GRANTHAM, PA – The York College women's basketball squad saw their six-game win streak come to an end with a 61-52 setback at Messiah University on Saturday in Grantham, PA.
The Falcons remain unbeaten in the MAC Commonwealth while the Spartans fall back into a second-place tie with Widener in the league. Messiah has now won 14 straight.
The Falcons improve to 21-2 overall and 12-0 in the league. The Spartans fall to 15-8 overall and 8-4 in the Commonwealth.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Falcons got off to a great start with a 10-2 spurt to start the game. The Spartans scored six of the next eight points of the game to draw to within four at 12-8. The Falcons ended the quarter on a 6-0 spurt as they took an 18-8 lead after one quarter of play.
• York came out firing in the opening moments of the second quarter as the Spartans began the period on an 11-2 run to cut the Falcon lead to just one at 20-19. Taylor Burda had a pair of big threes during the run as the Spartans were right back into the game. The Falcons steadied themselves as they scored seven of the final 10 points of the quarter to take a 27-22 lead at the intermission.
• The Spartans drew back to within two at 31-29 on an Alyssa Hocker lay-up with 6:40 left in the third quarter. After the teams traded buckets, the Falcons went on an 11-6 run to take a 44-37 lead with 1:25 remaining in the quarter. The Spartans scored four straight to end the third as they trailed by three (44-41) heading to the fourth.
• The Falcons asserted control of the game early in the fourth as Charlotte Milanesi hit a three to open the quarter followed by a pair of Reese Harden free throws to push the lead to 49-41 just under two minutes into the quarter. After a Spartan free throw and bucket, the Falcons scored six of the next seven points to increase the lead to 10 at 55-45 with 3:32 left in the game.
• After a Taylor Burda jumper, the two squads traded threes as the Falcon lead was 58-50 with 1:30 left. Milanesi hit a pair of free throws with 1:03 remaining, pushing the lead back to ten. The Spartans got a pair of Burda free throws with 47 seconds left but Messiah got a final free throw to provide for the final nine-point margin of victory.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
The Spartans shot 32.1% (18-for-56) from the floor while they were 6-for-17 (35.3%) from three … the Spartans struggled from the free throw line, going just 10-for-20 (50%) from the stripe while the Falcons converted 72.2% (13-for-18) from the line … Messiah shot 36.2% (21-for-58) from the field and 33.3% (6-for-18) from distance … Messiah handled the Spartans on the glass as they held a 45-36 margin on the boards including an 18-15 edge on the offensive caroms … York held a slim 8-7 advantage in second chance points … York got 19 points off Messiah miscues while the Falcons had 15 points off Spartan turnovers ... Messiah had 15 assists to just eight for York while both teams had 16 turnovers ...York had an 18-14 edge in paint points … the Falcons led for 39:37 of the game … Reese Harden led the way for the Falcons with 13 points, four rebounds, three blocks and one assist in 29 minutes … Chloe Milanesi notched a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds while she also had four assists and three steals in 39 minutes of action … Liv Monturo was the third Falcon in double figures with 10 points while she also had six rebounds and two steals.
 
SPARTAN NOTES
Messiah swept the season series as they are now 29-8 all-time against the Green and White … the win by Messiah is just their second by single digits this year and snaps a streak of six Falcon wins by 20 points or more … the Spartans held the Falcons to 61 points, their lowest total since they were held to 59 in the January 11 win over Hood, a span of ten games … Messiah is now 12-0 at home while the Spartans are now 4-5 away from Wolf Gymnasium … York's 52 points were their lowest total since they had 47 against Messiah in their first meeting on January 18 … York held Messiah to 36.2% shooting from the floor, their lowest total since they shot 33.8% against Penn State Altoona on January 4 … York's six game win streak was their longest of the year … the Spartans 10-for-20 performance from the free throw line was their worst since they went 1-for-5 in the November 16 loss to Muhlenberg … York was credited with just eight assists, tying their season-low … Breana Grim led the way for the Spartans as she had 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals in her 40 minutes of action … Taylor Burda added 13 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal … Alyssa Hocker was held to just six points but she collected a team-high 13 rebounds … Hocker now has four straight games with double figures in rebounds and has nine double figure rebounding efforts for the year.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans remain on the road on Wednesday night when they head to Chester, PA to face off against the Widener University Pride. Tip time against the Pride is set for 6:00 pm. The Pride and Spartans are currently tied for second in the Commonwealth with Wednesday's winner getting the inside track to the other MAC Commonwealth semifinal home game.