Defense Powers Spartans to Coaches vs. Cancer Title
YORK, PA-On a day when the York
College women’s basketball team’s offense was not at
it’s best, the Spartan defense picked up the slack as the
Green and White rolled to a 68-45 win in the championship game of
the Hampton Inn Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in York. The win is the
Spartans’ 10th straight as they are now 10-1 overall. The
loss drops the Diplomats to 4-5 for the campaign. With the
CVC tournament championship, the Spartans have now won five
consecutive in-season tournament titles.
The Spartans controlled the game from the
beginning as they held an eight point lead after three minutes, a
10 point lead after seven minutes, and a 14 point margin with 11:40
left in the opening 20 minutes. The Spartans, despite struggling
from the floor in the first half, continued to build on their lead
as the advantage reached a half-high of 16 point four different
times with the last time coming on a pair of Amanda
Andrews’ (Fallston, Md./Fallston) free throws with
2:07 left in the half. Those would be the final points of the
stanza as York took a 35-19 lead to the break.
York managed to convert just 37.8% from the
floor in the first half but the Spartan defense held the Diplomats
to 26.1% shooting for the frame as they hit just 6-of-23 from
the field.
York used the first five minutes of the second
half to put the game away. The Spartans began the half with a 13-2
run that increased their lead to 27 at 48-21. The Spartans, despite
again not shooting the ball well in the half, maintained their lead
in the 20’s the remainder of the game. York’s largest
lead was 28 and came courtesy of a Val Hudson (Bowie,
Md./Bowie) jumper with 3:28 remaining in the game.
The 23 point final margin was the closest game
the Spartans have had since their November 23 nine point win over
Johns Hopkins in the Mike Durgala Memorial Tournament in
Baltimore.
The Spartans were led by All-Tournament team
selection April Sparkman (Walkersville,
Md./Walkersville) as the sophomore notched a double-double
with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Sparkman added two assists as she
earned a spot on the All-Tournament team for the second time this
year. Sparkman was the MVP of the Durgala Tournament in
November. Senior Chanel Perez (Biglerville,
Pa./Gettysburg) matched Sparkman with 14 points of her own
as she also had eight rebounds, four steals, a blocked shot, and an
assist. Senior point guard Keli Ward (Nottingham,
Pa./Oxford) reached a pair of career milestones on Sunday.
With the game’s opening assist, Ward reached the 500 career
assist mark as she is the first Spartan to reach that milestone.
Ward then reached the 1,200 career point plateau with her free
throw at the 14:24 mark of the second half. The senior finished the
game with eight points, 10 assists, five steals, and four
rebounds. Andrews, who earned the tournament
MVP honors, finished the game with eight points, five
rebounds, two assists and one steal in her 26 minutes of
action.
Sarah Meisenberg and Alison Menna each tallied
10 points to pace the Diplomats. Meisenberg added three rebounds,
two steals and two assists as she was 3-for-8 from the floor.
Menna, who was the Diplomat representative on the All-Tournament
team, added two rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Amanda
Miceli contributed eight points and five rebounds to the Diplomat
effort.
York finished the game shooting a season-low
38.6% from the field while they also went just 3-for-17 from deep.
York did convert 11-for-14 from the free throw line for the
contest.
The Spartan defense limited the Dips to just
28.6% shooting from the floor while they made just 2-for-9 from
three. The Diplomats were very sharp from the charity stripe as
they made 15-for-18 from the line, good for a 83.3% mark.
York forced the Diplomats into 21 turnovers
which they converted into 25 points. The Spartans also pounded the
Diplomats on the glass holding a 47-34 edge on the glass. York
pulled down 21 offensive rebounds which led to 26 second chance
points for the Green and White.
The road gets significantly tougher on
Wednesday as the Spartans travel to Mary Washington to face the
13th ranked Eagles in a Capital Athletic Conference showdown.
The Spartans put their 10 game win streak up against the
Eagles’ 36-game homecourt win streak. Tip time in
Fredericksburg is set for 6:00 pm.
Photo of Tournament MVP Amanda Andrews is courtesy of Steve Doemland
