JANUARY 24, 2008
KING'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EDGES FDU-FLORHAM, 59-58
WILKES-BARRE – The host King's College women's basketball team built a 14-point lead midway through the second half, then held off a furious FDU-Florham rally as the Lady Monarchs held on for an important 59-58 Freedom Conference victory Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King's improved to 7-11 overall and 5-4 in league play while FDU slipped to 8-10 and 2-7. The victory also enabled the Lady Monarchs to gain a measure of revenge for a 60-34 loss to FDU in the team's first meeting back on December 6 in Madison, NJ
King's trailed for much of a closely played first half as neither team managed more than a five-point first half lead. With the Lady Monarchs behind 21-16 with 5:44 remaining in the opening stanza, King's used five points from Kaitlyn Fiorino in a 5-2 spurt to close to within 23-21 with 4:22 left. After an FDU foul shot, upped the Devil lead to 24-21, Fiorino scored her eighth straight point on a three-pointer at the 3:13 mark to tie the score at 24-24. The Lady Monarchs would build a 27-24 advantage when Jessica Paettie buried a three-pointer at the 1:31 mark giving King's a lead it would take into the halftime break.
In the second half King's appeared to seize control when Back-to-back three-pointers by Kayla Dick gave the Lady Monarchs a 39-30 lead with 13:50 remaining. Later a traditional three-point play from Fiorino and a inside bucket by Krystina Durako pushed the advantage to 14 points, giving King's its biggest lead of the game at 48-34 with 11:48 on the clock.
FDU, however, battled back and used a12-0 run to cut the King's lead to 48-46 on a jumper by Shealyn Taggart with 6:49 to play. Paettie buried another three-pointer for the Lady Monarchs to push the score to 51-48 with 6:16 left, but FDU countered with an inside basket by Danielle Michlovsky and a three-pointer from Taggart to knot the score at 51-51 with 5:30 remaining.
Megan Lentine would give the Devils their first lead of the second half with a pair of foul shots at 4:27, but King's responded with a bucket and foul shot by Kaitlyn Malshefski to put the Lady Monarchs back on top 54-53 with 4:04 left in the contest. With King's behind 57-56, Abby Malloy hit one-of-two foul shots to tie the game for the seventh time with 1:37 to play.
After an FDU miss, King's captured a 59-57 lead on a short jumper from Fiorino with 0:36 left. The Devils had a chance to take the lead by Emily Cerankowski's three-pointer with 0:21 remaining was off the mark, but FDU would retain possession when the rebound caromed out of bounced off a King's player. The Devils would then turn the ball over with 0:14 to go, but the Lady Monarchs gave it right back with a turnover just three seconds later.
FDU had another opportunity to tie the game when Courtney Young was fouled with 0:05 remaining. Young, however, would miss the first attempt while making the second shot as King's held a 59-58 lead. King's Julianna Lynott was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play with 0:04 on the clock and missed both charity tosses. Young would grab the rebound, took thee dribbles and launched a desperation three points that fell well short of its mark, allowing the Lady Monarchs to hold on.
Fiorino led King's with 18 points and two steals while Paettie added 11 points off the bench. Brittany Muscatell added eight points, three assists, and three steals while Dick and Durako netted six points each. Malshefski chipped in with five points and six rebounds.
The Devils placed four players in double-figures, led by Cerankowski with 13 points and nine rebounds. Michlovsky followed with 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists while Taggart and Meghan Lentine contributed 10 points each.
King's will return to action Wednesday when the Lady Monarchs travel to face cross-town rival Wilkes University at 6:00 p.m. in the Marts Center
KING'S COLLEGE 59, FDU-FLORHAM 58
FDU-FLORHAM (8-10/2-7 Freedom)
Emily Cerankowski 5-16 0-2 13; Danielle Michlovsky 4-10 4-8 12; Meghan Lentine 4-7 2-4 10; Shealyn Taggart 4-5 0-0 10; Courtney Young 3-8 3-4 9; Matil Mangual 1-3 2-4 4; Brittni Kholi 0-0 0-0 0; Meghan Tobin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 11-22 58.
KING'S COLLEGE (7-11/5-4 Freedom)
FDU-Florham................... 24 34 - 58
King's College.................. 27 32 - 59
3-point goals--FDU-Florham 5-11 (Emily Cerankowski 3-8; Shealyn Taggart 2-2; Courtney Young 0-1), King's College 6-17 (Jessica Paettie 3-5; Kayla Dick
48 (Emily Cerankowski 9), King's College 22 (Kaitlyn Malshefski 6). Assists--FDU-Florham 12 (Danielle Michlovsky 5), King's College 10 (Krystina
Durako 3; Brittany Muscatell 3). Total fouls--FDU-Florham 14, King's College 17. Technical fouls--FDU-Florham-None, King's College-None. A-175
