JANUARY 30, 2016
KING'S WOMEN'S HOOPS FALLS TO DESALES, 83-79
WILKES-BARRE, PA --- The DeSales University women's basketball team shot 44.4 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from beyond-the-arc to defeat King's College 83-59 on Saturday afternoon at Scandlon Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre.
DeSales improves to 14-5 overall and 7-1 in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play while the Lady Monarchs fall to 11-8 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first four minutes as the Monarchs struggled from the floor missing their first six shots. A Kayla Feairheller jumper and a Kasey Seitz three-pointer cut the lead to 11-5 with 4:15 left in the quarter. DeSales built the lead back up to 11 points with 1:31 left but King's got a basket by Tara Zdancewicz end the quarter with the score 20-11 in favor of the Bulldogs.
DeSales began the second quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 26-13 lead. The Monarchs responded with a 14-6 run of their own to cut the lead down to five points at 32-27 with 3:10 left in the half. Feaiheller had 8 of the team's points during the run on two three-pointers and a layup. After the teams traded buckets DeSales finished the half strong outscoring King's 10-2 over the last two minutes to take a 44-31 lead at the break.
Offensively the Monarchs shot the ball well in the first half making 41.2 (14-34) percent of their shots and outrebounded the Bulldogs 21-14 including 10 on the offensive boards. However, DeSales shot 54.8 (17-31) percent from the field and 45.5 (5-11) percent on three-point attempts.
The Bulldogs' good shooting continued in the second half as they were able to build their lead up to 20 points at 63-43 after three quarters of play. The Bulldogs were able to build their largest lead of the game at 27 points after a Nicole Umbenhauer layup with 7:36 left. Zdancewicz was able to get to the line on the next two possessions for King's and knocked down four free throws to bring the score to 73-50. Rachael DeTore grabbed a defensive rebound at one end of the floor and then scored a layup at the other end to bring the deficit down to 21 points. After trading baskets Madison Quinn knocked down her first career three-pointer to bring the score to 77-57 with 3:14 left but that was the closest King's would get.
King's had three players in double figures led by Kayla Feairheller with 15 points. Jennifer Fabian had 11 points while Tara Zdancewicz had 10 and seven rebounds. Olivia Hoffman had seven points, six rebounds, and four blocks.
DeSales was led by Kaitlin Kelly with 18 points on six three-pointers. Jen Napolitano had 17, Morgan Birmelin added a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists, and Nicole Umbenhauer had 10. Morgan McCollian had six points and eight rebounds.
The Lady Monarchs shot 37.7 (23-61) percent from the field and 26.9 (7-26) on three-point attempts. DeSales shot 44.4 (32-72) percent on all field goals and made 40.0 (10- 25) percent of their three-pointers. The Bulldogs had the rebounding advantage with 42 to King's 38.
King's will return to action on Wednesday when they will travel to Madison, N.J. to face FDU-Florham at 6:00 p.m. The Lady Monarchs defeated the Devils 66-57 in Wilkes-Barre in their first matchup of the year back on December 5th in Wilkes-Barre.