READING, Pa. – The magical season of the Albright women's basketball team continued on Saturday as Tournament Most Valuable Player Nina Mazzarelli scored 14 points leading the Lions to their first-ever MAC Commonwealth title with a thrilling 69-58 victory over Messiah in the Bollman Center.
 
"These girls are just incredible," said Albright head coach Janice Luck. "This was our goal from the beginning of the season and they have worked so hard to achieve this. They earned it today and beat a very good Messiah team."
 
The victory did not come easy for Albright as the Lions saw their 12-point first-half lead disappear in the third quarter as the Falcons rallied to take the lead. But as they have done all season, Albright answered the challenge.
 
After Messiah outscored the Lions 17-9 in the third quarter to tie the game at 51-51 the Lions regained the lead for good to start the fourth quarter.
 
Kelecia Harris, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, scored inside giving the Lions a 51-49 lead with 9:50 to play in the game.
 
Alysha Lofton converted a layup off a beautiful feed from Jane Joyce to increase the lead to 53-49 at the 8:35 mark of the fourth quarter.
 
Kaitlyn Hoff, who led Messiah with 18 points, answered with a jumper to bring Messiah to within 53-51.
 
Harris found Amara-Niana Jackson cutting to the basket for a layup that gave the Lions a 55-51 lead with 6:59 remaining in the contest.
 
Messiah answered with a free throw and a jumper to get to within 55-54, but Albright responded with a decisive 9-2 run.
 
Emily O' Donnell hit a free throw and a layup to push the lead to 58-54 and Shannon Thomas followed with a three-pointer to increase the margin to 61-54 with 3:58 to play.
 
After Dominique Seamon hit a jumper to trim the lead to 61-56, Thomas responded with another three-pointer to increase the lead to 64-56 with 2:21 to play in the game.
 
Hoff connected on a jumper for the Falcons to slice the lead to 64-58, but Messiah would not score for the remainder of the game.
 
Mazzarelli added three free throws and Joyce capped the scoring with a pair of free throws to secure the Lions first-ever conference title.
 
Albright, which improved to 25-2 on the season, received 14 points from O'Donnell off the bench, while Thomas had 12 points and Joyce finished with 10 points.
 
Messiah, which dropped to 19-8 overall, got 13 points from Seamon and 11 points from Jen Fairbanks.
 
Albright started the game looking like they would make quick work of the Falcons.
 
A jumper by Joyce and a three-pointer by Mazzarelli gave the Lions an early 5-0 lead.
 
Albright used an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game.
 
Harris scored six straight points to begin the run and Joyce capped it with a layup giving Albright an 18-6 lead with 2:25 to play in the opening quarter.
 
Messiah methodically worked its way back into the game and trailed by 35-32 with 1:37 remaining before halftime.
 
Albright closed the half with a layup from O'Donnell and a 28-foot three-pointer from Mazzarelli to take a 40-32 lead into the intermission.
 
Messiah wasted little time in erasing the lead as the Falcons used a 7-0 run to open the third quarter to get within 40-39.
 
The Falcons took a 44-43 lead on a layup by Fairbanks with 4:55 to play in the third, but Lofton answered for the Lions with a layup to put Albright back in front at 45-44.
 
Gillian Glackin tied the game with a free throw and the Falcons took their final lead of the day on a jumper by Alecia Rohrer with 2:08 to play in the third quarter.
 
O'Donnell put Albright back in front with a layup and two free throws, but Fairbanks connected on a jumper with 35 seconds to play to tie the game at 49-49.
 
Albright, which secured the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, will learn its next opponent on Monday (March 29) when the NCAA announces the tournament field at 2:30 p.m.