Box Score
READING, Pa – Led by a tremendous defensive effort and a timely second half run, women's basketball (5-7/1-3 Commonwealth) was able to defeat Widener University (12-3/3-1 CC) by the score of 78-66 on Wednesday evening at the Bollman Center.
The Lady Lions held the visiting Pride to 28% shooting and forced 14 turnovers on the defensive end. Widener was only able to make 23 of their 83 field goal attempts on the evening, and they hit only five of their 29 three-point attempts.
Albright jumped out to an early advantage against Widener and held an 18-11 lead after a three-point play by
Jenny Knoebel with 10:09 left in the first half. The Pride made a run of their own, however, and took a 31-26 advantage into the halftime break.
The Lady Lions would quickly tie things up in the second half. Senior forward
MariLynn McMonagle finished at the rim to create a 31-31 tie with 19:16 left to play. The two teams would battle basket for basket for much of the second half, and neither team could make a major run.
Nursing a four point lead, Albright pulled away with three minutes left in the contest. The red and white went on a 6-0 run in the next minute, which was highlighted by two baskets from senior guard
Jessica McGinness and two made free throws from freshman center
Meghan Boyle. The run propelled Albright to a 67-57 lead, and they held on by shooting 11 for 14 from the foul line in the final minute and a half of play to earn their first conference victory.
The red and white used a complete team effort to earn the victory. Boyle deposited a team-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. McGinness ended with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists on the night. McMonagle finished with a double-double that included 13 points and 11 rebounds, while
Kari Ludy provided a spark off the bench with 10 points on 5 for 9 shooting from the field.
Widener was led by Kate Dellinger and Francesca Lee, who both finished with double-doubles. Dellinger dropped in 24 points to go with 11 rebounds, while Lee finished the contest with 15 points and 12 boards. Vanessa Hejnas also grabbed 12 rebounds for the Pride.
Though Widener outrebounded Albright 59 to 48, the Lady Lions were able to record ten steals while the Pride finished with five. Widener wasn't able to capitalize on its 27 offensive rebounds because of poor shooting and solid on-ball defense from Albright.
Women's basketball will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Elizabethtown for a 2 p.m. conference matchup.
