OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Junior Nina Mazzarelli carried no. 18 Albright women's basketball team to a 61-55 victory over conference opponent Stevenson Wednesday night.
 
The junior, who was one of four players to score double figures, scored all 13 of her points in the final quarter to pace the Lions to its first conference win.
 
Albright, which outlasted the Mustangs to improve to 4-1 and 1-0 in the MACC, also received 12 points from Shannon Thomas.  MiKayla Lea and Jane Joyce also finished with double-digit points as Lea added 11 and Joyce with 10 points.
 
The Lions held a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before huge defensive play and key free throw shooting paced the team to a win. Albright went 9-of-10 from the line to shoot an impressive 90.0 percent to extend its 43-39 lead.
 
Alysha Lofton sparked a 6-0 run for the Lions in the opening minutes of the final quarter with a layup. Mazzarelli fueled the rest of the run going 4-of-4 from the line as Stevenson quickly found themselves trailing 10 points. After a Mustangs layup, Mazzarelli drained a three-pointer to put Albright up 11 points, its biggest lead of the night
 
A Sara Tarbert layup brought Stevenson within four points with 32 seconds remaining but its comeback fell short as Lea and Mazzarelli teamed up to make five free throws in the remaining seconds to seal an Albright victory.
 
After Stevenson took an early 4-2 lead, the Lions forced five Mustang turnovers to aid the Lions to score 11 unanswered points to take a 13-4 with less than four minutes remaining in the opening frame. Devan Horka would sink two free throws to hand Albright a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The second quarter was a back-and-forth battle as both teams traded baskets with the Lions having the advantage. Stevenson would pull within one point to trail 19-18 before a jumper from Joyce put the Lions up 21-18 with 2:58 remaining in the first half and put the lead out of reach. Albright headed into halftime up 25-23.
 
Kaitlyn VanTash gave Stevenson its first lead since the opening minutes of the game when a layup from the junior put the Mustangs up 31-30 with 6:01 remaining in the third quarter. The two teams traded baskets before the Lions regained their lead on a field goal from Lea to go up 36-34 with 3:44 on the clock. From that point on the Lions never trailed again as the team finished the third quarter on a 13-8 run.
 
Albright shot 42.6 percent, including 50 percent in the first half, from the floor in the game. The Lions defense continued to shine as they held Stevenson to 34.4 percent, including 29 oercent in the first half.
 
The Lions also forced 19 turnovers from the Mustangs allowing the team to score 21 points off turnovers in the game.
 
Albright travels to Glenside, Pa. to take on Arcadia in its next conference game on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.