MARCH 3, 2012

KING'S WOMEN ADVANCE TO SWEET 16 WITH STUNNING 64-63 COMEBACK WIN OVER 8TH RANKED WILLIAM PATERSON

WILKES-BARRE --  The host King's College women's basketball team overcame a 10-point deficit with an 11-0 run over the final 2:28 of the game to post a stunning 64-63 victory over eighth-ranked William Paterson University in a second-round NCAA Division III National Tournament game iSaturday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, King's improved to 24-5 on the year and advances to next week's Division III Sweet 16. William Paterson saw its outstanding season come to an end in stunning fashion as the Pioneer finished 26-3.

With William Paterson seemingly in control with a 57-42 lead with 9:01 to play following a three-pointer by Lindsey Callander, King's began to chip away. Junior guard Celia Rader, who canned a King's school-record nine three-pointers in the game, ignited the comeback with a long-range bomb to cut the score to 57-45. After a Paterson miss, Rader drained another long trey to trim the lead to 57-48 with 6:56 on the clock.

The Pioneers would commit a turnover and King's added two more points when Katlin Michaels was fouled and made both charity tosses with 6:44 to go, bringing the Lady Monarchs to within 57-50.   William Paterson added a point when Jewel Palmer made one-of-two foul shots to push the score to 58-50 at the 6:34 mark.

Rader, though, drilled another three-pointer to bring King's within 58-53 with 5:56 to go.   The Pioneers, however, countered with one-of-two foul shots by Dana Jeter, then followed a King's miss by adding two free throws by Kierra Walker to up the Paterson lead to 61-53 with 5:25 left.

After the teams traded misses, William Paterson appeared to regain momentum when Jeter scored on a lay-up off an assist by BriAna Lucas to push the lead to 63-53 with 4:09 left in the contest.

The score remained the same until 2:28 stood on the clock when Rader once again delivered a three-point bomb, her ninth of the game, to bring the Lady Monarchs to within 63-56. After a Pioneer miss and subsequent turnover,  the cards continued to fall King's way when Molly Dahl, who entered the contest with a trio if three-pointers on the year, banked in a trey, her second long-range bucket of the game, to cut the score to 63-59 with 1:40 to play.

Following a William Paterson time-out, the Pioneers were unable to execute the ensuing inbounds play and were whistled for a five-second count, turning the ball over to the Lady Monarchs with 1:16 remaining.  There, King's Lindsay Atchison delivered another three-pointer from the left wing to cut the score to 63-62 with 1:05 left in the contest.  The Pioneers had a chance to add to their lead but Lucas missed the front end of a one-and-one with 0:57 to play.

From there, Michaels got a one-on-one matchup and scored on a driving lay-up with 0:42 left to give King's a 64-63 advantage, its first lead since midway through the first half.   With William Paterson looking to regain the lead, the Pioneers once again committed a costly turnover, its third over the final 1:50 of the game, as King's regained possession with 0:35 on the clock. 

The Lady Monarchs ran the clock down before missing a shot with 0:05 to play. Pioneer guard Floriana Borova hauled in the rebound and drove the near length of the court before getting off a runner from 10-feet out. The shot caromed off the backboard, then off the rim and out as King's walked away with a shocking victory.

Th win gives King's its first trip to the Sweet 16 for the first-time since the 2002-03 campaign in its first trip to the national tournament since the same year.

Rader, who missed the final regular-season game and both Freedom Conference Tournament contests with an injury before returning to the line-up Friday in the Lady Monarchs' 56-42 first-round win over SUNY-Oneonta, finished the game with a career-high 27 points with all of her points coming off a spectacular 9-of-13 shooting performance from three-point range.

Michaels posted her second double-double in as many days, following with 14 points and 10 assists. Samantha Simcox added eight points, four rebounds, and three assists. 

King's was also aided by a strong defensive effort as the Lady Monarchs forced 18 William Paterson turnovers and held the Pioneers to 13 points below its 76.5 season points per-game average. The win also improved the Lady Monarchs' season record to 10-1 in games decided by 10 points or less.

The Pioneers placed four players in double-figures, led by April Smith with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Jeter tallied 15 points and 14 boards. Callander added 13 points and three assists while Borova chipped in with 10 points, eight  rebounds, and four assists.

King's will next face Emmanuel College in the Sweet 16. Emmanuel improved to 24-6 with a 57-52  win over host Rhode Island College Saturday night. The site has yet to be determined but is likely to be announced Monday morning.


William Paterson vs King's College
03/03/12 5:30 p.m. at Wilkes-Barre, PA
At Wilkes-Barre, PA

KING'S COLLEGE 64, WILLIAM PATERSON 63

WILLIAM PATERSON (26-2)
April Smith 7-11 2-5 17; Dana Jeter 7-12 1-2 15; Lindsey Callander 5-8 0-0
13; Floriana Borova 4-14 0-0 10; BriAnna Lucas 2-10 1-2 5; Kierra Walker 0-1
2-2 2; Jewell Palmer 0-2 1-2 1; Tatiana Javis 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 7-13 63.

KING'S COLLEGE (24-5)
Celia Rader 9-15 0-0 27; Katlin Michaels 5-13 3-4 14; Samantha Simcox 4-12
0-1 8; Molly Dahl 2-6 0-0 6; Marissa Manning 2-8 1-3 5; Lindsay Atchison 1-4
0-0 3; Ashley Davies 0-2 1-2 1; Paige Carlin 0-3 0-0 0; Jessica McHugh 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 23-65 5-10 64.

William Paterson......…........   34   29  -   63
King's College........…….......   27   37  -   64

3-point goals--William Paterson 6-15 (Lindsey Callander 3-6; Floriana Borova
2-6; April Smith 1-1; BriAnna Lucas 0-2), King's College 13-37 (Celia Rader
9-13; Molly Dahl 2-4; Lindsay Atchison 1-4; Katlin Michaels 1-5; Paige
Carlin 0-2; Jessica McHugh 0-2; Ashley Davies 0-2; Samantha Simcox 0-5).
Fouled out--William Paterson-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--William
Paterson 49 (Dana Jeter 14), King's College 35 (Lindsay Atchison 9).
Assists--William Paterson 16 (BriAnna Lucas 7), King's College 16 (Katlin
Michaels 10). Total fouls--William Paterson 10, King's College 14. Technical
fouls--William Paterson-None, King's College-None. A-425