NOVEMBER 21, 2015

LADY MONARCHS CLAIM ONEONTA HOLIDAY INN CLASSIC TITLE WITH 50-45 VICTORY AT ONEONTA STATE

ONEONTA, N.Y. --- The King's College women's basketball team continued their string of strong defensive play as they rallied from a 14-point first quarter deficit to defeat host Oneonta State 50-45 on the second day of the Oneonta Holiday Inn Classic in Oneonta, N.Y. With the victory the Lady Monarchs were crowned Champions of the Classic.

King's improve to 4-0 this season while Oneonta State falls to 1-2. This game was also the first matchup between the two programs since King's began their Sweet 16 run in 2011-12 with a 56-42 victory over the Red Dragons in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Scandlon Gymnasium.

Playing their fourth road game in seven days the Lady Monarchs struggled shooting the ball especially from three-point range. However, after a bad start they were able to shut down the Red Dragon offense.

Oneonta State opened the game on a 18-4 run in the first eight minutes behind four three-pointers. After a King's timeout the Lady Monarchs regrouped and were able to cut the lead to 18-9 on a jumper by Tara Zdancewicz and King's only three-pointer of the game by Erin Schmidt.

In the second quarter King's was able to slowly cut into the deficit as they held the Red Dragons to four total points and one made field goal in the quarter. Shae Grim began the scoring for King's with a steal and a fast-break layup with 8:48 left in the half. After two made free throw attempts by Oneonta, Kayla Feairheller hit a jumper and Schmidt made a free throw to bring King's within six points. The Red Dragon's only field goal of the quarter brought the lead back up to eight points with 2:54 left in the half. Alexis Steeber hit a jumper for the Monarchs to cut the Red Dragon's halftime lead to 22-16.

The Red Dragons came out of the break with a 6-0 run on two three-pointers to bring the lead back up to 12 with 7:41 left in the third quarter. From there Feairheller and Zdancewicz took over as they scored the next 11 points for the Lady Monarchs to cut the Oneonta lead to 29-27 with 2:21 left. During the 11-1 run Zdancewicz was a force scoring under the basket as she made two layups, converted a tradition three-point play after being fouled on one of her layups, and converted two free throws after being foul under the basket on an offensive rebound with King's in the bonus. After a Oneonta bucket the Lady Monarchs closed the quarter out with a layup by Jennifer Fabian, a made free throw attempt by Kasey Seitz and then two free throws by Feairheller to take a 32-31 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Monarchs continued their strong play in the fourth quarter as Zdancewicz and Feairheller made buckets with a Oneonta basket in between. A basket by Seitz and then another bucket from Zdancewicz gave the Lady Monarchs their largest lead of the game with 6:15 left at 40-33. The Red Dragons came roaring back hitting back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to one. Olivia Hoffman found Fabian for a huge basket with 3:58 remaining and then Grim was able to convert two free throw attempts with just over two minutes remaining to give the Lady Monarchs a 44-39 lead. Oneonta was able to get back within one point with just over a minute remaining but Hoffman found herself open under the rim with 43 seconds left to give King's a three point lead.

The Red Dragons got to the foul line on their next possession and hit both free throws to bring the game back to a one point difference with 34 seconds left. After a King's turnover Fabian made her first of two big plays to keep the Lady Monarchs in the lead when she took a charge on a Red Dragon fastbreak with 21 seconds left. With the shot clock turned off the Red Dragons were forced to foul and Seitz increased the lead to 48-45 with two made free throws. Fabian then made her second big play to preserve the victory when she blocked Cara Adam's game-tying three-point attempt with three seconds left. Feairheller was able to grab the rebound and was quickly fouled. Feairheller calmly sank both free throw attempts to set the final score.

Tara Zdancewicz led King's with 13 points and six rebounds while Kayla Feairheller added 12 points and four rebounds. Jennifer Fabian saw her streak of double-doubles come to an end with six points and six rebounds while Kasey Seitz contributed seven points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Olivia Hoffman recorded eight rebounds.

The Red Dragons were led by Cara Adams with 17 points while their leading scorer, Lyteshia Price, recorded nine points and a team high 15 rebounds.

The Lady Monarchs shot 27.3% (18-66) from the field including a woeful 4.0% (1-25) from beyond the three-point line. King's shot very well from the foul line making 86.7% (13-15) of their attempts. The Lady Monarchs held the Red Dragons to shooting 23.4% (15-64) from the field including 29.6% (8-27) on three-point attempts. King's won the rebounding battle 51-50 and forced 18 turnovers while only committing 16.

King's will now receive some much needed rest heading into the Thanksgiving break and will return to action on Monday November 30^th when they will host the University of Scranton at 7:00 p.m. in the team's first home game of the year.