January 24, 2009

ARLINGTON, VA – The #17 York College women's basketball squad topped #18 Marymount Saturday afternoon 78-66 in Arlington, Va. The Spartans, who improve their school-record win streak to 16, move to 16-1 overall and 9-0 in the CAC. The Saints drop to 13-4 and 6-2 in league play.
    York opened up a 6-0 lead to begin the game behind a pair of April Sparkman (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) baskets and an Amanda Andrews’ (Fallston, Md./Fallston) lay-up. The Spartans would stretch that advantage to as much as eight on two occasions, with the latter coming at the 12:48 mark. Senior forward Chanel Perez (Biglerville, Pa./Gettysburg) canned two of her eleven points on the day to give York a 13-5 lead.
    With 6:02 showing on the first half clock, the Green and White owned a seven-point lead at 26-19. From there, the host Saints went on an 11-4 run over a 3:51 period to take their first lead at 30-28.
    The Spartans answered with a 6-0 run of their own over the half’s final 2:11 to take a 34-30 lead into the break.
    The second 20 minutes belonged entirely to the Spartans, as York owned the lead throughout the entire frame. Marymount would cut the Spartan advantage to one twice during the opening minutes of the half and found themselves down only two at 37-35 with 18:39 remaining.
    Sparkman then nailed a triple to give the Green and White a five-point margin. The Spartans would only allow Marymount to get as close as three on one more occasion.
    York caught fire throughout the final 15 minutes stretching their lead to double-digits at 52-42 on a Sparkman three-point play with 12:03 left.
    The Green and White would spend the majority of the remaining 12 minutes with a double-digit lead, with the margin dipping as low as nine. The Spartans capped the game with steady free throw shooting down the stretch and left Arlington with the 78-66 victory.
    For the game, the Spartans shot a 45.7% from the field on a 30-for-66 shooting performance. York canned seven of their 15 attempts from beyond the arc and went 11-for-16 from the stripe. The Spartans posted a strong second half 16-for-29 from the floor for 55.2% to distance themselves from the Saints.
    Marymount shot 33.3% from field converting 21 of their 63 shots. The Saints shot 4-of-16 from deep and went 20-for-27 from the free throw line.
    Senior point guard Keli Ward (Nottingham, Pa./Oxford) led the Spartans once again as she posted a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Perez, who attacked the basket strong in the second half, provided York with a double-double of her own with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sparkman tallied 17 points on a 7-for-15 performance.
    Senior guard Donna Figenshu (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) and senior forward Amy Fry (Carlisle, Pa./Big Spring) provided the Spartans with quality minutes and chipped in with nine and eight points respectively. Figenshu recorded a huge first half triple while Fry canned several mid-range jumpers in the second to push the Spartan advantage.
    Kathleen Brown’s 19 points and 13 rebounds paced the Saints. Brown shot 6-of-12 from the floor and canned 7-of-8 from the stripe. Beth Wiggins recorded Marymount’s second double-double with 10 points and 13 caroms converting both of her attempts from beyond the arc.  Terell White was the third Saint in double-figures with 17 points as she nailed 8-of-9 free throws.
    The Spartans will look to stretch their win streak to 17 as they host CAC foe Hood College on Wednesday, January 28. Tip-off from the Grumbacher Sport & Fitness Center is slated for 6:00 pm.

BOX SCORE

Chanel Perez photo courtesy of Scott Guise