READING, Pa. – Senior Emily O'Donnell recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and No. 19 Albright pulled away from Alvernia with a big third-quarter run as the Lions defeated the Crusaders 79-61 on Wednesday in the Bollman Center.
 
Albright, which improved to 15-2 and 7-1 in conference play, opened a 28-20 lead at the 9:55 mark of the third quarter when Nina Mazzarelli drilled a three-pointer.
 
The Crusaders, who dropped to 7-10 overall and 2-6 in the MAC Commonwealth, rallied with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 28-27 with 8:06 left in the third.
 
Albright held a slim 37-35 lead following a basket by the Crusaders Logan Focht, but blew the game open with a 19-0 run to close the third quarter.
 
Shannon Thomas began the run with a jumper and Mazzarelli increased the lead to 42-35 with a three-pointer at the 4:33 mark of the quarter.
 
Following an Alvernia timeout, Mazzarelli scored inside off a feed from Jane Joyce and O'Donnell added a short jumper to push the lead to 46-35 with 2:27 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Thomas drained a three-pointer and O'Donnell converted a three-point play off an assist by Thomas to extend the lead to 52-35 with 1:52 remaining.
 
Mazzarelli made a layup and O'Donnell capped the run with a layup giving the Lions a 56-35 lead after three quarters of action.
 
Albright took its largest lead of the contest at 73-49 when Xio Toledo drained a three-pointer with 3:16 remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
The Lions shot a blistering 67.9 percent from the floor in the second half, which included making 5-of-6 from the three-point line.
 
O'Donnell finished the game 6-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line and also added a blocked shot. It marked the third double-double of the season for O'Donnell and the fifth of her career.
 
Thomas also finished with 15 points as she was 4-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the three-point line.
 
Senior Kelecia Harris registered 13 points and six rebounds, while Joyce had a season-high eight assists and five rebounds for the Lions.
 
Stevie Fortna led Alvernia with 13 points as she made all 10 of her free throw attempts, while Chelsea Ebersole finished with 10 points for the Crusaders.
 
Albright returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 23) when it hosts Lebanon Valley at 4 p.m. in a MAC Commonwealth game in the Bollman Center.