WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Senior Morgan Mader (Cresco, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) hit a dagger of a 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining, starting a run of eight straight points that was capped by a transition 3-pointer from the sharp-shooting senior with 72 ticks left, helping the Lycoming College women's basketball team hold off King's College, 88-82, in the home opener at Lamade Gymnasium on Wednesday night, Nov. 20.
 
The Warriors took their last lead off Mader's side-stepping 3-pointer before a King's layup fell off the rim. With quick ball movement in the lane, Mader found junior Erica Lutz (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg), who drained a jumper from the right elbow and then Lutz grabbed a rebound off a missed King's shot to start a transition opportunity, with freshman Emily Zoscin (Weatherly, Pa./Weatherly Area) finding Mader for another big 3-pointer, making it 79-71 with 1:12 left.
 
King's got a pair of free throws with 1:01 remaining, but Zoscin hit a layup in transition and a 5-of-6 effort at the free throw line down the stretch helped keep King's at bay, which used two late 3-pointers, including one that banked in at the buzzer to make up the final margin.
 
Senior Kayla Kline (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) led the Warriors with a career-high tying 24 points to go with 11 rebounds for her 17^th career double-double, while also adding three assists. Mader finished with 19 points, hitting 5-of-11 3-pointers, to go with two assists and two blocks and Lutz posted 16 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and two steals for her second straight double-double. Senior Akilah McFadden (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) added 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block.
 
The Warriors (2-1 overall) shot 49 percent (35-of-71) from the field in the game and poured in 30 points in the fourth quarter, their highest scoring one of the season, as they posted 25 fastbreak points and 40 in the paint.
 
The Monarchs (2-1 overall) shot 44 percent (30-of-69), but held a 16-11 advantage in free throws and had four fewer turnovers to help keep pace.
 
 Lycoming opened the third quarter with nine straight points to take a 46-37 lead with 7:21 left, but King's had cut the lead to a single point with 3:26 left and headed into the final period down 58-55. King's opened the fourth on a 6-2 run, taking the lead on a layup from Samantha Rajza with 7:53 left. From there, the teams fought through five ties and four more lead changes, with King's never getting more than a two-point lead and Lycoming never gaining more than a one-point advantage until Mader's three.
 
In the first half, the two teams kept up a torrid pace, throwing up 70 field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes, creating a set of five lead changes and seven ties. The Warriors were able to lead by as many as five, taking that lead at 37-32 with 1:44 to go in the second quarter, and King's was able to get their largest lead to two points midway through the second quarter. After Lycoming got the lead to five, King's score the last five points of the period to tie it at the horn.
 
Kline paced the Warriors in the half, posting 16 points and six rebounds, while Lutz and McFadden each had six points. Rebecca Prociak had 14 points for King's and Mackenzie Yori added 10.
 
Prociak led the Monarchs with 25 points, seven rebounds and a block and Yori added 23 points. Rajza posted 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Sophomore Kelly Vuz (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren Regional) posted nine points, five rebounds and three assists for the Warriors and Zoscin added six points, three assists and two steals.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Saturday, Nov. 23, when they head to defending CSAC champion Rosemont for a 1 p.m. game.