FEBRUARY 10, 2016
KING'S WOMEN FALL TO EASTERN, 60-52
ST. DAVID -- The host Eastern University women's basketball team jumped out to a 17-4 lead and never trailed as the host Eagles posted a 60-52 victory over visiting King's College Wednesday night in St. Davids.
With the win Eastern improved to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in Freedom Conference play while King's slipped to 11-11 and 4-7.
Eastern started out quickly and forged a 17-6 lead after one period. King's trimmed the lead to 23-13 with 5:02 left in the half following a driving layup from Kayla Feairheller. The Eagles, however, outscored the Lady Monarchs 13-4 the rest of the half to take a 36-17 lead at the break. Eastern maintained a comfortable lead throughout the third quarter and took a 54-35 advantage into the fourth period.
King's began to make-up ground after a pair of foul shots from Tara Zdancewicz and a traditional three-point play by Madison Quinn, cutting the lead to 54-40 with 9:08 remaining. After the teams traded three-pointers, Zdancewicz made it a 10-point game when her inside basket cut the score to 57-47 with 4:53 on the clock.
After an Eastern turnover, Erin Schmidt canned a three-pointer to bring the Lady Monarchs to within 57-50 with 4:26 to go. But both teams went cold from the field and Eastern managed a 58-50 lead when Taylor Price made one-of-two free throws to push the score to 58-50 with 1:34 remaining.
After the teams traded turnovers King's was forced to foul and Regie Robinson made two charity tossed with 0:43 left to push the score to 60-50. King's answered with an inside basket by Olivia Hoffman with 0:25 on the clock but would come no closer.
Zdancewicz led King's with a career-high 19 points with six rebounds. Hoffman followed with 10 points, six rebounds, and three blocks. She now has 83 blocks and is four away from breaking King's single-season record of 86 set during the 1998-99 season. Quinn and Cayle Spencer chipped in with six points each.
Robinson led Eastern with 17 points and eight rebounds while Emily Lavin added 15 points and 10 boards.
King's returns to the court Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. game at Misericodia University on Dallas.