Ellen Rich finished her career for the Navy and Gold with a double-double against King's

LADY COLONELS DOWN KING’S 52-50 IN OVERTIME

2/22/2014 5:46:00 PM

Box Score

LADY COLONELS DOWN KING'S 52-50 IN OVERTIME

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Wilkes women's basketball concluded their 2013-2014 season with an overtime thrilling 52-50 win on Saturday afternoon. After defeating King's in the first matchup of the season, the Lady Colonels swept the Lady Monarchs for the first time since 1996-1997.

Wilkes concludes their season at (6-19, 3-11 Freedom) while King's finishes at (7-18, 3-11 Freedom).

Both teams struggled out of the gate early as King's scored the only two points of the first five minutes of the game. Two Elena Stambone (Jessup, PA/Valley View) foul shots gave the Lady Colonels the first lead of the game at the 12:30 mark and Chelsea Smelas (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) extended the lead to 8-5 on a jumper off of a fast break with 12:20 remaining in the half. Wilkes maintained a five point cushion throughout the first half as both teams struggled to make baskets. King's Tara Zdancewicz was fouled on 3-point attempt with 0:54 seconds remaining in the half. Zdancewicz made all three attempts from the line to give the Lady Monarchs an 18-17 lead going into the locker rooms.

Wilkes was only 6-for-38 (15.8 percent) from the field and 0-for-11 from 3-point distance in the first half. Kate Thomas (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) and Ellen Rich (Hamden, CT/Hamden Hall) each scored four points in the half to pace the Lady Colonels. Rich grabbed nine rebounds, Stambone six and Smelas five for the first 20 minutes. The Lady Monarchs shot 5-for-31 (16.1 percent) from two-point range and 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) from deep. Marissa Manning and Kayla Feairheller scored five points apiece in the opening 20 minutes.

King's opened up an early five point lead in the second half on back-to-back 3-pointers from Feairheller and Jessica McHugh. McHugh hit two more 3's on back-to-back possessions to give the Lady Monarchs a 31-26 lead with 14:49 to go in the game. From that moment in the game Wilkes fought back and tied the game at 33-33 with just over 10 minutes to go in the game. Over the final ten minutes of the game there was seven lead changes and four ties. Manning made two foul shots with 1:14 remaining in the game to tie the Lady Colonels at 46-46 forcing the game into overtime.

Wilkes Stambone made a two point layup to start the overtime scoring, while King's went 1-for-2 from the line on two separate chances the latter tying the game at 48-48 with 3:18 remaining in the game. Chelsea Brown (Garnet Valley, PA/Garnet Valley) put Wilkes up 50-48 on a jumper while Manning answered right back for the Lady Monarchs on a made layup. Wilkes Rich hit the eventual game winning jump shot with 2:14 seconds left putting a satisfying end to her two year career at Wilkes. King's was unable to score in the final two minutes as Wilkes held on for a 52-50 overtime win.

Brown led Wilkes with 13 points and 16 rebounds, Rich followed up with a double-double of her own (11 points, 16 rebounds). Thomas scored nine points off the bench and Smelas grabbed a total of 10 rebounds to conclude their season.

Manning led the Lady Monarchs with 16 points and 13 boards, Feairheller dropped in 12 and grabbed six boards while McHugh chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.

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