WILKES-BARRE, PA (December 16, 2024) -- On Monday night in McGrane Gymnasium, the King's College women's basketball team dropped a 51-38 decision to Marywood University in non-conference play. The Monarchs fall to 3-6 overall, while the Pacers improved to 9-4.
 
It was a tight contest early with King's (3-6) ahead, 10-4, on a three from Claire Aufiero with 3:46 to go, but out of the Marywood (9-4) timeout the visitors closed the quarter on a 5-2 run to pull within one, 12-11.
 
The Pacers carried that momentum into the second, leading by as many as 13 with 1:56 left in the half, but a layup from Lauren Casey and a triple from Gianna Dickson pulled King's within eight, 28-20, heading into the locker room.
 
The third was a back-and-forth affair as the Monarchs kept Marywood within reach, closing within as many as nine on a three from Alli Lindsay before facing a 40-29 deficit entering the final quarter of action.
 
The Monarchs came alive to start the fourth as Lindsay connected for the first four points and a block fueled a layup on the other end by Casey to make it a five-point contest, 40-35, with 7:59 remaining. The Pacers went on their own run, scoring the next six points in the contest before a triple from Kathy Shepherd stopped the run. Marywood went down to match that three with their own with 3:09 left, recording the final field goal in the game as both teams went cold down the stretch as King's dropped the 51-38 decision on Monday night in McGrane.
 
Lindsay led the Monarchs with 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and a block, while Casey added eight points, eight boards, four blocks, and two helpers. Dickson totaled seven points, and Cadie Lewis had six  boards and two dimes. Shepherd came off the bench to grab seven rebounds.
 
Olivia Ciullo led Marywood with a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds with two steals, while Rachel McDonald added 13 points, four assists, three rebounds, and a steal.
 
King's tallied nine assists on their 13 field goals in the contest, while holding a 41-35 edge in the rebounding margin. The defense limited the Pacers to 33.9% from the floor and 25% from three while forcing seven turnovers. Inside the stat sheet, the Monarchs had the edge in bench points (8-0), second-chance points (4-2), and fast break points (4-2).
 
The Monarchs are off for the holiday break and return to action as they are set to compete in the Juniata Holiday Tournament. King's will face the host Juniata in the opening round on Monday, December 30 at 6:00 p.m.