NOVEMBER 19, 2016

THIRD QUARTER RUN DOOMS LADY MONARCHS IN LOSS TO LYCOMING

LANCASTER, PA -- The Lycoming College women's basketball team broke open a close game with a 18-5 run over the last 6:26 of the third quarter to defeat King's College 74-59 on Saturday afternoon in the first game of the Terry Greene Tip-Off Classic at Mayser Gymnasium on the campus of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster.

The Warriors improve to 2-0 on the year and advance to Sunday's Championship game. The Monarchs fall to 0-2 on the young season.

The Monarchs came out strong defensively forcing turnovers on the Warriors first two possessions. Alexis Steeber scored the first two points of the game when she drained two free throws after being fouled on a put back attempt after an offensive rebound. Lycoming responded with two made free throws and a three pointer to take a 5-2 lead but Steeber scored underneath the basket on a great pass from Kayla Feairheller to cut the lead to one point with 6:49 left in the first. King's had plenty of quality looks at the basket over the course of the first five minutes but the ball just didn't want to fall through the hoop. The Warriors were able to increase their lead to seven points after a jumper with 3:22 left on the clock.  Cayle Spencer knocked down a three and then Steeber scored on a driving layup to cut the lead down to two points at 11-9. The Warrior were able to bring the lead up to five points with a minute left in the quarter when Shelby Mueller converted a tradition three point play but the Monarchs responded with a jumper from Rebecca Prociak right before the quarter ended to cut the deficit to 16-13.

In the second quarter Olivia Hoffman bought the lead to one point on a layup seven seconds in but two turnovers on the following two offensive possessions turned into four fast break points for the Warriors to increase their lead to five. They would hit two more jumpers to increase the lead to 24-15 with 5:47 left in the half forcing the Monarchs to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the Monarchs got a layup by Hoffman off a great pass by Maggie Michael, a defensive rebound by Michael, and then back-to-back driving layups from Feairheller to bring the score to 24-21 with 3:45 left. The Monarchs then tied the game when Shae Grim knocked down two free throws and Steeber made one of two free throws with two minutes left in the half. The Warriors were able to score on a fast break layup by Mueller to retake a two point lead but Prociak cut the lead to 26-25 heading into the break when she knocked down one of two free throws attempts.

Kasey Seitz gave the Monarchs the lead to begin the second half when she knocked down a three.  After Lycoming scored six straight points to take a four point lead a free throw by Feairheller and a driving layup from Steeber bought the score to 32-31 with 6:26 left in the quarter. The Warriors then went a 18-5 run the rest of the quarter to open up a tightly contested game.

In the fourth quarter the Monarchs fought to cut into the lead but the Warriors countered every made basket with a score of their own. The Lady Monarchs shot 75.0 (9-12) percent in the fourth quarter and made five of their eight free throw attempts.

Rebecca Prociak led the Monarchs with 14 points and three rebounds off the bench in her second collegiate game. Alexis Steeber had a career-high 13 points while Olivia Hoffman recorded her second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Shae Grim added nine points on 3-5 shooting from the field, 1-2 from beyond the arc, and she sank both free throws attempted. The Lady Monarchs shot 39.3 (22-56) percent from the floor and 57.1 (12-21) from the line.

Lycoming had five players in double figures led by 26 by Shelby Mueller. Akilah McFadden had 12 and Becca Painter, Jenn Grove, and Haley Sipple added 10 points each.

The Lady Monarchs outscored their opponent in the paint for the second straight game holding a 38-34 advantage over Lycoming.

King's will be back in action on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. when they take on host Franklin and Marshall. Franklin and Marshall fell to Elizabethtown College 73-46 in the other game on Saturday.