ASHLAND, Va. – Junior Alysha Lofton led three players in double figures with 15 points as the no. 11 Albright women's basketball team topped Lynchburg 64-56 on Saturday afternoon in Crenshaw Gym.

Lofton went 6-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free throw line to lead the lions. The junior also had six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 23 minutes.

Nina Mazzarelli scored 12 points and Shannon Thomas had 11 points to help the Lions improve to 2-1 on the season.

The Lions shot 40 percent from the floor and made seven three-pointers, including five in the second half. They also shot 69.2 percent from the free throw line in their non-conference victory. Albright limited Lynchburg's offense to 32.3 percent shooting for the game.

Olivia Defancesco led the Hornets with 14 points, while Molly Shephard added 13 points off the bench. Charmaine Hairston was the only other player to record double-digit points for Lynchburg, who dropped to 2-1, with 10.

Albright controlled the pace of the game early as the Lions opened the game on a 10-0 run with five layups from Jayne Joyce, Devan Horka, Lofton, and MiKayla Lea. Horka capped off the Lions run with her second layup of the game with 6:41 remaining on the clock.

It was a back-and-forth battle between the Lions and the Hornets in the second quarter as the teams traded baskets and knotted the score four different times with the final time being at 26 all. Hairston sunk two free throws with 12 seconds remaining to hand Lynchburg a 28-26 lead heading into halftime.

The momentum swung the Lions way in the opening minutes of the second half as the Lions went on a 10-2 run highlighted by three three-pointers from Thomas. The first three-pointer from Thomas came only a 1:13 into the third quarter. Lea sank one shot from the free throw line before Thomas drained two more threes to put the Lions up 36-30 with 4:09 remaining.

Lynchburg made a late push to tie the score once again before the quarter ended. A layup from Lofton put the Lions up by four with 25 seconds remaining. Sheppard came down the court and sank a shot from behind the arc to place Lynchburg only one point behind Albright going into the fourth quarter.

The Hornets regained their lead for a short period of time thanks to an Olivia Defancesco three-pointer, which put Lynchburg up 44-43 with 7:29 remaining. The Lions responded with a 13-0 run of their own to go up 12 with less than three minutes left. Lynchburg chipped away at the lead pulling within four points but could never overcome the deficit for the remainder of the game.

Albright returns home on Tuesday when Neumann University travels to the Bollman Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff.