Chester, PA- The York College Spartans fell to the Widener Pride, 71-61, Wednesday night in heartbreaking fashion, as their three-game win streak comes to an end in Chester.
It was a Commonwealth instant classic, as the game featured six ties and five lead changes. It was a hard-fought game with each team displaying gutsiness throughout.
The Spartans have now lost three straight games at the Schwartz Center, but will get a chance to face Widener again in early February at home, where they have yet to fall to a MAC opponent. 
The Pride improves to 14-4 overall and 4-3 in Commonwealth play. The Spartans fall to 12-6 overall and 5-2 in the league.
 
How it Happened
• It was a tale of two halves, as the first half featured tough, smothering defenses from both squads, while the second saw both sides pour on the points. York recorded an impressive four blocks in the first half. Not to be outdone, the Pride hustled for eight steals in the first twenty. 
• Alyssa Hocker starred down low in the first half and helped grow the Spartan lead to as many as eight. She recorded her seventh double-double of the season, including a season high 15 rebounds. She also chipped in fourteen points. 
• The Pride ran their offense through senior point guard Jordan D'ambrosio, who led the way with an efficient nineteen points, including an 11-15 showing from the free throw line. 
• With the Pride's focus turning to trying to stop Hocker, Spartan guard Breana Grim became aggressive on the offensive end, leading the Green and White in scoring with 19 points, matching her season high. 
• While the second half still featured the highly physical defense we saw in the first half, both teams made it a point at halftime to try and get open shots in their half court offenses. This is when Widener's senior guard Gianna Samuels caught fire for the blue and white, as she tallied fourteen second half points including two straight threes in the third quarter to swing the momentum fully in Widener's favor. 
• York got their offensive spark off the bench from Georgia Panopoulos, who slid in seamlessly for Grim at guard throughout the second half. York cut the Pride lead down to as little as four in the fourth quarter, but three pointers from Samuel and junior Mary McFillin put the game out of reach. 
 
By the Numbers
York finished the game shooting 34.4% from the field including 27.8% (5-for-18) from three and 66.7% (5-for-18) from the line … Widener shot 34.2% (25-for-73) from the floor, 30.8% (8-for-26) from three and 68.4% (13-for-19) from the stripe … Widener dominated on the glass as they held a 53-40 margin in rebounding … Widener had a substantial edge on the offensive glass as they collected 22 rebounds which led to 20 second chance points … the Pride held a slight 28-26 edge in paint points … both teams had 14 turnovers but Widener made the most of York's mistakes as they scored 15 points off Spartan mistakes … Widener held a slight 9-7 edge in steals … both teams had six blocks … York's largest lead was eight while Widener's biggest advantage was 12.
 
Spartan Notes
The Pride now hold a 5-2 edge in the all-time series as Widener has won two straight in the series … the Spartans had their three game win streak snapped … York has still won seven of their last nine games … York is now 8-4 away from Wolf Gymnasium … York's 34.4% shooting from the floor was their fourth worst mark of the year … York's minus-13 mark on the glass was the third time they have been out-rebounded by double figures in a game and they are 1-2 in those games … York is now 3-6 when being out-rebounded in a game … York blocked six shots and that's the sixth time this year they have had six or more in a game … Breana Grim led the way with 19 points while she also had three rebounds, three assists and two steals in her 39 minutes of work … Alyssa Hocker recorded a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds … Georgia Panopoulos  was the third Spartan in double figures with 12 points while she also had three steals, three assists and four rebounds.
 
Up Next
York will host Eastern University at Wolf Gym on Saturday in another MAC Commonwealth battle. Tip- off is set for 1:00 pm.