READING, PA – The York College women's basketball team continued their mid-season struggles as the Albright Lions downed the Spartans 70-57 in MAC Commonwealth play on Thursday night in Reading, PA.
The Spartans have now lost three straight and six of their last seven as York is now 4-10 overall and 1-4 in the MAC Commonwealth. Albright improves to 8-5 overall and 3-2 in the league with the win.
After trailing by as many as 25, the Spartans trimmed the Lion advantage to eight in the fourth quarter but that is as close as they could get after falling behind big early.
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans couldn't have gotten off to a worse start as the Lions hit the Green and White with a 16-2 run to start the game. The Lions continued to dominate the opening quarter as they had a 25-5 lead after ten minutes of play. York went 2-for-11 from the floor in the quarter while the Lions were a sizzling 9-for-15 (60%). The Lions also held a sizable 12-3 lead in rebounding in the first quarter. York had six first quarter turnovers that the Lions turned into 16 points.
• The second quarter was better for York as the Lions cooled off in the quarter. Albright outscored York 12-10 in the quarter but the Spartans limited the Lions to 30.8% (4-for-13) shooting in the second. However, the Spartans still trailed 37-15 at the break.
• The Spartan offense started to show signs of life in the third period. York outscored Albright 18-12 in the period, cutting their deficit to 16 heading to the final quarter.
• York made a run in the fourth quarter to make the game interesting. The Spartans went on a 9-4 run, cutting their deficit to eight at 55-47 with 6:37 remaining in the game. Amina Rauf answered with a big jumper to push the lead back to ten. York got the Albright lead back to single digits on a pair of Bradi Zumbrum free throws but Rauf hit another huge three to push the lead back 12. That kicked off a 12-3 Albright run that put the game out of reach at 70-52. York scored the final five points of the game to provide for the final 70-57 Albright margin of victory.
 
By the Numbers
The Spartans shot 32.8% (20-for-61) from the floor while Albright converted 42.6% (23-for-54) from the field … the Lions went a blistering 19-for-20 (95%) from the free throw line … York went 6-for-18 (33.3%) from three … Albright out-rebounded York 43-32 while both teams had 14 offensive rebounds … the Lions held a 20-11 advantage in second chance points … Albright took advantage of the Spartans' 17 turnovers as they scored 21 points off the York mistakes … Amina Rauf had a big night for the Lions as she led all Lion scorers with 22 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and four steals … she had ten points in the first quarter and ten points in the fourth … Gabby Boggs and Mackenzie Dover each added 12 points to the Albright offensive effort.
 
Spartan Notes
York is now 2-3 all-time against the Lions … the Spartans got a double-double from Bradi Zumbrum as the senior forward had 22 points and 10 rebounds … the double-double is her third of the year and fifth of her Spartan career … Zumbrum set a new career high as she went 9-for-11 from the free throw line … the nine makes and 11 attempts are both career highs … Zumbrum played all 40 minutes for the second time this year … Zumbrum has now scored over 20 points in a game six times this year … junior Brooklyn Naylor set a new career-high with 10 points while she also had five rebounds and two steals … Naylor was 5-for-1- from the field … Taylor Burda and Tori Geitner each added eight points to the Spartan offensive effort.
 
Up Next
The Spartans are now off until Wednesday night when they host Stevenson University in a MAC Commonwealth contest. Tip time is set for 8:00 pm at Charles Wolf Gymnasium.