JANUARY 27, 2018

WOMEN'S HOOPS DEFEATS MANHATTANVILLE 65-62 IN OVERTIME

PURCHASE, N.Y. --- The King's College women's basketball team began the second half of conference play with a huge 65-62 overtime victory at Manhattanville College in a battle for first place at Kennedy Gymnasium in Purchase, N.Y.

The Monarchs improve to 12-8 overall and 6-2 in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play while moving into a first-place tie with FDU-Florham. King's also earns their first season sweep over Manhattanville since 2014-15. The Valiants, who entered the game atop the conference standings, falls to 14-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

Similar to the first meeting between the teams two weeks ago the game was a defensive battle as two of the top-ranked defenses in the conference squared up against each other. Neither team was able to muster up a lot of offense in the first five minutes as an Olivia Hoffman layup gave the Monarchs an 8-7 lead with 4:52 remaining in the quarter. After the Valiants retook the lead, Lindsey Dippre scored on a driving layup and then knocked down a three the next time down the court to give the Monarchs a 13-9 advantage. A minute later Mackenzie Yori knocked down a three to give King's a five-point lead with 1:40 left. Yori then knocked down another three with 28 seconds left to give the Monarchs their biggest lead of the quarter at 19-13. Amanda Pemberton scored right before the quarter ended to cut the lead to four points heading into the second quarter.

The Monarchs came out strong in the second quarter with five straight points to increase the lead to 25-15 with 6:54 remaining in the half after a Kayla Dillinger trey. The Valiants scored the next four points before Yori knocked down another triple to bring the advantage up to nine with 4:13 on the clock. However, the Valiants responded with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to 30-29. Rebecca Prociak ended the run when Dillinger found her underneath the basket for two points as the Monarchs took a three-point lead into the locker room.

Manhattanville knocked down a three to tie the game to open the second half and then took the lead when Kymane Jone found Joiada Darnell for a bucket underneath. Alexis Steeber stopped the run with a layup to tie the game and then the front end of two free throws on the next possession to give King's back the lead. Prociak knocked down two free throws and then found Yori for a layup to give the Monarchs a 39-35 lead with 3:17 left in the quarter. After a Valiant three-pointer, Prociak knocked down two more free throws to give the Monarchs a 41-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Both teams locked in on defense the first five minutes of the quarter as both teams had trouble scoring. Hoffman opened the scoring 1:11 in when she connected on two free throws to increase the lead to five. Kayleah McGuire brought the lead back down to three on the other end and then neither team was able to score until Alexis Steeber scored on a driving layup with 6:11 left. The Valiants scored the next five points to tie the game at 45 with 3:33 left. The teams traded baskets until Prociak scored on a layup while being fouled and then converted on the and-one to give King's a 50-47 lead. Manhattanville was able to tie the game up with the next three points before Yori was fouled with 1:23 left. She knocked down both free throws to give King's back the lead. On the other end of the court, Spencer Shore gave Manhattanville a 53-52 lead when she knocked down a three with 1:10 remaining. The Monarchs were forced into a turnover on their ensuing possession but got the ball back with six seconds left when they forced a Valiant turnover. Prociak was fouled with 0.1 seconds left to go to the line for two shots to give the Monarchs a chance at a win or tie. She was unable to make the first attempt but calmly knocked down the second attempt to send the game into overtime.

In the five minute extra session, the first four minutes belonged to the Monarchs. Steeber stole the ball and then scored on a fast-break layup, she assisted on a layup by Prociak, and then knocked down a three to give King's a 60-53 lead. The lead grew to 10 points on one made free throw by Rachael DeTore and two by Prociak. The Valiants made things interesting with three made three-pointers to cut the lead down to 64-62 with four seconds left. However, Steeber made the back end of two free throw attempts and a long three by the Valiants was off the mark as King's held on for the victory.

Rebecca Prociak led the way with a career-high 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Mackenzie Yori and Alexis Steeber scored 13 points each while Olivia Hoffman recorded eight points and eight rebounds. Lindsey Dippre added seven points and six rebounds.

The Monarchs shot 36.2 (21-58) percent from the field and 42.9 (6-14) percent from beyond-the-arc. King's held a 41-40 rebounding advantage and forced 22 turnovers while only committing 19.

Manhattanville was led by Kayleah McGuire with 11 points and Amanda Pemberton with 10. Nancy Caballero had 10 rebounds and seven points while Kymane Jone dished out nine assists. Manhattanville shot 42.1 (24-57) percent from the field and 46.2 (6-13) percent from deep.

King's will return to the hardwood on Wednesday when they travel down to Doylestown to face Delaware Valley University at 6:00 p.m. The Monarchs defeated the Aggies 65-51 to open conference play in McGrane Gymnasium back on January 3rd.