News Release

MADISON, NJ — Courtney Cunningham had her second straight huge game as the Rangers suppressed second place King’s in a 67-49 win. Cunningham had 29 points, three days after scoring 39 against Delaware Valley, and ten rebounds. Melissa Kraft added 16 points while Hartnett chipped in 10. Jenna Palumbo had 16 points, 12 coming in the second half. The win was a crucial one for the Rangers as it kept their playoff hopes alive as they improved to 11-12, 6-6 in the Freedom. King’s falls to 16-7, 8-4 in the conference.

Courtney Cunningham picked up where she left off on Wednesday night by scoring 15 points in the opening period. The Rangers defense was the other catalyst for the 24-16 lead at the break. The Rangers held the Monarchs to 24% shooting in the period and forced eight King’s turnovers. Melissa Kraft, Maggie Marquis and Genie Valantassis each had a pair of steals in the first.

Drew quickly got on top as Hartnett drained a three pointer to give the Rangers a 5-0 start. The Ranger would lead until Andrea Hochstuhl’s lay-up made it 14-14 with seven minutes remaining in the game. Cunningham had scored 11 of Drew’s points, including an acrobatic lay-up that drew applause from the King’s fans. The Rangers finished the half on a 10-2 run with buckets from Valantassis, Kraft and Hartnett to go with four more points from Cunningham.

After a quick run by Drew brought the advantage to 30-16, King’s rallied on a three pointer from Jenna Palumbo and a pair of free throws from Brittany Atzert. With the lead cut to nine, Valantassis knocked down a jumper from the corner to end the Monarch spurt. Clutch baskets would be a trend from the Rangers in the second half as they responded to every Monarch attack with a counter. Maggie Marquis hit a jumper as the shot clock wound down to put Drew up 37-24 with just over 13 minutes left. After Melissa Kraft scored a fast break lay-up with 12:20 left to give Drew a 17 point lead, the Monarch’s rallied to have a chance to bring it back into single digits, but a long Cunningham three made it 48-34. Casey Heitman scored on a nice drive for King’s, but Kraft’s three from the right side followed by a Marquis bucket from JaQuelia Conley’s assist brought it back to 17. The Rangers cruised from the remaining five minutes of the game to finish 18 up.

Cunningham finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Kraft had 16 points, eight boards and three steals. Allison Hartnett was the third Ranger in doubles with 10 points and six rebounds. Genie Valantassis had an outstanding game off the bench; though she had only six points, she added 11 rebounds, six of them offensive, and three steals. Maggie Marquis had six points and seven rebounds, including five offensive boards.

Cunningham, who was named to the ESPN The Magazine District II All-Academic team on Thursday, had 78 points in the last two games of the week after getting injured in Drew’s game against Montclair State on Monday. Her 39 against Del Val on Wednesday was the sixth highest scoring game in DIII this season and she entered today’s contest leading the Freedom in scoring with a 17.9 average (Kraft was second at 17.5).

The game was also proof of Allison Hartnett’s continuously improving play as she scored in double figures for the fourth time in seven games. Valantassis, besides grabbing the 11 rebounds, was also a key defender against King’s Andrea Hochstuhl, one of the top post players in the league. The Rangers held her to half of her average with six points. Drew had 17 points off turnovers as opposed to the Monarchs’ zero.

The win moves Drew to 11-12, 6-6 in the Freedom with two games remaining, Tuesday night’s Senior Night game against FDU and next Saturday at Wilkes. Delaware Valley, whom the Rangers are chasing for the final playoff spot, narrowly lost at Scranton 64-60, so Drew remains alive for the playoffs. Both teams are 6-6 in the conference, but Delaware Valley holds the tiebreaker with wins over Drew. Del Val travels to third place DeSales on Tuesday and then hosts Lycoming on Saturday.

Newspaper Box Score
King's College vs Drew Rangers
02/10/07 1:00 at Madison, NJ (Baldwin Gym)
At Madison, NJ (Baldwin Gym)
DREW RANGERS 67, KING'S COLLEGE 49
KING'S COLLEGE (16-7, 8-4)
Jenna Palumbo 6-17 0-0 16; Kaitlyn Fiorino 4-12 0-0 11; Andrea Hochstuhl
3-11 0-2 6; Jessica Paettie 2-4 0-0 5; Casey Heitman 2-4 0-3 4; Lauren
Kendra 0-2 3-4 3; Kaitlyn Malshefski 0-2 0-0 0; Sarah Darling 0-1 0-1 0.
Totals 17-53 7-14 49.
DREW RANGERS (11-12, 6-6)
Courtney Cunningham 9-21 8-8 29; Melissa Kraft 6-23 3-3 16; Allison Hartnett
3-9 3-3 10; Maggie Marquis 3-8 0-0 6; Genie Valantassis 3-6 0-0 6; JaQuelia
Conley 0-3 0-1 0; Laura Methvin 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 24-72 14-16 67.
King's College................   16   33  -   49
Drew Rangers..................   24   43  -   67
3-point goals-King's College 8-24 (Jenna Palumbo 4-14; Kaitlyn Fiorino 3-6;
Jessica Paettie 1-3; Lauren Kendra 0-1), Drew Rangers 5-24 (Courtney
Cunningham 3-8; Allison Hartnett 1-3; Melissa Kraft 1-10; Genie Valantassis
0-1; Maggie Marquis 0-2). Fouled out--King's College-None, Drew
Rangers-None. Rebounds-King's College 41 (Casey Heitman 8), Drew Rangers 46
(Genie Valantassis 11). Assists-King's College 9 (Lauren Kendra 3), Drew
Rangers 10 (Courtney Cunningham 3). Total fouls-King's College 16, Drew
Rangers 15. A-275