WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's basketball team claimed a 56-54 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) victory over the King's College Monarchs after Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) sank a game winning layup in overtime on Tuesday night.
 
The Colonels move to 8-16 overall and 7-8 in the MAC Freedom. The Monarchs fall to 8-17 on the season and 7-9 in conference play.
 
In the first quarter, Wilkes was able to keep things close, trailing King's 12-15. Five different Colonels scored in the first quarter with Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) getting the ball rolling with two free throws. Brianna Horton (Verona, NJ/Verona) and Nadia Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) were each able to score a three-pointer in the quarter.
 
Wilkes was able to keep up scoring with King's in the second quarter, each team scoring 14, but it didn't give them enough edge to take the lead. Madison Robel (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) had four points in the quarter for the Colonels followed by Julianna Askins (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle) with three.
 
The Colonels were able to take the lead twice in the third quarter, thanks to a layup from Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) and a three-pointer from Horton. At the end of the quarter, Wilkes was able to tie up the score twice with a free throw from Matos and a layup from Ariel Reed (Woodbury, PA/Northern Bedford). The Colonels then solidified their third quarter lead with a free throw from Reed and a three-pointer from Horton. Wilkes out-scored King's in the quarter 14-7.
 
Wilkes was able to maintain the lead they had created until there was about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, when King's took over with a three-pointer. Robel was able to regain the lead for the Colonels, but it was taken back by King's. Matos was able to cut the lead to two points, and then with 19 seconds left in the game, Robel tied the score at 50 to send the game into overtime.
 
King's took the lead in overtime after two free-throws, but Babcock was able to tie things up with a driving layup. Matos put the Colonels in the lead with a driving layup, but the Monarchs answered back to tie up the score at 54 with 1:41 left in overtime. With three seconds left in overtime, Matos sank a layup to give Wilkes a 56-54 lead to earn a MAC Freedom win against King's.
 
Horton had the most points in the game for the Colonels with 13, followed by Matos with 11 and Robel with 10. Matos had 10 rebounds in the game, earning herself a double-double. Horton had eight rebounds in the game followed by Shober with seven. Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) had four assists in the game for Wilkes followed by Shober, Askins, and Matos each with two. Shober had two blocks in the game and Askins and Robel each had one.
 
The Colonels had a field goal percentage (FG%) of 29.0% and a free-throw percentage (FT%) of 68.8%. The Monarchs had a FG% of 31.5% and a FT% of 57.7%. Wilkes had a total of 49 rebounds while King's had a total of 44. The Colonels outscored the Monarchs in the paint with 30 points compared to their 20.
 
The Wilkes women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Doylestown, Pa. to take on Delaware Valley University at 1:00 p.m. to finish out the regular season.