ST. DAVIDS, PA (January 8, 2020) -- The King's College women's basketball team staged a second-half  comeback, and senior Rebecca Prociak blocked the driving Eastern player with 16 seconds left in regulation to secure their opening night Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) victory, 61-58, Wednesday night.

The opening quarter was a battle at both ends as the game saw three ties and 11 lead changes before the score settled at 20-20 after one quarter of action. After a high-intensity and offensive quarter, both teams struggled as Eastern (5-7, 0-1 MAC Freedom) totaled 12 points and held King's (7-5, 1-0 MAC Freedom) to eight to post the halftime score, 32-28.

Eastern came out of the locker room with offensive power as they opened the second half on a 9-0 run to force a Monarchs timeout. Out of the timeout, a Prociak layup and a pair of free throws by senior Mackenzie Yori got the King's offense going to pull within five, 39-34, with 6:22 to go in the third. The teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the quarter before King's used a 4-0 run to end the quarter to post the two-point deficit, 48-46.

A pair of Prociak free throws to start the final quarter of play tied the game at 48 with 9:39 remaining. Both teams totaled six points over the next 3:31 as the score was tied again at 55 with 6:08 to go. An Eastern three gave the Eagles the lead, 58-55, before six unanswered points behind two layups by Prociak and a pair of free throws by freshman Emily Morano gave King's a  three-point lead, 61-58, with 1:24 left in regulation. The Monarchs came up with two big defensive stops before an offensive rebound by the Eagles forced an Eastern timeout with 18 seconds left. Out of the timeout, junior Viki Kneis drove down the lane to close the deficit, but Prociak came up big with a block to deny the attempt and secured the rebound. The Monarchs called a timeout and advanced the ball, and Eastern applied defensive pressure to force a missed Monarch layup to give them one last shot which came up short as King's secured the win, 61-58.

The senior duo of Prociak and Yori paced the offense, as Prociak recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 14 rebounds while adding two blocks, and Yori totaled 20 points on 7-10 shooting including a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc adding three assists. Sophomore Samantha Rajza totaled eight points to add to the offense with a team-high three steals. Morano continued her strong play with seven points off the bench, and sophomore Emily Kriston did it all yet again, adding seven boards, five points, four assists, and two steals.

Minika Glenn was the only Eagle in double figures as she led all scorers with 23 points, coming up just short of a double-double with 9 rebounds. Jaelyn Harris added nine points, and both Kneis and Kay Wulah totaled eight points, with Kneis adding a team-high 11 boards and  Wulah grabbed eight.

King's overcame poor shooting in the second quarter to finish the game shooting 37.7 percent from the field, totaling 14 assists on 23 field goals. They also recorded eight steals and forced 15  turnovers, and they pulled down 35 rebounds in the win. In addition, the Monarchs held the advantage in points off  turnovers (18-5) and fast break points (15-4).

The Monarchs look to carry the momentum into Saturday's home conference match against the reigning conference champions and preseason favorites No. 18/20 DeSales at 1:00 p.m. in McGrane Gymnasium.