Box Score

Foul trouble and first half turnovers hurt the Lions as the Albright College women's basketball team fell 66-50, Saturday to #5 Messiah College in the Bollman Center.

Sophomore Jessica Venturelli had a team-high 11 points, while classmate Tara Sabotchick added five assists. Freshman Kelecia Harris had eight points and seven rebounds.

Albright shot a solid 47.1% from the floor in the first half but only managed 19 points after committing 16 turnovers.

Taylor Miller opened the scoring with a three-pointer, and Harris picked up her second foul less than four minutes in while attempting to block a shot. Her replacement Emily O'Donnell also picked up her second foul before the midway point of the half, putting pressure on Albright's bigs rotation.

Right after Harris left the game, Venturelli sank a three-pointer to tie the game at 4-4. The Falcons responded with a 14-3 run however, spurred by a long corner two-pointer from Chelsea Danel and two baskets from Dori Gyori.

Amanda Tiritilli sank a three-pointer with six minutes left in the half to make it 20-10 Messiah. Harris re-entered with 7:13 left and avoided further fouls, scoring on the fast break to cut the deficit to single-digits (26-17).

Messiah closed the half strong however, with two threes from Danel helping to push the gap to 34-19 at the break.

Harris picked up her third foul just six seconds into the second half, again sending the Albright star forward to the bench. Venturelli hit a three-pointer, but Gyori's three-point play soon pushed the Messiah lead to 44-22.

Junior Kristi McFadden had a nice drive midway through the second half to make it 53-27 Messiah, and Sabotchick later hit a trey to make the scoreline 61-38.

Gyori had a double-double for Messiah with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Danel sank 4-of-6 from behind the arc to finish with a game-high 18 points.

The Lions are 8-11, 4-8 and face a must-win game against rival Alvernia, on the road Wednesday night. League leaders Messiah improve to 17-2, 11-1.