DECEMBER 7, 2015

KING'S WOMEN CLOSE OUT SEMESTER WITH 69-59 WIN OVER MARYWOOD TO IMPROVE TO 7-1

WILKES-BARRE — Senior forward Jennifer Fabian celebrated her 22nd birthday with 24 points and 11 rebounds and junior forward Kayla Feairheller added 18 points to power the King's College women's basketball team to a 69-59 victory over visiting Marywood University Monday night in Scandlon Gym.

With the win, King's closed out the semester with a 7-1 mark while Marywood slipped to 3-3.  It marks King's best eight-game start since the 2004-05 campaign when the Lady Monarchs opened the season with a 9-0 mark.

The teams played on even terms as Marywood held a 6-5 lead with 5:20 left in the first quarter. King's then used a 10-2 run to build a 15-8 lead with 3:06 on the clock thanks to three-pointers from Kasey Seitz and Cayle Spencer, along with inside baskets by Shae Grim and Olivia Hoffman.  But the Pacers closed out the half with a 10-6 spurt to close to within 21-18 heading into the second quarter.

King's slowly stretched the lead as two foul shots from Rachael DeTore, a three-pointer by Seitz, and a short jumper by Sara Krupinski extended the lead to 28-20 at the 5:37 mark. After Marywood cut the lead to three points (28-25), King's countered with a 9-0 run to push the lead to 37-25 with 2:01 left in the half following a three-pointer from Feairheller and four straight points by Fabian. The Lady Monarchs would evtnaully take a 39-27 lead into the halftime break.

Marywood controlled the third quarter and outscored King's 23-13 to cut the lead to 52-50 entering the fourth and final stanza.  From there, King's got a three-ponter from Tara Zdancewicz and four more points by Fabian to extend the score to 59-52 with 7:16 to play.

After the Pacers closed to within 61-57 on a jumper by Alexa Gerchman with 5:48 on the clock, King's answered with five straight points to stretch the lead to 66-57 with 2:20 to play after a three-pointer by Feairheller. Marywood would come no closer the rest of the way.

Fabian, who earlier in the day was named the Freedom Conference "Player of the Week" for her three-game performance last week, kept up her hot play by shooting 8-of-16 from the field, and 7-of-9 from three point range. With five or her 11 rebounds coming on the offensive glass, she recorded her fifth double-double in eight games this season.

Feairheller, meanwhile, canned a career-high six three pointers on the night to reach double-figures pinpoints for the sixth time this season. Seitz added six points, six assists, and four rebounds for King's while Spencer also netted six points. Hoffman tallied two points, eight rebounds, and six blocked shots while Tara Zdancewicz chipped in with five points.

Marywood was led by Gabrielle Giordano with 14 points and eight rebounds while Alyssa Olson and Catie Nealon added 11 and 10 points respectively.

King's will be idle until the Lady Monarchs travel to Florida to compete in the Daytona Beach Shootout December 20-21.  The Monarchs will then travel to Washington D.C. to play in the Catholic University Holiday Inn Tournament December 29-30.