YORK, PA – The York College women's basketball team fell behind early and then was never able to climb back as Muhlenberg College downed the Spartans 57-42 in the championship game of the 17^th Annual Ron Witman Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
The Mules improve to 3-1 with the win while the Spartans fall to 2-2 as they have alternated wins and losses to start the season.
 
How It Happened
• The game got off to a very slow offensive start as the Spartans had a 5-3 lead 4:07 into the game. The Mules then hit York with a 13-0 run to take a 16-5 lead after one quarter of play. York was 2-for-13 from the floor with eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game as they found themselves down 11 after ten minutes of play.
• The Spartan offense started finding the mark in the opening five minutes of the second quarter. York went on a 9-2 spurt to cut the Mules lead to four at 18-14. York then went cold as the Mules scored the final six points of the quarter as they took a 24-14 lead to the break.
• Muhlenberg scored six of the first eight points of the second half to push the lead to 14 just under three minutes into the stanza. York scored seven of the next ten points, cutting the Muhlenberg lead ten at 33-23 with 4:26 remaining in the quarter. The Mules ended the third quarter on a 9-3 run, pushing the lead to 16 heading to the fourth.
• Morgan Adams scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to pull York to within 12 but the Spartans wouldn't get any closer as the Mules posted the 15-point win.
 
By The Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 30.0% (18-for-60) from the floor, 20% (5-for-25) from three and just 20% (1-for-5) from the free throw line … Muhlenberg wasn't much better from the floor as they shot 32.2% (19-for-19) but held a decided advantage from three at 28.1% (9-for-32) and also at the free throw line at 52.6% (10-for-19) … Muhlenberg held a 47-43 advantage on the glass … both teams had 10 assists in the game … the Spartans committed 20 turnovers while Muhlenberg had 16 … the Mules had 12 steals while the Spartans had just six … both teams had 12 points in the paint … the Mules led by as many as 17 (40-23) and held the lead for 35:41 of the game.
 
Spartan Notes
The meeting between the two teams was the first in school history … the Spartans are now 23-11 all-time in the tournament … the Spartans have not won a Coaches vs. Cancer title since 2021 … the tournament has been renamed the Ron Witman Coaches vs. Cancer Classic starting with this year's tournament in honor of head coach Betsy Witman's father who passed away after a prolonged battle with cancer … the Spartans have shot a combined 35-for-120 (29.1%) from the floor in their two losses … York attempted just five free throws in the game, their lowest total of attempts since January 21, 2023 when they went 3-for-4 in a 60-38 win over Eastern … York pulled in a season-high 43 rebounds … the Spartans had a season-high 20 turnovers … York blocked a season-high six shots … the 42 points were a season-low by 10 points (52 vs. McDaniel) … the Spartans did not have a player reach double figure as Makenna Zimmerman led the way with eight points, a season-high 11 rebounds while she also blocked four shots for the Green and White … Breana Grim also had eight points as she chipped in with four rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and two steals … Alyssa Hocker pulled in nine boards to go with four points … senior Taylor Brenneman earned a spot on the All-Tournament team … Muhlenberg's Katie McGrath earned the Tournament MVP while Veronica Dawson was named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return to action on Tuesday night when they head to Franklin & Marshall to face the Diplomats in a non-conference contest. Tip time in Lancaster is set for 7:30 pm.