YORK, PA – The York College women's basketball team saw their school-record 11-game season opening win streak come to an end as the Green and White dropped a 61-51 non-conference decision to Richard Stockton on Saturday in York.
The Spartans, playing without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Brittany Hicks(Dover, Pa./York Catholic), fall to 11-1 overall. The Ospreys improve to 6-3 for the campaign.
York entered the contest ranked 11th in both the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll and the D3hoops.com Poll.
The Spartans got off to a quick start, seizing an 11-4 lead just over five minutes into the game. The Osprey found their legs and tied the game at 13 after a 9-2 run that covered just under three minutes. A layup from Kristen Haley (Silver Spring, Md./Georgetown Visitation) and a three from Kelsey Murphy (Olney, Md./Good Counsel) pushed the York lead back to five at 18-13.
Richard Stockton kept plugging away as they hit York with an 11-2 spurt, giving the Osprey at 26-23 lead. York scored six of the final nine points of the half as the squads headed to the break tied at 29.
The opening nine minutes of the second half was as back-and-forth as a game could get. There were three ties and four lead changes before Sara Farrell hit a bucket to put the Osprey up 45-44 with 8:49 left in the game. Farrell's basket came in the early stages of a 9-1 run that gave Stockton control of the game. The Spartans got to within five on a Haley lay up at the seven minute mark but they would get no closer. Stockton built the lead to 11 before settling for the 10-point victory.
Farrell led the Osprey with a game-high 16 points while she also had nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Farrell was an efficient 7-of-10 from the field including 1-for-1 from three and 1-for-1 from the stripe. Che'Na Thompson added 15 points and six rebounds for Stockton. Tianna Cannon, playing her second game for Stockton after transferring in at semester break, added nine points and 11 rebounds for the Osprey.
Haley paced the Spartans with 14 points and five rebounds. Murphy and Aja Wallpher (Ellicott City, Md./Seton Keough) each contributed 12 points and four rebounds. Wallpher also had four assists and five steals in her 40 minutes of action.
The story in the second half was the Ospreys' shooting percentage as Stockton converted 56.5% of their chances in the second 20 minutes of play. Conversely, the Spartans went an ice-cold 9-for-30 (30%) during the decisive second half.
Overall, Stockton shot 41.4% from the field while they made 3-of-13 (23.1%) from three. The Osprey connected on 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the line.
York finished the day at 35.6% including just 3-for-16 (18.8%) from three. York was a dismal 6-for-14 from the line.
The Osprey hammered York on the boards as they held a sizable 46-35 edge. Included in that total of 46 boards were 14 offensive rebounds for Stockton.
The Spartans don't have much time to bounce back as they welcome #20 Catholic University to Wolf Gymnasium on Monday night. Tip time is set for 6:00 pm.