Box Score

Led by a double-double effort from Julia Antonelli and a quick run to start the game, the Warriors of Lycoming College (3-2, 1-1 Commonwealth Conference) defeated the Albright College women's basketball team (2-4, 0-1) 60-50 in a conference opener for both teams, Wednesday evening in the Bollman Center.

In the first half of play, the Warriors jumped out to a 14-5 lead by using an effective press and timely offensive rebounding. On two occasions, guard Rachel Shearer caught the Lions sleeping after made baskets, resulting in a layups for Lycoming. The Warriors would force Albright head coach Janice Luck to take a second timeout with 11:43 to play on a long jumper from Chelsea Shearer that gave the visitors an 18-8 advantage.

Down 28-18, Albright got hot from behind the three-point line. On four consecutive possessions, the Lions hit three-point shots. Amanda Tiritilli began the barrage with a long-distance shot with 3:27 left, and then Jenny Knoebel did the honors on back-to-back possessions. Jessica Venturelli capped the run with another three with 2:08 left to cut the Warriors lead to four. After trailing by as much as 13, the Lions went into the halftime break down 32-29.

Albright continued its momentum into the second half of play. Venturelli knocked down a jumper with 15:09 to play to tie things up at 36-36, and the Lions took their first lead of the game on their next possession on a Shawn Barczynski layup with 14:20 to go.

The game then turned into a back-and-forth defensive battle. A four-and-a-half minute scoring draught for both teams was finally ended on a layup from Lycoming's Kylee Sutton with 5:49 left, giving the Warriors a 48-42 advantage.

With 2:32 to go, Meghan Boyle hit a layup to cut the lead to four, but Sutton responded with a jumper on Lycoming's next possession. Albright got no closer as the visitors hit a few free throws down the stretch to take the conference victory.

Leading the Lions in double figures were Venturelli and Knoebel, who finished with 14 and 11 points on the night. Boyle grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, while Tiritilli dished a team-high 10 assists.

Antonelli finished with game-highs in points, rebounds and steals. She dropped in 22 points to go with 12 rebounds and 4 steals to lead the Warriors. Also finishing in double figures for the Warriors was Erin Connaghan, who finished with 14 points.

Albright finished 8-for-16 from three-point range, but was killed by a season-high 28 turnovers. The Warriors had a huge edge at the free-throw line where they finished 25-for-33, while the Lions finished 2-for-10.

Albright returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Chester to take on Widener University at 1:00 p.m.