BALTIMORE, Md. – The Albright Lions women's basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with a tough 59-55 to Marymount in the first round of the Mike Durgala Tournament hosted by Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon.

This marks the second straight loss for the Lions to the Saints dating back to the second round of the NCAA Tournament back in March when Albright saw its season end in a 68-59 loss. Marymount will now play Johns Hopkins for the Tournament title tomorrow afternoon.
Senior Devan Horka led all scorers on the floor with 16 points on going 8-of-10 from the floor and added three rebounds. Classmate Alysha Lofton recorded a double-double for the Lions with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The WBCA All-American Honorable Mention selection also added four assists and three steals. Junior MiKayla Lea posted eight points, while establishing team-highs with six assists and four blocks.

The Lions started out the game shooting well as they made three of their first four shots to grab a 6-2 lead at the 7:10-mark of the 1^st quarter. After the Saints tied the game at six, the Lions went on an 8-2 run to grab their largest lead of the quarter at 14-8 with 3:52 left in the 1^st quarter capped by a three-pointer from junior MiKayla Lea. However, the Lions would only make one basket for the rest of the quarter, while the Saints went on a 11-2 run to close out the first to take a 19-16 lead after one. Marymount stretched the lead to 23-16 at the 8:12-mark in the second quarter after two baskets before a jumper from sophomore Zaria Mohamed ended the 15-2 run. Albright then went 5:13 without a field goal as the Saints stretched out its lead to as much as eight before the Lions would cut it back down to three with 1:22 left in the first half. Marymount would score the final four points of the half to take a 32-25 lead into halftime.

Albright shot out of the gate quickly in the second half with five straight points off a jumper from senior Nina Mazzarelli and a three-pointer from Lea to cut the Saints lead to 32-30 in just under a minute into the second half. Albright would then take its first lead since late in the first quarter at 36-35 after a jumper from Horka at the 5:05-mark, and extended its run to 11-2 to open the half after Mazzarelli split a pair of free throws. The Lions held the Saints without a field goal for 4:59, but still found themselves behind 42-38 after back-to-back jumpers. Marymount held a 44-41 lead after three quarters, but would see its lead turn to a deficit with 7:58 left in the game after jumpers from Lofton and Horka opened the final quarter to give Albright the lead back at 45-44. The teams would then trade baskets for the next three and a half minutes before the Saints extended its lead to five at 54-49 with 3:25 left in the game. Albright cut the lead down to one at the 1:47-mark before a turnover on its next possession led to a Saints basket with 36 seconds left to bring the lead to 56-53. Horka cut the lead back to one on a jumper with 11 seconds left, but that's as close as the Lions would get as the Saints made two free throws and Mazzarelli missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with six seconds left.

The Lions shot 43.1 percent (22-of-41) from the field after shooting 52.2% in the second half. Albright went just 3-of-12 from beyond the arc, and 8-of-11 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Saints went 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the field and just 20 percent (1-of-5) from beyond the arc. The Lions held a sizable 40-25 rebound advantage, but committed 29 turnovers which led to 28 Saints points.

Three Marymount players led the team with 14 points with Gabriella Haddad adding five steals in the win with her 14 points. Nicole Viscuso was another player with 14 points, and led the team with six rebounds.

Albright will return to the floor Tomorrow, November 19^th when they will face Lynchburg in a consolation game at 2 p.m.