KING'S WOMEN DEFEAT WILKES 71-43 FOR 21ST WIN VERSUS LADY COLONELS

WILKES-BARRE – King's College used a big second half effort to post a 71-43 win over visiting Wilkes University in the Freedom Conference opener for both sides on Tuesday night at the Scandlon Gymnasium. The Lady Monarchs improved to 7-7 overall, while the Lady Colonels slipped to 1-10 overall.

It also marked King's 21st straight win over Wilkes dating back to the 1997 season.

Neither team was able to get on track offensively in the first half. King's shot just 28.6 percent from the field in the opening stanza after converting only 10-of-35 shots. Wilkes was successful on a mere 6-of-26 shots from the field for 23.1 percent.


King's scored the first four points of the game on a free throw by Jenna Palumbo and a three-pointer by Kaitlyn Fiorino. After Ashley Makarczyk scored on a runner in the lane for Wilkes to make it 4-2, Kaitlyn Malshefski, Andrea Hochstuhl and Palumbo all converted field goals to put the Lady Monarchs on top 10-2 with 14:39 left in the half.


Lacey Andresen would pull the Lady Colonels within 10-4 with a lay-up at the 11:37 mark. However, King's rattled off six consecutive points once again, including four by Sarah O'Doherty, to assume a 16-4 edge with 5:41 left in the stanza.


A jumper by Makarczyk and a steal and basket by Sam Lynam closed the gap to 16-8 with 4:46 showing on the clock. Once again King's responded with a 7-0 spurt, including five points by Jessica Paettie, to take their biggest lead of the stanza, 23-8, with 1:35 left. The Lady Monarchs would eventually settle for a 28-15 lead at the break.


King's would open the second half with eight straight tallies to push the lead to 36-15. Jenna Palumbo opened the streak with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer, before Lauren Kendra scored on a drive and hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to give the Lady Monarchs a 21-point advantage.


Trailing 42-20, Wilkes rattled off five straight points on a three-pointer by Lynam and a basket inside by Mackensey O'Hara with 12:44 to go.

But, King's would then put the game away with a 14-2 run. Krystina Durako converted a traditional three-point play and Paettie scored inside to make it 47-25. A basket by the Lady Colonels Brittany Ely cut the advantage to 47-27. Andrea Carroll and Malshefski both cashed in field goals for King's to extend the lead to 51-27. A Palumbo three-pointer and a lay-up by Carroll would end the streak and give the Lady Monarchs a 56-27 edge.


Both team's were more efficient from the field in the final 20 minutes. King's converted 44.1 percent of their attempts after going 15-for-34, while Wilkes canned 32.3 percent of their tries after hitting on 10-of-31.


Palumbo had 15 points and three assists for King's. Paettie and Kristen Baumes contributed 10 points each, while Lauren Kendra had 10 assists and 13 rebounds to go along with her five tallies.


Makarczyk and Ely finished with nine counters apiece to lead Wilkes offensively. Khadija Bates was the top rebounder for the Lady Colonels with eight.




KING'S COLLEGE 71, WILKES 43

WILKES (1-10,0-1 Freedom)
Ashley Makarczyk 4-12 0-0 9; Brittany Ely 3-4 2-4 9; Lacey Andresen 2-8 0-0
5; Sam Lynam 2-7 0-0 5; Mackensey O'Hara 2-7 0-2 4; Khadija Bates 2-5 0-0 4; Nicole Quick 0-2 2-4 2; Mari Gabriel 1-2 0-0 2; Katie Cappelloni 0-5 2-4 2;
Jessica Plisko 0-0 1-2 1; Erin Schneider 0-1 0-0 0; Allison Horn 0-4 0-0 0.
Totals 16-57 7-16 43.

KING'S COLLEGE (7-7, 1-0 Freedom)
Jenna Palumbo 4-12 4-6 15; Kristen Baumes 3-5 3-3 10; Jessica Paettie 4-7
0-0 10; Kaitlyn Fiorino 2-9 2-2 8; Lauren Kendra 2-5 1-2 5; Krystina Durako
2-5 1-1 5; Kaitlyn Malshefski 2-7 0-0 4; Andrea Carroll 2-3 0-0 4; Sarah O'Doherty 2-5 0-0 4; Tabitha Zawatski 1-1 0-0 2; Andrea Hochstuhl 1-6 0-0 2;
Elyssa Nieddu 0-1 2-3 2; Julie Bidwell 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-69 13-17 71.

Wilkes........................... 15 28 - 43
King's College................ 28 43 - 71

3-point goals--Wilkes 4-18 (Brittany Ely 1-2; Sam Lynam 1-4; Ashley
Makarczyk 1-6; Lacey Andresen 1-4; Allison Horn 0-2), King's College 8-28
(Jenna Palumbo 3-9; Kaitlyn Fiorino 2-6; Jessica Paettie 2-4; Kristen Baumes
1-1; Andrea Carroll 0-1; Elyssa Nieddu 0-1; Julie Bidwell 0-2; Kaitlyn
Malshefski 0-1; Krystina Durako 0-1; Lauren Kendra 0-2). Fouled
out--Wilkes-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--Wilkes 39 (Khadija Bates
8), King's College 54 (Lauren Kendra 13). Assists--Wilkes 6 (Katie
Cappelloni 2; Nicole Quick 2), King's College 21 (Lauren Kendra 10). Total
fouls--Wilkes 16, King's College 17. Technical fouls--Wilkes-None, King's
College-None. A-175