ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Senior
Cyleigh Wilson was hitting from everywhere on the floor and
Jessica King grabbed about every rebound that came her way as the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team took care of Susquehanna on Saturday, 75-59. Wilson led all scorers, including four in double digits for the Blue Jays in the win.
Elizabethtown (6-2, 2-1 Landmark) led for the majority of the game, over 38 minutes worth of game time.
Makenna Mummert and Wilson got the Jays out in the lead early on, but Susquehanna (4-4, 2-2 Landmark) would tie it at 5-5. Within 20 seconds, King's bucket in the paint put Etown back in the lead for good.
It was 11-10 with 4:49 to go in the first when Wilson knocked down her first of four treys in the game, the sixth time over eight games she's hit multiple threes. The senior has hit on nine of her last 15 attempts between the win at Lycoming and Saturday's win against the River Hawks. She connected on a floater in the paint a minute and a half later.
Allyia Kennedy's layup pushed the lead to eight with 1:21 remaining. Julia Roth, who had a team-high 19 points for Susquehanna, ended the quarter with a pair of free throws.
The River Hawks were within a point, 20-19, with a little over half the second quarter to play. That's when the Jays began to take control of the game.
Lindsay Boyd got that started with a driving layup plus the foul. She would complete the three-point play. Then, after
Cass Peris cleaned the glass at the defensive end, Wilson finished off the possession with another jumper in deep.
Summer McNulty added free throws to extend the advantage to eight as the Blue Jays were on a 7-0 run.
Susquehanna broke their scoring drought on Carly George's layup, but that was answered by another three from Wilson, who then got into the paint again and was good on her attempt. Etown was also getting to the line as they ended the half 7-for-9 from the stripe while the River Hawks managed three out of four. Wilson dropped in another three late in the half to push Elizabethtown's lead to 17. They led 40-25 at the half thanks to 17 first-half points from Wilson.
The Blue Jays continued to be aggressive around the painted area and worked their way to the line for 11 third-quarter attempts, where they hit 10-of-11. McNulty, Mummert, Wilson and
DaniRae Renno all contributed to the Jays' third-quarter makes at the free throw line. They shot 19-for-23 as a team. Renno added 11 points off the bench along with seven boards.
With EC up by 13 and the shot clock starting to wind down, it was up to Wilson to make a play. She used a screen on the right wing to create some space and sank her fourth of the afternoon to set her new career-high with 24 points. She'd add a pair of free throws and finish the game with 26.
King, who had eight rebounds at the break, added eight more over the second half of play, including a few in a short sequence with under four minutes left in the third. Defensively, she blocked Roth's layup, grabbed the rebound, and then at the other end, collected her own miss and went back up for two. King followed that up with a steal after Susquehanna's lob attempt inside didn't make it over King's length down low. The Hillsgrove, Pa. native collected 16 total rebounds and added three steals and two blocks to go along with her 10 points. It was King's second double-double of the season and fifth time she's grabbed at least 10 rebounds in a game this season.
Susquehanna kept pace with Elizabethtown, but couldn't eat into the deficit. Despite outscoring the Jays in the third, it was only by a point as they still trailed by double digits going into the fourth.
The River Hawks never scored more than five in a row on Etown, and when they did, it was too little, too late. The Jays shot at least 38 percent in each quarter and were at 43 percent for the game, their fourth time this season reaching at least 43 percent from the field. It was also their second-best free throw shooting line of the year with at least 20 attempts total.
All six field goals in the fourth quarter were in the paint for Elizabethtown, who held a 44-32 advantage in paint points in the game. King, Renno, Mummert and McNulty combined for the six makes as the Blue Jays cruised to the 16-point win.
Wilson was 9-for-15 from the floor, including 4-for-6 from deep. Mummert added 12 points and a pair of assists.
Elizabethtown will play at Juniata next Saturday, December 16, at 2 p.m.
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