HUNTINGDON, PA (December 31, 2024) -- The King's College women's basketball team will ring in the New Year on a positive note as they defeated Westminster College (Pa.) on Tuesday afternoon, 60-58, to conclude action for King's Athletics in 2024. With the win on the second day of the Juniata Holiday Tournament, the Monarchs wrap up non-conference play at 4-7, while the Titans fall to 1-10.
 
Both teams struggled early before Cadie Lewis drained a three at the 6:36 mark of the first quarter to get King's (4-7) on the board. After trading possessions, a layup from Alli Lindsay with 1:34 left in the frame put the Monarchs up, 10-7, to end the first.
 
Westminster (1-10) responded as they began the second on a 10-0 run, but King's rallied to score eight unanswered and regain the lead, 18-17, on a free throw from Layla Orth with 4:43 to go in the half. Back-to-back triples from Kathy Shepherd and Lewis gave the Monarchs their largest lead of the game to that point, 27-19, with 1:26 remaining, but the Titans used a three-point spurt to cut the King's advantage to 29-22 at the break.
 
The visitors came out of the locker room with a 7-2 rally to begin the third, chipping away at the deficit to pull within two, 31-29, but seven points from Lindsay fueled an 11-2 run by the Monarchs as they held on to their largest lead in the contest, 42-31, with 3:31 to go in the quarter. Westminster did not let King's run away with the contest, but a four-point spark from Shepherd in the final 57 seconds of the frame pushed the Monarch lead back to 11, 46-35, heading into the final quarter of action.
 
The Titans did not go away easily, scoring the first five points of the fourth to make it a two-possession game with 7:59 to play. The game went back-and-forth over the next stretch before a jumper by Gianna Dickson with 3:32 left saw the King's lead jump back up to 10, 55-45. Westminster staged their comeback, hitting a big three on a second-chance opportunity to begin a 10-2 run and pulling within a score, 57-55, with 49 ticks to go.
 
After fouling to preserve the game clock and attempt to regain possession, Juleesah Hines drained a layup out of the inbound play to put the Monarchs back up, 59-55, with 10 seconds left. Out of the Titans timeout, Katie Maryo drilled a three from the nearside wing. Westminster fouled Lewis who hit the backend of the pair with 0.8 seconds on the game clock. The Titans had one final opportunity to extend this contest, but a lob to the opposite block to Ella Kassan as time expired rattled off the rim and was corralled by Lauren Casey as the Monarchs hung on to defeat the Titans, 60-58, on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Lindsay led the scoring with 13 points, adding four rebounds, two steals, and an assist, while Shepherd came off the bench to add her own 13 with three triples, a team-high nine rebounds, and a block. Lewis totaled nine points, eight assists, five steals, and four rebounds, and Dickson recorded seven points. Both Casey and Hines had six points, eight rebounds, and a block each as well in the win.
 
Katie Maryo led all scorers with 15 points, and Grace Cano had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks for the Titans.
 
King's shot 32.4% from the floor, handing out 11 assists on their 23 field goals. The defense forced 20 Titan turnovers, which led to a 16-5 edge in points off turnovers for the contest. Despite a 45-41 deficit in the rebounding margin, the Monarchs out scored Westminster 12-8 in second-chance points.
 
The Monarchs will be off for the weekend as they set their sights on their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) opener on Wednesday, January 8 on the road at FDU-Florham. Tip off in the conference doubleheader is set for 5:00 p.m. in Madison, N.J.