Box Score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Down by eight points with just about five minutes remaining in each half, the Lycoming College women’s basketball team took over each time, capping the game by holding Elizabethtown College scoreless for its last eight shots of the game and taking a 70-62 Commonwealth Conference win at Thompson Gymnasium on Wednesday, Dec. 5.
 
Down by eight points with 5:26 left, the Warriors took over, scoring the last 16 points of the game. A jumper from sophomore Janelle Ziminski (Drums, Pa./Hazleton Area) and a pair of free throws from Antonelli cut the lead to four points with 2:46 left.
 
Antonelli drew a charge on the next possession in a huge play in which Elizabethtown’s leading scorer, Taylor Krieder, fouled out, and Wheeler began to take over, canning a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game. After a steal by senior Rachael Scheller (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy), Wheeler struck again with a fastbreak layup and converting the traditional 3-point play to give Lycoming (1-5 overall, 1-2 Commonwealth) a 64-62 lead with 1:56 left. She added two more free throws with 1:11 left to extend the lead to four points.
 
After a layup by Scheller on Lycoming’s next possession, Wheeler added two more free throws and Scheller added one to cap the scoring in the final minute.
 
Down by eight points with 5:00 left in the first half, the Warriors exploded on an 18-4 run that took up much of the rest of the half. Freshman Shannon Wheeler (Cranford, N.J./Linden) scored six points on the run and classmate Olivia Manges (York, Pa./West York) added seven points and two assists. The Blue Jays (1-6 overall, 0-4 Commonwealth) added a pair of free throws before the half to stop the run, but the Warriors still took a 37-33 lead into the break.
 
The Blue Jays opened the second half with a 12-4 run, capping it with a pair of layups by Taylor Alwine with 15:26 left. A free throw by Katy Fogel made it a five-point game at 53-48 with 11:47 left, but the Warriors responded, with junior Julia Antonelli (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford) scored six straight points for the Warriors to ignite the team on a 6-1 run and tie the game at 54 with 8:09 left.
 
The Blue Jays, however, answered with eight straight points, with four coming from Taylor Kreider, to take a 62-54 lead with 5:26 left, setting up the Warriors’ winning run.
 
Antonelli had a breakthrough game for the Warriors, scoring a season-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. She added 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and also posted two assists. Wheeler also scored a career-high 19 points and she also added three assists and three rebounds. Manges also added a career-high with nine points and two assists and both sophomore Kylee Sutton (Wysox, Pa./Towanda Area) and freshman Shanley Harlacker (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion Area) posted six points. Scheller finished with three points, three steals and two assists.
 
Kreider finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Blue Jays before fouling out. Katy Fogel added 13 points and three assists and Rachel Forjan also notched 12 points. Taylor Alwine finished with 11 points.
 
The Blue Jays jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening two minutes of the game and were able to expand the lead to as many as nine at 22-13 at the 9:59 mark of the first half.
 
The Warriors head home to face Arcadia in a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Lamade Gym. The women tip at 1 p.m. before the men play at 3 p.m.