YORK, PA – The new-look York College women's basketball team opened their 2014-15 season in impressive fashion as the Green and White rolled to a 102-63 win over Cazenovia College in the opening round of the 8th Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in York.
The Spartans advance to face Ursinus College in the championship game. The Bears were 63-52 winners over College of New Jersey in the other semifinal game on Saturday. TCNJ will face Cazenovia in the consolation game on Sunday.
The Green and White got off to the best start they could have asked for. The Spartans began the game on a 7-2 run fueled by freshman guard Katie Wagner (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) as she scored all seven points on the run.
The Wildcats cut the Spartan lead to five at 9-4 but the Green and White fashioned a 19-3 run to take a 28-7 lead with 12:01 left in the first half. Cazenovia's Erin O'Malley hit a jumper to briefly slow the Spartan momentum. However, that was a temporary reprieve for the Wildcats as York put together a 26-5 run, pushing their lead to 30 with 7:23 left in the half.
The Green and White eventually pushed the lead to 38 at 61-23 before the Wildcats hit a three at the halftime buzzer. The 61 points in the first half was the second most prolific half in school history. The Spartans finished four points short of tying the school record of 65 which was set on December 3, 2003 win over Gallaudet.
The second half was not nearly as artistic as the Spartans came out of the break a little flat. The Wildcats were able to get to the basket with more success, as they were much better offensively in the second half. After committing 23 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of play, Cazenovia only had seven second half miscues as York only outscored the Wildcats 41-37 in the second half.
The Spartans placed six players in double figures led by Wagner as the freshman poured in 20 points in her collegiate debut. Wagner was 8-for-10 from the floor, 2-for-2 from three and 2-for-5 from the stripe. She also had three rebounds, three steals and an assist in 21 minutes of action. Senior Shea Wassel (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) recorded her first double-double as a Spartan as she tallied 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Wassel was 4-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from the stripe.
Senior Jess Selby (Upper Marlboro, Md./Calverton School) added 13 points, 10 of which came in the second half, while she also had five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in 18 minutes of action.
Freshmen tandem Sam Mocniak (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's Annapolis) and Morgan Kuehne (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) each added 12 points in their Spartan debuts. Sophomore Sarah Shearer (York, Pa./West York) notched a career-high 10 points in just six minutes of work, as she was 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the stripe. Sophomore Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md./Mercy) played an all around floor game as she had a team-high six assists to go along with eight rebounds, five points and two steals.
Overall, the Spartans had 14 players reach the scoring column but no Spartan played more than 21 minutes.
O'Malley led the Wildcats as she tallied 16 points. She was 6-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. O'Malley also pulled in seven rebounds, handed out three assists and notched three steals. D'Andrea Watson added nine points while Kali Davis contributed six points and seven rebounds.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 49.4% from the floor. The Green and White shot 57.1% in the first half but went just 14-for-35 in the second half. York went 6-for-20 (30%) from three and drained 20-for-27 (74.1%) from the free throw line.
Cazenovia shot 31.8% from the field for the game while they canned 6-of-13 (46.2%) from three. The Wildcats converted 15-of-28 (53.5%) from the charity stripe.
York forced 30 turnovers for the game as they turned the Wildcat miscues into 35 points. York wasn't clean with the ball as the Green and White committed 24 turnovers in the game with 14 coming in the second half.
The Spartans' 102 points in a tournament record, besting the previous mark of 84 points set by FDU-Florham set in the consolation game of the 2011 edition of the tournament.
The Spartans will set their sights on their fifth Coaches vs. Cancer Classic title when they host Ursinus in the tournament championship game on Sunday. Tip time is set for 2:00 pm at Wolf Gymnasium. The consolation game tips off at 12:00 pm.