC struggled from distance as they made just 4-of-27 from long range (14.8%) … York attempted 21 less shots than LVC in large part because the Spartans committed 21 turnovers in the win … the 21 miscues were their second highest total of the year, next to the 23 turnovers they had against Berry in St. Petersburg on December 19 … Lebanon Valley was not able to make those 21 turnovers hurt as they scored just 12 points off the Spartans mistakes, conversely York was able to net 15 points off the 13 Dutchmen turnovers … York went 8-for-10 from the line including 4-of-4 in the fourth quarter … LVC won the battle on the glass 37-35 and the Dutchmen also held a 14-9 margin in second chance points.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans swept the three games from the Dutchmen this year as they improve to 9-5 all-time against LVC … York finishes the season 9-4 at home … the Spartans picked up their 20^th win for the sixth time under head coach Betsy Witman … York's last 20-win season came during the 2015-16 season when York went 20-7 … sophomore Alyssa Hocker picked a great night to have a career game as she poured in 10 points and grabbed a career-high tying six rebounds in a career-high 21 minutes of play … Hocker finished the game 4-of-6 from the floor including a pair of huge third quarter threes … senior Kayla Ferris continues to add to her career totals as she now has 1,029 points as she is 17^th on the all-time scoring list … Ferris now sits fourth on the all-time assists list (329), fourth on the all-time steals list (277), and 12^th on the all-time rebounding list (659) … Ferris had five steals in the win and that's the seventh time this year she has notched five steals or more in a game.
 
Up Next
The Spartans will put their ten-game road win streak on the line on Friday night as York travels to Chester to face Widener with a berth in the Commonwealth on the line. The two teams split their regular season meetings with the road team coming out victorious each time. The Pride is riding a 10-game win streak while the Spartans have won four straight. Tip time is set for 7:00 pm.
 
Audio Highlights courtesy of Darrell Henry - The Voice of the Spartans