KING'S WOMEN CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH WITH 22ND STRAIGHT WIN OVER WILKES
WILKES-BARRE – Andrea Hochstuhl, Kaitlyn Fiorino, and Jessica Paettie combined for 40 points as the King's College women's basketball team clinched a Freedom Conference playoff berth with a 57-47 victory over host Wilkes University Tuesday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King's improved to 13-11 overall and 7-4 in Freedom Conference play. Wilkes, meanwhile, slipped to 2-21 overall and 1-10 in league games. The victory also marked the Lady Monarchs 22nd straight win over Wilkes dating back to the 1999-97 season.
Wilkes began the game strong with a pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Sam Lynam and Ashley Makarczyk to give the Lady Colonels a quick 6-0 led. After Fiorino got the Lady Monarchs on the board Brittany Ely countered with a basket to put Wilkes ahead 8-2. After Andre Hochstuhl drew the Lady Monarchs to within 8-3 by making one-of-two foul shots, the Lady Colonel responded with a pair of inside baskets by MacKensey O'Hara to build a 12-3 advantage with 12:43 left in the first half.
King's began to chip away, using s 5-2 spurt to close to within 14-8 after a bucket by Fiorino. O'Hara would answer for Wilkes with another basket down low, but the Lady Colonels would go cold from the floor while committing several turnovers to go scoreless over the next 5:49 of the half.
King's would take advantage with a jumper by Fiorino and a three-pointer from Paettie to bring the Lady Monarchs to within 16-14 with 7:06 remaining. Fiorino would then snag an offensive rebound and put-back to tie the game at 16-16 with 6:34 on the clock. Lauren Kendra would score off a steal moments later and Paettie followed up with a pair of foul shots to give King's a 20-16 with 5:10 left in the opening stanza. Consecutive baskets inside by Hochstuhl and Kaitlyn Malshefski would cap the 16-0 run to up the King's advantage to 24-14 with 3:44 on the clock.
Wilkes would finally get back on the scoreboard when Lynam hit one-of-two charity tosses with 3:10 remaining, but Hochstuhl score six straight points to put King's on top 30-17 with 1:-1 left. Makarczyk would connect on a three pointer at 0:30 to bring the Lady Colonels to within 30-20 at the break.
Wilkes continued to struggle offensively to start the second half as King's opened up with a 15-0 run thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Jenna Palumbo and Lauren Kendra, while a two foul shots by Paettie gave the Lady Monarchs a 45-22 lead with 14:17 left in the contest.
Wilkes would look to answer with a 8-0 surge of the strength of four point by O'Hara and a three-pointer from Jessica Plisko, cutting the lead to 45-28 with 12:31 remaining. After Paettie made good on a three-pointer for King's, Makarczyk and Katie Cappelloni canned three-pointers to draw Wilkes to within 48-34 with 9:29 on the clock.
But King's would put the game away with a 16-7 run, capped by a bucket in the paint by Krystina Durako with 4:13 on the clock to give the Lady Monarchs a 67-43 lead.
Hochstuhl led the way for King's with 14 points while Fiorino and Paettie added 13. Kendra tallied nine points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals while Malshefski also netted nine points. Palumbo chipped in with six points while Durako netted five.
Wilkes was paced by Cappelloni with11 points and 11 rebounds while O'Hara contributed 10 points and boards. Makarczyk tallied nine with six rebounds while Lynam registered six points and six rebounds to aid the Lady Colonel cause.
King's will close out the regular-season Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. home contest against Delaware Valley College.
KING'S COLLEGE 76, WILKES 47
KING'S COLLEGE (13-11/7-4 Freedm)
Andrea Hochstuhl 6-8 2-3 14; Jessica Paettie 3-7 4-4 13; Kaitlyn Fiorino 5-12 3-4 13; Kaitlyn Malshefski 4-10 1-2 9; Lauren Kendra 3-7 2-5 9; Jenna Palumbo 2-10 0-0 6; Krystina Durako 2-5 1-2 5; Kristen Baumes 1-2 2-2 4; Julie Bidwell 1-2 0-0 3; Andrea Carroll 0-4 0-0 0; Tabitha Zawatski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-67 15-22 76.
WILKES (2-22/1-10 Freedm)
Katie Cappelloni 3-6 4-5 11; Mackensey O'Hara 5-10 0-1 10; Ashley Makarczyk 3-11 0-0 9; Sam Lynam 1-12 3-4 6; Jessica Plisko 1-3 0-0 3; Khadija Bates 1-3 0-0 2; Brittany Ely 1-3 0-2 2; Erin Schneider 0-1 2-2 2; Mari Gabriel 1-2 0-0 2; Nicole Quick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 9-14 47.
King's College................ 30 46 - 76
Wilkes........................... 20 27 - 47
3-point goals--King's College 7-29 (Jessica Paettie 3-7; Jenna Palumbo 2-7; Julie Bidwell 1-1; Lauren Kendra 1-2; Kristen Baumes 0-1; Andrea Carroll 0-3; Kaitlyn Malshefski 0-2; Kaitlyn Fiorino 0-5; Andrea Hochstuhl 0-1), Wilkes 6-15 (Ashley Makarczyk 3-7; Sam Lynam 1-5; Katie Cappelloni 1-1; Jessica Plisko 1-1; Erin Schneider 0-1). Fouled out--King's College-None, Wilkes-Khadija Bates. Rebounds--King's College 44 (Lauren Kendra 8), Wilkes 39 (Katie Cappelloni 11). Assists--King's College 15 (Lauren Kendra 5), Wilkes 14 (Katie Cappelloni 4; Brittany Ely 4). Total fouls--King's College 13, Wilkes 18. Technical fouls--King's College-None, Wilkes-None. A-300
