TANNERSVILLE, Pa. - Katie Alvarez (Allentown, PA /Dieruff) scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help lead the Northampton women's basketball team to an 80-56 victory over Sussex County Community College on Tuesday evening at Pocono Hall on the Tannersville campus of Northampton Community College. 

After a slow start, the Spartans pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Skylanders 22-6, to take a 38-19 lead into the halftime break.  Northampton extended the lead to 31 in the 3rd quarter before Sussex rallied behind Brielle Hilbert, who led all scorers with 31 points, including 6 three pointers. 

"I thought we did a good job sharing the ball tonight and spreading the offense around," commented Head Coach Tara Belfield, "but I was disappointed in our defensive effort ... we need to get tougher on the defensive end of the court if we are going to achieve our goals this season."

The Spartans had five players in double figures, led by Kye Adams (East Stroudsburg, PA/E. Stroudsburg South ) and Dom Moser (Easton, PA/Easton ) each with 15, followed by Alvarez with 12 and Kaitlyn Cappetta (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) and Laura Sweger (Elizabethville, PA /Upper Dauphin ) each with 10.  Tytiona Goodwin (Allentown, PA/Dieruff ) added 7 assists and Deana McKeller (East Stroudsburg, PA/E. Stroudsburg South) hauled down 11 rebounds for Northampton.

Northampton improves to 15-5 overall and 12-3 in Region XIX, while Sussex falls to 7-16 overall and 5-13 in Region XIX.

Next up for the Spartans is Delaware County Community College on Thursday night at 5:30pm at the Arthur L. Scott Center.