Wilkes Women's Basketball Suffers First Defeat; Smicherko Named All-Tournament

LANCASTER, Pa. – The Wilkes University women' s basketball team suffered its first defeat of the 2019 season on Sunday afternoon, falling 59-39 to William Smith College in the championship of the Terry Green Tip-Off Classic hosted by Franklin & Marshall.

Gabby Smicherko (Edwardsville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) was named to the All-Tournament Team for her play after finishing Saturday's contest with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Colonels are now 3-1 on the season.

William Smith opened the game on a 5-0 run before Macy Berryman (Stroudsburg, PA/Pocono Mountain East) hit a three-pointer with 7:23 left in the first to get Wilkes on the board.

The Herons pushed their lead to 9-3 but Alyssa Alfano (Dunmore, PA/Holy Cross) hit a three-pointer of her own to cut the deficit to 9-6 with 5:45 on the clock.

William Smith finished the first quarter with a nine-point lead at 18-9.

Alfano hit a second three-pointer 23 seconds into the second quarter with an assist from Brianna Horton (Verona, NJ/Verona) to cut the score to 18-12.

The Herons completed the second quarter on a 17-4 run as the first ended with a 35-16 score.

William Smith pushed its advantage as high as 25 in the second half en route to the victory.

Horton led the Colonels with eight points, five rebounds, and three steals while Gianna Roberts (Nanticoke, PA/Nanticoke) finished with seven points.

Lauren DeVaney came off the bench for the Herons to finish with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds, earning Tournament MVP honors. Stav Dimitrakopoulou rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

Wilkes' 3-1 start to the season is the fifth such beginning to a season since 2008-09 and the best start since the 2014-15 team started 5-2.

The Colonels return to action on Saturday at King's College for the 2019-20 Cross County Challenge, where they will face Marywood in the first round at 4:00 p.m.