YORK, PA – The York College women's basketball senior class became the most successful in school history as the foursome picked up their 80th career win with a 78-62 Capital Athletic Conference victory over Marymount University on Saturday afternoon in York.
Seniors Brittany Hicks (Dover, Pa./York Catholic), Kristen Haley (Silver Spring, Md./Georgetown Visitation), Kelsey Murphy (Olney, Md./Good Counsel), and Aja Wallpher (Ellicott City, Md./Seton Keough) have combined to compile a record of 80-27 in their outstanding four year careers. York improves to 20-1 overall and 12-1 in the CAC. With the loss, Marymount drops to 13-8 overall and 8-4 in the conference. York is ranked tenth in the d3hoops.com National Poll.
York got off to another great start as they sprinted out to a 10-2 lead. The Saints wasted little time in responding as they outscored York 13-5 over the next three and a half minutes to forge a 15-15 tie.
York answered the Saint run with a 13-3 spurt, keyed by a pair of threes from Murphy as the Spartans took control of the game. The Saints trimmed the Spartan lead to seven twice but York ended the half on an 8-0 run to take a 42-27 lead to the break.
The Spartans were fantastic in the first half as they riddled the Saints' zone defense with eight three pointers in 14 attempts.
Marymount switched to man-to-man in the second half and the Spartans kept rolling as they pushed their lead to 20 points nine minutes into the second half. The Saints battled back, cutting the Spartan lead to 14 on an Aileen Maknati triple with 10:39 left in the game. York then buckled down on defense and held the Saints scoreless over the next five minutes of the game. The York offense was able to tally 12 points during the defensive streak as the Spartan lead ballooned to 26 at 69-43.
The Spartan lead stayed in the 20's until late when the game had long since been decided.
Hicks powered the Spartans as she poured in a game-high 24 points in 35 minutes of action. The senior forward was 7-for-15 from the floor including 1-for-3 from three and 9-for-10 from the stripe. She also had six rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal. With the nine made free throws, Hicks becomes the Capital Athletic Conference all-time free throw leader. She has converted 466 free throws in her 102 career games. That breaks the record of 458, previously held by former Gallaudet All-American Ronda Jo Miller.
Haley added 16 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and one assist in her 24 minutes. Haley was 7-for-13 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line.
Jess Selby (Upper Marlboro, Md./Calverton School) and Murphy each added 12 points. Selby was 4-for-6 from three while she also had four rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a pair of steals in her 20 minutes of play. Murphy added four assists, a steal and a rebound, as she was also outstanding defensively for the Spartans. Wallpher was fantastic in running York's offense as the Spartan point guard dished out eight assists with zero turnovers in her 30 minutes. She also had a game-high four steals.
The two-time reigning CAC Player of the Year Katelyn Fischer led the Saints with 13 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals in 37 minutes of play. Fischer's point total was deceptive as she was held scoreless in the first half and scored nine of her points in the final five minutes of the game when York had a 20-plus point lead and the Spartan starters sitting on the bench. Fischer did hit a three, which tied the conference record for career three point field goals at 196.
Miranda Krott added ten points and seven rebounds to the Marymount effort. Maknati chipped in with nine points for the Saints.
York finished the game shooting 46.4% from the field including 44.4% from three. York converted 18-of-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line. Marymount shot 35.3% from the floor including 7-for-18 (38.9%) from three. The Saints were rock solid at the free throw line, making 19-of-23 (82.6%) from the stripe.
The Saints outrebounded the Spartans for the second time this year, this time the total was a little closer as Marymount held a 36-31 margin on the glass. Despite being outrebounded, York had a 17-9 edge in second chance points while they also outscored Marymount 32-20 in the paint.
The Spartan defense harassed the Saints into 25 turnovers, which York converted into 33 points in the win.
The seniors' 80 win eclipses the previous record held by the 2008-09 class. That class, consisting of All-American Keli Ward, Amanda Andrews, Chanel Perez, Donna Figenshu, Jackie Garlock, and Amy Fry, combined to win 79 games during their tenure in York. That class holds the school record for wins in a season with 27 and owns the school record win streak at 25. That Spartan class compiled an overall record of 79-32 with one Sweet 16 appearance and the first 16-0 CAC season in conference history.
The 2013-14 Spartans return to action on Wednesday evening when they travel to St. Mary's College to face the Seahawks in a CAC contest. Tip time is set for 6:00 pm in St. Mary's City.