The Lady Monarchs upped their record to 14-5 overall, 6-2 in conference action. They are alone in third place, just a game behind DeSales for the second spot and a home playoff game. Delaware Valley (7-10, 3-5) remained tied for the fourth and final postseason spot with six Freedom games remaining.
Palumbo was 8-for-16 from the field, including a red-hot 7-for-12 from 3-point land. Five of her treys and 17 of her points came in the first 16:12 of the game. Meanwhile, Hochstuhl hit double digits in both points and rebounds for the 12th time this season, including a 15-point effort in the second half.
King’s, behind of pair of 3-pointers by Palumbo and five points from Kaitlyn Fiorino, opened an 11-0 advantage just two minutes into the contest. The Lady Monarchs built the lead to as many as 17, 34-17, and still held a 38-23 advantage with 2:32 remaining the half.
However, Delaware Valley scored the last nine points of the stanza as Angela Mensch came off the bench to sink of pair of 3-pointers, with a Moira Donohue trey sandwiched in-between, to leave the King’s lead at 38-32.
The Lady Monarchs were still ahead by three, 46-43, when Donhoue hit a layup and Mensch converted a traditional 3-point play for the Aggies’s first lead of the game at 48-46 with 15:15 remaining.
The lead traded hands five times after that, including a Donohue free throw with 7:33 remaining for a 61-60 Delaware Valley advantage. However, Hochstuhl and Palumbo combined for nine points in a 14-2 spurt that gave King’s up for good at 74-63 with 3:47 to go. The Aggies tried to rally late and pulled to within five on two occasions, but Palumbo and Lauren Kendra each went 2-for-2 from the foul line in the final 31 seconds to close it out.
Kendra finished with seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Brittany Atzert added 11 points and seven boards while Fiorino hit double figures with 10 points.
Mensch ended with a career high 17 points in 20 minutes of action, including a 4-for-5 showing from beyond the arc. Shannon O’Neill had 17 points and 10 assists while Rachel Joyce and Donohue finished with 16 and 15 points respectively. Donohue also added six steals and five assists.