FEBRUARY 6, 2016
KING'S WOMEN'S HOOPS FALL TO MANHATTANVILLE IN OVERTIME, 71-68
WILKES-BARRE, PA --- The King's College women's basketball team fell to visiting Manhattanville College 71-68 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Scandlon Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre.
Manhattanville improves to 14-6 overall and 6-4 in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play. The Lady Monarchs drop to 11-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
After a Valiant bucket to begin the game King's got on the board when Kasey Seitz found Kayla Feairheller under the basket for a layup while being fouled. Feairheller knocked down the free throw to King's a 3-2 lead. The Monarchs built the lead to 8-3 after a fast break three-pointer by Jennifer Fabian and a jumper by Olivia Hoffman. A three-point bucket by Cayle Spencer gave the Monarchs a six point advantage with 5:01 to play in the first quarter. Manhattanville responded with a 9-5 run to close out the quarter down 17-15.
In the second quarter both teams had trouble scoring to begin the quarter. A jumper by Ashley Raaf gave the Valiants a 21-20 lead with 5:31 left. After another bucket by Manhattanville the Monarchs got back-to-back scores from Tara Zdancewicz and Alexis Steeber to take a one-point lead with 3:30 left. The Valiants responded with a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 32-26 lead. King's got a layup by Fabian and a one of throw free throws from Steeber to cut the deficit to 32-29 at the half.
Olivia Hoffman opened up the second half when she knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 32. Zdancewicz scored on back-to-back layups to give the Monarchs a four-point lead with 6:30 left. A three-pointer by Raaf and a jumper from Jazmin Price gave the Valiants back the lead 37-36. After another layup by Zdancewicz, Manhattanville got consecutive fast break layups from Bri Pabon after steals and two made free throws from Kayleah McGuire to take a 43--38 lead with 3:53 left. The Monarchs got layups from Zdancewicz and Feairheller to bring to game within one but the Valiants ended the quarter with two free throws and a layup by Pabon to take a 47-42 lead heading into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter the Monarchs got back-to-back three-pointers from Seitz to take a 50-49 lead with 8:02 left. Manhattanville retook the lead on a layup by Sarah Kelley with 3:27 left. With the Valiants over the foul limit King's was able to get to the line and Seitz knocked down four consecutive free throws to give King's a 57-56 lead with 1:51 left. Fabian increased the lead to three points with 1:13 left before Setiz knocked down two more foul shots with 25 seconds left to give King's a 61-56 advantage. The Valiants got a three from Raaf and then a steal on the inbound pass by Pabon and a quick jumper by Raaf to send the game into overtime.
The teams played even for the first couple minutes of overtime before the Valiants got back-to-back jumpers from Kelley to take a 69-65 lead with 1:12 left. After a King's turnover Pabon knocked down one of two free throws to take a five-point lead. Seitz knocked down a three with 20 seconds left to bring the Monarchs within two. Forced to foul King's put Pabon on the line where she made one of two free throws. While advancing the ball up court King's had another turnover and was forced to put the Valianrts back on the line. Luckily Raaf missed both free throws and King's called a timeout to set up a play with nine seconds left and down three. King's was able to get the ball in the hands of the team's best three-point shooter but Setiz's shot from the corner hit the front rim and bounced back towards to court as time expired.
Kasey Seitz led King's with a game-high and season-best 18 points while recording five rebounds and five assists. Tara Zdancewicz had a career-high 17 points and seven rebounds. Jennifer Fabian nearly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Kayla Feairheller had seven points and eight rebounds while Olivia Hoffman had 10 rebounds, seven blocks, and five points.
As a team the Monarchs shot 33.8 (23-68) percent from the field including 36.8 (7-19) percent on threes. They were able to get to the line 21 times and made 15 for 71.4 percent. King's blocked 12 shots in the game but had a season-high 29 turnovers.
Manhattanville had four players in double-figures led by Bri Pabon with 17 points. Kayleah McGuire had 16 and 11 rebounds, Ashley Raaf scored 15, and Sarah Kelley added 10. The Valiants shot 33.8 (25-75) percent from the field, 40.0 (4-10) percent from beyond-the-arc, and 70.8 (17-24) percent from the line.
King's will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel down the turnpike to St. David, PA to face Eastern University at 6:00 p.m. The Lady Monarchs defeated the Eagles 63-52 back on January 16th in Wilkes-Barre.