The two teams would battle on even terms through the first eight minutes of the game before an 8-0 spurt by King’s gave them a 16-8 advantage. Brittany Atzert started the spurt with a three-point play that made it 11-8. After Lauren Kendra came up with a steal and lay-up for the Lady Monarchs, Jenna Palumbo cashed in a three-pointer give King’s an eight-point advantage with 8:51 left in the half.
King’s would build the lead to 23-11 on a jumper by Kaitlyn Fiorino with 6:26 left before intermission. However, Wilkes would continue to hand around and trimmed the deficit to eight, 27-19, on a Chelsey Gosse free throw at the 3:05 mark. The Lady Monarchs would again stretch the lead and headed into halftime with a 34-22 edge thanks to a Fiorino three-pointer with five ticks left in the stanza.
Karyn Perestam scored the first four points of the second half for Wilkes to cut the King’s lead to 34-26. But, that is as close as the Lady Colonels would get as the Lady Monarchs went on a 19-3 run to put the game out of reach.
Fiorino, Kendra and Kaitlyn Malshefski each converted a field goal to provide King’s with a 40-26 lead at the 17:40 mark. After Fiorino knocked down two free throws, Casey Heitman drained a three-pointer to extend the lead to 45-26.
Perestam scored inside to make it 45-28 and then hit a charity toss to cut the lead to 45-29 with 15:32 remaining. King’s answered with three-pointers by Heitman and Palumbo and a basket inside by Atzert to up the lead to 53-29 with 12:11 to play. The Lady Colonels would get no closer than 22 points the rest of the way.
Heitman led four Wilkes players in twin digits with 17 points and seven rebounds. Palumbo chipped in with 16 points. Fiorino had 13 tallies, while Atzert had 10 points. Kendra also enjoyed a solid showing with eight assists and four steals.
Wilkes was led by Perestam’s 15 points and seven rebounds. Andresen added seven points and a game-high nine boards for the Lady Colonels, who managed to out-rebound King’s by a 51-39 margin.