Women's Basketball

   YORK,PA- The York College women's basketball team welcomes #1 Mary Washington to the Grumbacher Center as they host the Eagles in an early season Capital Athletic Conference showdown. Tip time on Wednesday night is slated for 6:00 pm.
    Tonight’s game features a pair of the top teams in the Capital Athletic Conference. Mary Washington enters tonight’s game as the number one team in the nation according to d3hoops.com. The Eagles are a perfect 5-0 including a 2-0 mark in the conference. The Spartans are 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference despite not playing well the last two contests. In their last games, York downed Villa Julie 57-40 while the Eagles blitzed Hood 63-18 on Saturday. That win for the Eagles was Mary Washington coach Deena Applebury’s 100th career win at UMW.
    In the win over Villa Julie, the Spartans were led by senior standout Kristen Daly as she tallied 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. Daly also had three steals and a blocked shot in 19 minutes of action. Freshman April Sparkman continues to be a key first-year player for the green and white as she notched her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Sparkman has pulled down 21 rebounds in her last two games. Junior Chanel Perez was the third Spartan in double figures with 12 points while she also had six rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Junior Keli Ward added nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals in 35 minutes of work. Ward scored seven of her points at the free throw line as she was 7-for-8 for the game.
    For the season, Daly, who was named the CAC Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, leads the Spartans as she is averaging 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She is shooting 50% from the floor and 76.7% from the free throw line. She has handed out 14 assists, recorded 11 steals and blocked five shots in six games. Perez is the Spartans’ second-leading scorer as she is contributing 11 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. She is also shooting 50% from the floor while she is second on the team in steals with 13. Ward is the third Spartan averaging double figures as she contributes 10 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. Ward is one of the Spartans’ top free throw shooters as she has converted 87.5% of her attempts from the line. Sparkman and Amanda Andrews are also playing well for York. Sparkman is averaging 9.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while Andrews is adding 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Andrews leads the Spartans in steals with 14.
    As a team, the Spartans are averaging 73.3 points per game while they are allowing 50.7 points per game. They are shooting 43.8% from the floor as a squad while they are holding opponents to 32.4% from the field. York ranks first in the CAC in scoring defense while they are second in scoring margin, rebounding defense, three point field goal percentage defense, and assists.
    In the Eagles win over Hood, Liz Hickey led three Eagles in double figures, as junior forward Ashton Mitchell scored 10 points, and junior guard Kaitie Clarkin added 10 points, seven rebounds, and four steals. Lisa Tracy just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
    For the season, Hickey paces the Eagle attack as she is averaging 14.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 5.0 blocked shots per game. She is shooting 60.4% from the floor but just 50% from the free throw line. Mitchell has come on for the Eagles as she is UMW’s leading scorer at 16.6 points per game. She is shooting 57.4% from the floor and 73.3% from the charity stripe. Mitchell is adding 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. Katy Larson is the third Eagle averaging double figures as she is contributing 10.0 points per game. Larson also averages better than four assists per game while she also strokes it from the free throw line as she has made 17-of-21, good for an 81% accuracy mark.
    Overall, the Eagles average a conference-best 77.6 points per game while they allow just 46.6 points per contest. The Eagles are shooting 46.3% from the floor, 31.6% from three, and 68.1% from the free throw line. The Eagles rank first in the CAC in scoring, scoring margin, free throw percentage, field goal percentage, rebounding defense, blocked shots, assists, turnover margin, and assist-to-turnover margin.