BOB ZIADIE
MARCH 1, 2003
KING'S DOWNS DESALES TO WIN MAC FREEDOM CROWN
WILKES-BARRE -- Jen Wozniak scored 13 of her
game-high 19 points in the second half to lead the King's College women's
basketball team to the MAC Freedom Conference championship with a 66-56
victory over DeSales University Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King's secured an automatic berth into
the NCAA Division III National Tournament while improving to 23-3 on the
year. DeSales, which fell to 24-3, is expected to gain an at-large berth.
DeSales entered the championship game as the top-ranked team in the
Mid-Atlantic Region while King's was second. The win will likely give
King's the top seed in the NCAA regional pairings.
King's started out quickly in opening a 10-2 lead
with 17:26 left in the half as Nikki Kingston scored five points while
Wozniak added four. DeSales was hurt when leading scorer Alyssa Antolick
picked up her second foul just 2:34 into the contest and sat out the
remainder of the half.
After the Bulldogs cut the lead to 14-9 on a foul
shot by Liz Kelly, Kingston scored on a drive to the basket, then was
fouled on the ensuing possession and made one-of-two charity tosses to put
King's ahead 19-10 with 13:38 remaining. The teams would trade baskets
until Jen Netwall canned a jumper to bring the Bulldogs to within 27-20
with 8:08 left. Clare Sauser then added a bucket for DeSales before Maria
Viercinski made one-of-two foul shots to cut the King's lead to 27-23 with
5:22 on the clock.
The Lady Monarchs would answer when Kingston drained
a three-pointer, her 11th point of the half, to put King's on top 30-23.
King's would take a 34-25 half-time lead when Katie Bowes drained both
ends of a one-and-one with 1:05 left.
In the second half, Alyssa Antolick canned a long
three-pointer on the Bulldogs first possession to bring DeSales to within
34-28. But Wozniak wowuld counter with a bucket and Kristin Yeasted added
a pair of foul shots to push the King's lead to 38-28.
The Bulldogs would chip away and cut the lead to
50-46 on a basket by Alyssa Antolick, but the Lady Monarchs answered with
a 4-0 spurt on consecutive baskets by Beth Jordan and Tiffini Varrasse as
King's led 56-46 with 6:30 remaining.
Amy Yencho brought DeSales to within 56-49 on a
three-pointer but Yeasted was fouled down low and sank both shots to push
the score back to 58-49 with 5:52 left. DeSales would close to within
60-53 on a pair of foul shots by Alyssa Antolick with 4:39 left but would
draw no closer.
Jordan hit a short jumper with 2:59 left to give the
Lady Monarchs their largest lead at 64-53.
Kingston finished with 13 points and seven rebounds,
while Yeasted added 13 points and seven rebounds. Varrasse followed with
eight points and six assists while Carissa Ryan snared 10 rebounds to pace the Lady Monarchs.
Netwall and Yencho led DeSales with 11 points each
while Teri Antolick, the Bulldogs leading scorer and rebounder, was held
to nine points and seven boards. Alyssa Antolick score nine points, all in
the second half. King's, which shot just 34.5 (10-29) percent in the first
half, improved to 50.0 (11-22) in the second stanza. DeSales shot .333
(10-30) in the first half and slipped to 29.4 (10-34) in the second half
to finish the game at 31.2 (20-64) percent.
The third meeting of the season between the teams
marked the end of an unusual streak. The previous four meetings found the
road team emerging as the victor. The teams have played for the conference
championship two other times with DeSales winning the MAC title 49-45 in
2000 before King's posted a 72-65 double-overtime win to capture the 2001
conference crown.
