DECEMBER 8, 2004
KING'S WOMEN DOWN GWYNEDD-MERCY, 67-52
WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College women's
basketball overcame an early 13-point deficit but rallied to post a 67-52
victory over visiting Gwynedd-Mercy College Wednesday in Scandlon
Gymnasium.
King's, ranked 23rd nationally, improved to 7-0 on
the year while Gwynedd-Mercy fell to 2-4.
Gwynedd-Mercy flew out of the gates early and assumed control, rattling
off the first 11 points of the game thanks to a four points from Jackie
Dougherty and a three-pointer from Jillian Chiarantona. King's
finally hit the scoreboard on a Cindy Baral bucket with 13:21 left in the
half .
The Lady Monarchs would narrow the lead to 13-9 on baskets from Kristin
Yeasted and Beth Jordan but the Griffins went on a 12-4 run, capped by
consecutive baskets from Gina Morano and a three-point play to build a
26-13 lead with 5:47 remaining in the half.
King's would rally, however, and closed out the half with a 17-3 run,
highlighted by a three-pointer and bucket from Vienna Spitler, a basket
from Baral, and a three-pointer from Jenna Palumbo which knotted the game
at 29-29 with 0:40 remaining. King's would take a 30-29 lead into
the locker room when Yeasted made one-of two foul shots with 0:06 on the
clock.
In the second half, the teams traded lead six times until a basket by
Jordan gave King's the lead for good at 42-41 with 10:22 remaining.
Yeasted netted a pair of baskets followed by buckets from Baral and
Spitler to give the Lady Monarchs a 54-45 lead with 6:00 left in the
contest. After a basket by Ober, Lauren Bonanni hit consecutive baskets to
push the King's lead to 58-47 with 5:02 on the clock.
Karen Tierney cut the lead to 58-50 on a three-point play with 4:45 left
but the Griffins would draw no closer. King's closed out the game with a
9-2 spurt as Yeasted made five-of-six foul shots , followed by a
three-point play from Jordan.
Yeasted scored 11 of her game-high 15 points in the second half and hauled
in 15 rebounds. Spitler added 15 points with four steals while Baral
and Jordan added eight each. Freshman guard Lauren Kendra has an
outstanding floor game with six assists, four steals, and five
rebounds. As a team, King's held a commanding 42-28 rebounding
advantage.
The Griffins were led by Ober with 11 points and six rebounds while
Dougherty added 10 points, six assists, and four boards.
King's will next compete in the Oneonta State University Invitational in
Oneonta, NY.
