YORK, Neb. – The York University women's basketball team dropped a 79-71 decision to Friends University in the home finale Wednesday evening.
The Panthers are now 7-18 overall, including 6-15 in league play. The Falcons stand at 21-6 on the year, including 18-3 in KCAC action.
Head coach
Corinna Minjarez's team was paced by the tandem of
Jess McGrath and
Britney Schroer. The duo shared team-high honors with 13 points apiece.
Monique Contreras and
Audrey Hernandez added 11 points apiece while
Alliyana Page had six points.
Pasiko Hvichiani and
Destiny Shepherd notched five points apiece.
Hernandez and Page snagged five boards apiece while Hvichiani dished out four assists.
Down 5-0 early, Shepherd found Contreras for a three-ball, giving the home team an 8-7 edge. The back-and-forth affair saw York take a two-point lead on a lay-up by Page with 4:00 to play in the first quarter. The squad built a 16-12 advantage on a three-point shot by McGrath. With just 31 seconds to play in the quarter, Shepherd converted a lay-up to make it 20-14 and the home squad held a 20-15 lead after one quarter.
Tied at 22-22, Hvichiani nailed a shot from distance to give the home team a three-point advantage once again. Neither team managed to lead by more than just a few points in the second quarter as a shot from downtown by Hernandez gave the home team a 32-29 lead. Down 33-32, Shepherd buried a jumper for a one-point lead at the break.
Tied at 35-35, Schroer took a pass from Shepherd with 6:47 to play and calmly nailed a bucket. A three-ball by Hernandez pushed the margin to six, 41-35. Leading 43-37, Page gave the home team its largest lead of the game, 45-37, with 4:35 to go in the stanza. Up by five, McGrath took a pass from Page and drilled a three-point shot. The Falcons pulled within three late in the period, but McGrath hit another three-ball off a pass from Hvichiani for the 54-48 lead.
McGrath helped keep Friends at bay with a jumper at the 7:24 mark, pushing the margin to seven, 60-53. Hernandez's three-ball from a Schroer assist gave the team a seven-point cushion with only 4:40 to play. York maintained a 68-64 lead at the 2:55 mark but an 11-0 spurt gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.
For the game, the Panthers hit 28-of-66 from the floor (42.4 percent), including 10-of-27 (37.0 percent) from downtown. The team tallied 24 points in the paint and got 35 points from the bench.
The Panthers conclude the regular season Saturday at Kansas Wesleyan. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at Yorkpanthers.com.
