ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- A furious rally in the fourth quarter got the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team within a basket late in the game, but a 16-point deficit turned out to be too big to overcome as King's (Pa.) held off the Blue Jays' rally Wednesday night at Thompson Gymnasium for an 80-76 win. Angie Hawkins led E-town with 24 points.

Hawkins knocked down a three to open up the scoring as Elizabethtown (4-2) got out to a 3-0 lead. Hawkins' layup a little over midway through the first had the Jays ahead by five as Lawson found the sophomore for the bucket, one of her team-high eight assists. It was an 8-0 spurt led by the Monarchs' guards Emily Kriston and Mackenzie Yori that put the guests ahead after Kriston's trey. She made it 14-11 in favor of King's (4-2). Yori gave King's the lead with a late three-point, one of her seven in the game as they led 19-18 after one.

Yori hit back-to-back threes in the second quarter, the first to tie the game after Clare Marchese knocked one down from the left corner. Rachel Christman drove the lane and spotted Marchese unguarded in the corner. Yori's second came less than a minute later and put the Monarchs back in front.

King's held E-town scoreless for a spell and ran their lead up to nine. Mikayla Ruth snagged an offensive rebound and went back up for the two-point basket to cut it to seven. Yaya Cannon closed out the half with an easy layup as Veronica Christ dished off to the freshman with 13 seconds left in the second quarter.

The trio of Kriston, Yori, and Rebecca Prociak got King's out to a quick start in the third as they built the lead up to 11 with 5:35 left in the third. Prociak, after putting up 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, continued to be assertive for the Monarchs in the post. Meanwhile, Yori maintained her hot hand from the first half to assist King's in getting back to a double-digit lead.

Christ took a pass from Jillian Nagy and drained a three to make it a nine-point deficit. After splitting a pair of free throws, Elizabethtown had another two at the line. Nagy sank both and suddenly E-town was back within six. It was Yori's three that ended the scoreless drought for the visitors and a possession after a three, she was fouled and hit the ensuing foul shots to restore the 11-point lead.

It was down to eight by the end of the third quarter, but like the third quarter, King's was fast out of the gate and less than three minutes into the fourth, had a 16-point lead on the Blue Jays after hitting their first four shots of the quarter.

Hawkins helped the Jays chip away at the lead and with less than two minutes to go, Lawson passed up to Ruth on the fastbreak. She drew the contact and made the basket after Marissa Emlet started the play with a defensive rebound and outlet to Lawson to get the Jays in transition. Ruth sank the freebie and it was just a two-point game.

On the next possession, Yori was able to find space outside the arc and knock down her seventh trey of the night to put a five-point gap between the teams.

Down seven, Christ pumped in a three and then, with 10 seconds left, hit another as it was now only a three-point lead for King's. A foul put Prociak at the line and she missed both, but Samantha Rajza was able to corral the rebound and keep it in the Monarch's possession. She split a pair, but with a four-point lead with five ticks left, it was enough as E-town couldn't answer and King's survived the comeback attempt.

Yori led all scorers with 34 points on the night. Prociak ended with 20 and 17 for King's. Hawkins was one of three in double figures for the Blue Jays with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting. Christ finished with 17 points and a team-high three treys. Ruth added 14 and nine rebounds. Lawson flirted with a triple double, registering seven points, eight assists, and 10 rebounds.

Elizabethtown hosts Moravian on Saturday, December 7, at 4 p.m. to begin Landmark Conference play. It is also the team's True Blue Game.