WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Leading by one at halftime, the Albright Lions women's basketball team used a dominant third quarter to pick up a key road win in MAC Commonwealth play against Lycoming on Wednesday night by a score of 64-53.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 10-5 on the season with a 5-1 record in MAC Commonwealth play and have now won six of their last seven games. Meanwhile, the Warriors fall to 11-4 overall with a 5-2 record in conference play.
 
Senior Nina Mazzarelli paced the Lions offense by scoring a team-high 20 points with 11 points coming in the second half, while adding three rebounds and two assists. Junior MiKayla Lea also posted a strong performance with 13 points, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals, and two assists. Senior Jane Joyce added nine points, four steals, and one assist while classmate Alysha Lofton registered nine points, seven rebounds, five steals, five assists, and three blocks in the win.
 
The teams traded the first four baskets of the game which left the game in a 4-4 tie before the Warriors broke out with six straight points to take a 10-4 lead at the 5:51-mark. Lycoming completed a 12-3 run after the six unanswered points to extend its lead out to 16-7 at the 2:03-mark before Mazzarelli ended a four minute Lions scoring drought with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 16-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Warriors maintained its nine-point lead at 23-14 with 6:57 left in the half before Albright scored the final 10 points of the half to take a 24-23 lead at halftime. The Lions held the Warriors without a point for the final 6:57 of the half on 0-of-9 from the field and forced four turnovers.
 
Albright hit two baskets to start the second half to take a 28-23 lead before the Warriors snapped an 8:36 scoreless drought over the two quarters with a field goal at the 8:21-mark of the third quarter. The Lycoming basket started a 7-2 run that allowed the Warriors to tie the game at 30 with 6:07 left in the third. The Lions turned the tide of the game with a 15-2 run that spanned three and a half minutes to take a 45-32 lead at the 2:18-mark of the third quarter. Albright held a 49-37 lead at the end of the third quarter but could not get its offense going to start the fourth quarter as the Warriors opened the final stanza on an 8-2 run to cut the lead down to 51-45 at the 6:24-mark. Albright had just two field goals in the first six minutes of the final quarter and clung to a seven-point lead before freshman Allison Dienes hit a key layup with 3:54 left in the game to give the Lions a 56-47 lead. The Lions went 4-of-4 from the free throw line and held the Warriors to one field goal in the final 5:31 of the game to close out the win.
 
The Lions shot 39.7 percent (25-of-63) from the field after going 45.7 percent in the second half, and went just 2-of-14 (14.3%) from beyond the arc. Albright went 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the free throw line and held a 42-36 rebounding advantage for the game which helped the Lions outscore the Warriors 12-3 on second chance points. The Warriors shot 32.7 percent (18-of-55) and went 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from beyond the arc. Lycoming went 11-of-14 (78.6%) from the free throw stripe but the Lions scored 19 points off 21 Warrior turnovers.
 
Morgan Malder scored a game-high 21 points for the Warriors off the bench on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc, while adding six rebounds and four steals. Shelby Mueller posted 18 points and eight rebounds in the loss as well.
 
Albright will return to action on Saturday, January 13^th as it will host No.17/19 ranked Messiah in a rematch of last season's MAC Commonwealth Tournament Championship Game with tip-off at 2 p.m.