WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's basketball traveled to cross-town rival King's College on Saturday afternoon where they fell by a 71-61 final in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom action.

The Lady Colonels fell to 4-12 overall and 0-6 in MAC Freedom play with the setback.

Both teams traded baskets through the first two-and-a-half minutes of the first quarter, with King's holding a 5-3 advantage before Wilkes started a 7-1 run through the next two minutes, taking a 10-6 lead with 5:26 left in the quarter. The Monarchs found their stride following that run, pushing their lead to 15-10 after a 9-0 run, and the Lady Colonels finished the first quarter looking at a 20-16 deficit.

King's started the second quarter on a 10-6 run to push its lead to nine at 30-21 with 5:32 left until halftime. The Monarch's maintained their nine-point lead throughout most of the final five minutes, leading 37-28 with 24 seconds left before Wilkes took the ball on their final possession and junior Emily Sofranko (Jim Thorpe, PA/Marian Catholic) found freshman Alyssa Alfano (Dunmore, PA/Holy Cross) on the wing for a step-back three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 37-31 at halftime.

King's pushed its lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Colonels 21-15 to take a 58-46 lead heading into the final ten minutes. Wilkes outscored the Monarch's 15-13 in the final quarter, but were unable to mount the comeback in the 71-61 defeat.

Sofranko and Alfano led the way for the Lady Colonels, with both totaling 10 points in the contest. Alfano also added four rebounds off the bench for Wilkes, and sophomore Ashley Caster (York, PA/Spring Grove) contributed nine points and five rebounds off the bench for the Lady Colonels.

King's was led by sophomore Alexis Steeber's 17 points. The Lady Monarchs were also led by junior Olivia Hoffman (13 points, 14 rebounds), freshman Rebecca Prociak (11 points, five rebounds), and senior Shae Grim (10 points off the bench).

Wilkes returns to action on Wednesday when it will host Misericordia University for a 6 p.m. MAC Freedom matchup at the Marts Center.