BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The 15th ranked Northampton women's basketball team used a a strong effort on the defensive end to down Sussex County Community College, 54-35, on Thursday evening at the Arthur L. Scott Spartan Center. 

Despite a tough shooting night (26 of 87) from the floor, the Spartans held Sussex to just 16 field goals and forced them into 26 turnovers, in picking up the Region 19 victory. 

"We didn't play our best basketball in the first half," remarked Head Coach Terrence Bomar, "but we were able to muster up some energy in the second half to get some stops on the defensive end.  I give our team a lot of credit for being able to buckle down in the second half and pull away for the win."

Deovion Yates (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East) led Northampton with 17 points and added 8 rebounds and 5 steals, Briona McClain (Tobyhanna, PA/Pocono Mt. West ) hauled down a team-high 22 rebounds, along with scoring 8 points, and Xion Spence (Bushkill, PA/E. Stroudsburg North) had 21 rebounds as the Spartans out-rebounded the Skylanders 70 to 28. 

The win moves Northampton to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in Region 19.

Sussex falls to 1-3 overall and 1-3 in Region 19.

The Spartans are now off until Tuesday December 7th when they host Penn State - Lehigh Valley at 5pm.