YORK, PA – The York College women's basketball team downed #24 Eastern Mennonite 65-52 in non-conference action on Wednesday night in York.

The Spartans remain unbeaten at 3-0 while the Royals suffer their first loss as they fall to 2-1.

Things didn't look good for the Spartans early as the Royals jumped out to a 7-2 lead. The Green and White missed four of their first five shots and had a pair of turnovers as they fell behind early.

The Spartans steadied the ship and got on track starting with a Jess Selby (Upper Marlboro, Md./Calverton School) jumper at the 15:44 mark. Selby's bucket started a prolonged 24-4 run as the Spartans seized control of the game. While the Spartans were scoring, the Royals committed five turnovers and went 2-for-13 from the floor.

The Royals bounced back at the end of the half as they cut the 15-point lead down to six thanks to a three-point play by Alisa Brown with 11 seconds left in the half. The Royals outscored the Spartans 16-7 over the final 5:30 of the half to cut into the Spartan lead.

York came out of the break and got a three pointer from Kelsey Murphy (Olney, Md./Good Counsel) as the Spartans halted any Royal momentum from the end of the first half. York would build their second half lead to 14 on a Kristen Haley (Silver Spring, Md./Georgetown Visitation) three pointer with 15:34 left in the game. The triple was Haley's second of a half-opening 15-6 run as the Spartan lead stood at 50-36.

The York lead would vacillate between 9 and 14 points until the Royals cut the lead to seven at 55-48 with 4:35 left. The Spartan advantage then bounced between seven and nine points over the next three until the Green and White scored six points over the final 1:01 to salt away the win.

The Spartans were led by Haley as the senior forward notched her first double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Haley also became York's all-time leader in blocked shots when she swatted away a Keyla Baltimore lay up with 8:12 left in the game. Haley now has 147 career blocked shots for the Spartans. Haley went 7-for-15 from the floor including 2-for-6 from three.

Senior All-American Brittany Hicks (Dover, Pa./York Catholic) led all scorers with 17 points and nine rebounds in her 26 minutes of action. Murphy was the third Spartan in double figures with 13 points.

Bianca Ygarza and Marla Zumfelde led the Royals with 13 points each. Ygarza was 3-for-7 from the floor while she was a sharp 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Zumfelde was 5-for-8 from the floor including 3-for-6 from three while she also had four rebounds. Becky Barrett led the Royals on the glass with eight caroms.

The Spartan defense was key in the win as they held Eastern Mennonite to 32% shooting from the floor while they forced 25 turnovers in the win. EMU did convert 6-for-14 from three when they also went an efficient 14-for-20 (70%) from the charity stripe.

The Spartans shot 34.8% for the game but they also attempted 19 more shots than their guests. After struggling from the free throw line heading into the game, the Spartans converted 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the stripe.

York outrebounded the Royals 44-41 including 18-12 in offensive rebounds. York collected 13 of their 18 offensive rebounds in the second half.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they travel to Franklin & Marshall to face the Diplomats in a non-conference contest. Tip time at the Mayser Center is set for 1:00 pm.