Lady Warriors Drop Second of Season to DeSales
First Half Miscues Set Tone for the Remainder of the Contest
Box score

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. --- It was a situation of the bad outweighing the good for the Lady Warriors in Saturday’s women’s basketball contest as DeSales University took advantage of an abundance of trips to the foul line and Lycoming College turnovers in the first half in winning 77-47 in a Freedom Conference match up.  Lycoming falls to 5-17 overall, 1-11 in the league play while DeSales improves to 14-9, 7-4.

The Lady Warriors were strong from the field in the first 20 minutes of play, connecting on 9-of-19 field goal chances (47.4 percent) compared to a 42.3 percent showing from DeSales.  Rebounding numbers were also in favor of Lycoming as senior Danielle Kern (Lehman, Pa./Lake-Lehman) continued her strong presence under the bucket with five boards on the way to team’s 16-12 edge in the first half.

Turnovers impeded any progress for the Warriors in the first stanza as they relinquished possession 19 times compared to only five for the Bulldogs.  DeSales also used the foul line as a destructive weapon, converting 16-of-23 attempts before halftime.

By game’s end, the Lady Warriors’ shooting dipped a bit to a 38.6 percent (17-for-44) clip, and the turnovers mounted to 30.  DeSales connected on 45.2 percent of its field goals (28-for-62) and knocked down 17-of-26 shots from the charity stripe.

Senior Amy Kile (Muncy, Pa./Muncy) led the Warriors with 14 points to go along with five rebounds.  Fellow senior Stacy Lindeman (Whitehall. Pa./Whitehall) dropped in 11 points in support as well as pulling down six rebounds.  Kern finished the afternoon with seven points to go with a team-best nine boards.

DeSales’ Kirby Lutz led all scorers with 23 points including two three-pointers and a 9-for-9 performance from the foul line.  Erica Sovak followed up with 13 points and seven boards, and LeighAnn Burke notched 12 points and five rebounds.  Point guard Kim Rarick led the team with four steals and just as many assists while Lindsey Sykes came away with three steals.

It was a rough start for the Lady Warriors with seven turnovers within the first 5:05 that led to several fast-break opportunities for the Bulldogs.  DeSales also canned 8-of-10 free throws during the stretch to open up an 11-5 lead with 14:52 on the clock.  Following a jumper from freshman Lauren Carey (Old Forge, Pa./Old Forge), the Bulldogs continued their early presence from the charity stripe with two more tosses from Sovak for a 13-7 edge.

Carey registered the first Lycoming breakaway bucket to cut the Warriors deficit to 13-9, but Sovak responded with a three from the top of the key.  Following the Warriors ninth turnover of the half, Lutz knocked down a second three-pointer followed quickly by a Sykes lay-up for a 21-9 advantage that forced a Warrior timeout with 10:55 left in the first half.

Two more Lady Warrior miscues increased their deficit to 25-9 following the break in action.  Lycoming picked up its first easy half-court bucket with a lay-up from Kile off an inbounds pass, but Lutz responded with her second trey for a 28-11 lead.

Kile stayed hot over the next two possessions as she followed a Carey blocked shot with a steal off the inbounds pass.  She raced down the court for an easy two, and hit a nice outside jumper the next time down the court to cut the Bulldogs lead to 29-15.

The Bulldogs notched their 14^th and 15^th points of the half from the foul line with 3:50 on the clock for a 36-17 edge, and forced Kile’s hot hand to the bench with her third foul.  DeSales kept up the pressure, pushing the lead out to 39-17 before Lindeman briefly set the Warriors in motion with a long jumper to cut the lead to 39-19.

Lycoming reached the line for the first time with 1:07 on the clock as freshman Marissa Hastings (Old Forge, Pa./Old Forge) cashed-out 1-of-2 free throw tosses with the Warriors maintaining possession off the miss thanks to an offensive rebound.  Kern immediately returned the Warriors to the line, but only made the second of two free tries for a 41-21 score.  The half ran out without another bucket.

Neither team wanted to keep a handle on the ball at the outset of the second half with each squad giving the ball away twice in the first two minutes of play.  DeSales converted both Warrior miscues into easy lay-ups, and Lycoming got on the board with a long jumper from Lindeman for a 47-23 score with 17:47 on the clock.

Following another lay-up off a turnover by the Bulldogs, Kile kept her scoring touch with a three-pointer from the far angle for her ninth point of the game.  The Warrior defense stepped up on the next possession in forcing a third Bulldog mistake, and Lindeman made the effort stand up with another jumper.

DeSales pushed its lead back out to 52-28 following a lay-up and free throw from Lutz with 15:00 left to play.  Sovak added three more to the Bulldogs lead, forcing a Lycoming timeout with 13:12 remaining.

The Bulldogs pushed their advantage out to 29 points with just under 11 minutes on the clock, but Lindeman quickly knocked it down to 59-33 with her first triple of the contest.  DeSales picked up the defensive pressure over the next several minutes of play and put the game out of reach, pushing their lead out to a high of 38 points.

Lycoming is next in action on Tuesday, February 14, as the Lady Warriors travel to the University of Scranton for a match up with the second-ranked Royals.  The game will be broadcast live over WRLC-FM 91.7, Lycoming’s college radio station.  You will also be able to listen to the game on the Internet via the MSA Sports Network.  Visit the Lycoming women’s basketball website to hook into the contest and follow along as the Lady Warriors look to knock off one of the top teams in the nation.  Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.