GRANTHAM, Pa. – In a battle for sole possession of first place in the MAC Commonwealth, the Albright Lions women's basketball team suffered a tough 65-57 loss to #16/#19 Messiah on the road Saturday afternoon.
 
The loss snaps the Lions 11-game winning streak, while dropping their overall record to 18-6 overall and 13-2 overall in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Falcons improve to 20-2 and 13-1 in conference play to take sole possession of first place of the MAC Commonwealth. Messiah holds a half game lead now and has two more games to play, while the Lions have just one. Despite the loss, Albright clinched no lower than the No. 2 seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament due to Lycoming losing to Stevenson this afternoon. 
 
Senior Devan Horka led all scorers on the floor with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, and had six rebounds with two assists. Classmate Nina Mazzarelli added 17 points along with two rebounds and two assists, while Alysha Lofton registered a team-high 11 rebounds along with eight points, five assists, two steals, and two blocks.
 
Much like the first meeting on January 13^th at Albright, it was the Lions that got off to a fast start as they were able to build a 13-4 lead at the 2:58-mark of the 1^st quarter as they limited the Falcons to just one field goal during that span. However, the Falcons came alive in the final two minutes of the first quarter with three straight field goals as they outscored the Lions 8-2 to cut the Albright lead down to 15-12 at the end of the quarter. Messiah continued their run into the second quarter as they used a 6-2 spurt to take their first lead of the game at 18-17 with 7:37 left in the first half. After five lead changes over the next few minutes, the Lions were able to surge ahead behind a 9-4 run to take a 30-26 lead into halftime. Albright again used strong defense to retake momentum as they allowed just one Falcon field goal in the final 5:43 of the second quarter.
 
Unfortunately for the Lions, the tide would then turn in favor of the Falcons as the second half began. Messiah came out of the locker room scorching hot to establish a 13-2 run, behind a trio of three-pointers, that helped them gain a 39-32 lead at the 6:08-mark of the third quarter. Horka would then try and lead a Lions rally as Albright cut the Falcon lead to one at 41-40 with 2:43 left in the third quarter behind eight straight points from the senior. Messiah responded with five points to close out the quarter while holding the Lions without a point to take a 46-40 lead into the fourth. The Falcons were able to maintain at least a six point advantage over the Lions for the majority of the final quarter, and built their lead to the largest of the game at 60-50 with 3:34 left in the half. Albright made one last charge with five straight points to cut the Messiah lead down to five, but got no closer from there as the Falcons held on for the win.
 
Albright shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the field for the game, but went just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. The Lions shot 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from the charity stripe, and held a 44-36 rebounding advantage which led to 17 second chance points. Meanwhile, Messiah shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the field after shooting an even 50 percent in the second half. The Falcons went 4-of-15 from beyond the arc with three of them coming in the second half, and went 11-of-18 from the free throw line. Messiah also outscored the Lions 23-5 in bench points as well.
 
Alecia Rohrer led the Falcons with a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds, while Leah Springer recorded a double-double off the bench with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Kaitlyn Hoff added 12 points and a team-high seven assists as well for the Falcons in the win.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, February 17th when they will host Lycoming for Senior Day at 2 p.m. to close out the regular season.