JANUARY 3, 2018

KING'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL DOWNS DELAWARE VALLEY IN MAC FREEDOM OPENER

WILKES-BARRE --  Alexis Steeber posted a career-high 22 points to power the King's College women's basketball team to a 65-51 victory over visiting Delaware Valley University in the Freedom Conference opener for both teams Wednesday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, King's improved to 6-5 on the year while the Aggies fell to 3-9.

King's raced out to an 8-0 lead with 7:23 left in the first quarter, thanks to six straight points by Alexis Steeber and an inside basket from Rebecca Prociak.

But the Aggies countered with a 12-2 run to take a 12-10 lead following an Ashley Smink jumper with 2:52 on the clock, The Lady Monarchs took a 13-12 lead after a Steeber bucket and one-of-two free throws by Lindsey Dippre but the Aggies scored the final bucket of the period on a jumper by Amber Grohowski to give Delaware Valley a 14-13 advantage heading into the second quarter.

After Smink started the second quarter with a jumper to push the lead to 16-13, King's Olivia Hoffman and Prociak scored down low while Mackenzie Yori drained a three-pointer as King's forged ahead 20-16 with 5:26 to play in the opening half.

With King's holding a 22-20 lead with 3:22 on the clock, a Steeber lay-up, and a Yori three-pointer pushed the King's lead to 27-20 with 1:10 to go.  After an Aggie basket with 0:26 left, King's got a big bucket from Hoffman inside with 0:05 on the clock as the Lady Monarchs took a 29-22 lead into the break.

After the Aggies hit a three-pointer to open the third quarter, King's countered with a Kayla Dillinger three-pointer and inside basket from Steeber and Prociak to move ahead 36-25 with 8:02 on the clock.

After an Aggie three-point play, King's used five straight points from Steeber to push the score to 41-29 at the 4:44 mark. But the Aggies responded with a 14-6 run to cut the score to 43-37 after a Grohowski jumper with 1:43 left in the period.

King's outscored the Aggies 5-4 the rest of the way to take a 48-41 lead into the final quarter.

The Lady Monarchs opened the fourth with a lay-up from Steeber and two Prociak free throws to move ahead 52-41 with 8:20 left. King's later took its biggest lead at 55-43 when Steeber canned a three-pointer with 7:03 to go.

After the Aggies cut the lead to 55-48 on an Ashley Smink three-pointer, King's responded with one free throw from Erin Schmidt, two foul shots by Prociak, and a jumper from Yori to stretch the lead to 60-48 with 3:56 left in the contest. King's scored five of the final eight points to seal the win.

Steeber's 22 points surpassed her previous high of 19 points set earlier this season. She also added seven rebounds in the game. Prociak had 16 points with seven boards and six assists while Yori added 10 points. Hoffman chipped in with four points, 11 rebounds, and six blocked shots. Dippre chipped in with five points for the Lady Monarchs.

King's will travel to St. David on Saturday to face Eastern University in a 1:00 PM matchup