JANUARY 18, 2016

KING'S WOMEN DOWNLYCOMING 69-65 ON LATE KRUPINSKI BASKET

WILLIAMSPORT -- Sara Krupinski scored with 0:24 left in the contest as the King's College women's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 69-65 road win over host Lycoming College Monday night at Lamade Gym in Williamsport.

With the win King's improved to 10-5 on the year while Lycoming slipped to 10-7.

Both teams started slow offensively and after the game was locked in an 8-8 tie with 2:49 remaining in the first quarter, Lycoming scored the next four poits to go ahead 12-8 after a Jenn Grove jumper with 2:12 on the clock. King's would later used a Cayle Spencer jumper to cut the lead to 12-10 heading into the second period.

Lycoming responded with a 8-2 run to push the lead to 20-12 after a three-pointer by Olivia Manges with 8:39 left in the half. But King's countered with a 14-0 run, capped by a traditional three-point play by Jennifer Fabian and a driving layup from Kasey Seitz to give the Lady Monarchs a 26-20 lead with 3:08 left in the half. The Warriors, however, closed out the half with a 6-2 spurt to close to within 28-26 at the break.

In the third quarter King's came out of the locker room and went on a 11-4 run to up the score to 39-30 after back-to-back three-point shots from Seitz and Kayla Feairheller at 8:44. Lycoming, however, again responded with a run by outscoring King's 15-8 over a the next four minutes to trim the King's lead to 47-45 with 4:32 on the clock. The Lady Monarchs, though, answered by outscoring Lycoming 12-9 the rest of the quarter to enter the final period with a 59-54 advantage.

Lycoming continued to fight back and eventually took a 64-63 lead with 2:28 remaining on a jumper by Chelsea Henderson. With King's trailing 65-63, Jennifer Fabian canned a pair of free throws with 0:56 to play. Lycoming had a chance to take the lead but Henderson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 0:42 on the clock.

The Lady Monarchs would then take the lead for good when Krupinski hit a short jumper in the lane to give King's a 67-65 lead with 0:24 left.

Lycoming had an opportunity to tie the game but Henderson missed a contested driving lay-up with 0:11 to go. King's Alexis Steeber rebounded and was fouled with 0:07 left to go to the foul line with a chance to ice the game. Steeber would hit both charity tosses to make it a two-possession game as King's took a 69-65 lead. Lycoming would miss a shot at the buzzer to set the final score.

Fabian led King's with 13 points and eight rebounds while Krupinski followed with 12 points, six rebounds, and a career-high nine assists. Olivia Hoffman tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocked shots while Tara Zdancewicz and Rachael DeTore chipped in with six points apiece. King's out-rebounded Lycoming by a 46-33 margin and shot 78.9 (15-19) percent from the foul line.

Manges paced Lycoming with 22 points while Shelby Mueller followed with 10 points.

King's will next host Misericordia University in a Freedom Conference matchup Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium.