GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior guard Mary Spicer (Floral Park, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) dished out a career-high eight assists as No. 16 Gettysburg College downed visiting York (Pa.) College 75-56 in its home opener inside Bream Gym on Sunday.
Gettysburg (3-1) had four players reach double-figures in all with senior Caitlin Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) leading the way with 13 tallies and Spicer adding 10 points and six rebounds. Junior Julie McGrory (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) added a dozen points and freshman Rianna Doane (Glen Mills, Pa./Bayard Rustin) topped her personal mark with 11. Additionally, Gettysburg Head Coach Mike Kirkpatrick is now just two wins shy of 300 for his career (298-226).
Coming off its first loss of the season at Muhlenberg College last Tuesday, Gettysburg jumped on the board just six seconds into the contest as McGrory drained a three-pointer. York (3-2) would force a pair of ties in the early going, the last at 11-11 with 14:34 left in the first period, but a 13-1 spurt by the hosts opened a 24-12 lead at 8:29.
Led by seven first-half points by both Moser and freshman Caroline Murphy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham), the Bullets led by as many as 15 in the opening stanza before settling for a 32-22 lead at the break.
The Spartans made a run at the start of the second half and pulled to within six three times in the first four minutes, the last coming as the result of a Jamie Sapp lay-up at 16:16. Junior Sara Kinsley (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) answered immediately after a nice drive and set up by Spicer, igniting a 15-2 run over the next five-plus minutes. A pair of free throws by Spicer and a lay-up by Moser gave Gettysburg a comfortable 53-34 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
The host's lead never dropped below 17 over the remainder and reached a game-high 24 (61-37) on a lay-up by Doane at 8:15.
Gettysburg shot season-bests from the floor and the charity stripe in the win. The Bullets were above 50 percent field goal shooting for most of the contest before leveling off at 46.3 (25-of-54), while from the free throw line the team canned 19-of-24 attempts (79.2 percent). The hosts also won the battle of the boards 42-35 and out-scored the visitors 16-6 in fastbreak points.
Spicer turned in her best outing in her comeback campaign following an injury-shortened 2009-10 season. She turned in a pair of field goals and went 6-for-7 at the free throw line. The senior guard topped her previous personal mark for assists by one and she is now just one shy of eighth on Gettysburg's career list with 223.
Moser was near-perfect from the field, missing only one of six field goal attempts and hitting all three of her free throws. She finished one shy of her personal mark with six steals and her scoring total pushed her past 1,300 for her career (1,306).
McGrory and Doane led the long-distance effort with five combined three-pointers, including a perfect 3-for-3 showing from the freshman. Kinsley finished one point shy of her second-straight double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Kristen Haley pumped in a game-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds for York. Kelsey Murphy added a dozen points and Brittany Hicks corralled eight rebounds.
Gettysburg resumes its Centennial Conference slate this week with a road trip to Bryn Mawr College (0-3, 0-1 CC) on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m.