FEBRUARY 8, 2018

KING'S WOMEN PICK UP IMPORTANT 74-59 VICTORY OVER MISERICORDIA IN KEY FREEDOM CONFERENCE MATCHUP

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College women's basketball team broke up a close game by outscoring visiting Misericordia University 26-10 in the fourth quarter as the Lady Monarchs picked up a critical 74-59 victory Thursday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win King's improved to 14-8 overall and 9-2 in the MAC Freedom Conference. The victory enabled King's to even the season series with Misericordia while remaining in a first place conference tie with FDU-Florham.  The Cougars, meanwhile, slipped to 14-8 and 7-4 in league play.

After falling behind 17-15 after one quarter of play, King's used consecutive buckets by Rebecca Prociak, Alexis Steeber, and Olivia Hoffman to take a 21-17 lead with 8:07 left in the half.

After the Cougars took a 22-21 lead on a three-pointer by Quintessa Zamolyi and a driving lay by Japriya Carroll, Lindsey Dippre buried a three-pointer to put King's back on top 24-22. Paige Wample would score for the Cougars to make is 24-24 game, but Hoffman converted a 12-foot jumper, Dippre canned another three-pointer, and Steeber scored inside to put the Lady Monarchs ahead 31-24 with 5:24 on the clock.

After a Cougar bucket, King's countered with a Prociak inside basket to give King's a 33-26 lead at the 3:29 mark. But Misericordia scored the final four points of the half to close to within 33-30 at the halftime break.

In the third quarter the Cougars came out and scored five straight points to register nine unanswered points going back to the second quarter. A three-pointer by Zamolyi would give Misericordia a 35-33 lead with 8:24 to play in the quarter. The Cougars would slowly extend the lead and built a 47-42 advantage on a Leanne Forsyth jumper with 2:27 on the clock.  King's, however, would use a a jumper by Hoffman a lay-up from Steeber, and a driving lay-up by Dippre to cut the wcore to 49-48 heading into the final quarter.

Misericordia began the final period with a three-pointer by Carroll to push the lead to 52-48 but King's battled back to take a 54-52 lead on a three-pointer by Rachael DeTore. After the Cougars tied the score at 54-54 on a Rachel Carmody lay-up with 8:17 remaining. King's went on a 5-0 spurt and pushed ahead 59-54 on an inside basket by Prociak.

Misericordia countered with a 5-0 surge of their own to tie the game at 59-59 with 4:49 to play.  But King's used a lay-up from Steeber, a jumper by Hoffman, and a three-pointer by Yori to build a 66-59 lead with 3:17 on the clock. After neither team scored for nearly two minutes, Misericordia chose to foul.

Steeeber made one-of-two with 1:02 left, then after a Cougar miss, Dippre was fouled and also made one of two attempts to push the Lady Monarch lead to 68-50 with 0:57 remaining.

After a Misericordia miss, Prociak was fouled and made both attempts to extend the score to 70-59 with 0:46 on the clock. Steeber then converted two free throws with 0:32 to go before Yori scored on a lay-up with 0:13 to play to set the final score.

Prociak led a balanced King's attack with 18 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Steeber followed with 17 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Dippre added 13 points and a trio of three-pointers while Hoffman was outstanding all around with 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and six blocked shots. Yori chipped in with seven points, all in the second half.

For Misericordia, Wampole had 15 points and nine rebounds while Zamolyi followed with 14 points, six rebounds, and four three-pointers. Carroll chipped win with 12 points.

King's returns to the court Saturday with an important MAC Freedom Conference game at DeSales University. Tip-off is at 1:00 PM.