READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's basketball team will travel to face No. 13/15 Messiah in the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. for a chance to win its second conference title in three years.
 
Tickets: The MAC mandates the prices for adults at $6, senior citizens at $4, Students (with valid ID) and children $2, and for children under 6 with an adult are free. All tickets can be purchased at the gate.
 
Live Coverage: The Messiah sports information office will provide live video and live stats for the game at http://www.gomessiah.tv/. Live updates will also be available throughout the game on the official Twitter feed for Albright athletics (@AlbrightLions).
 
MAC Commonwealth Tournament: Albright is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and faces the No. 1 seed Messiah. The Lions defeated No. 3 seed Lycoming at home on Wednesday night by a score of 56-45 to advance to its fourth straight MAC Commonwealth Championship Game. Meanwhile, the Falcons took care of business against No. 4 seed Stevenson at home, 67-42, to earn hosting rights for the Championship game.
 
Records: Albright enters the tournament with a 20-6 overall record with a 14-2 mark in conference play. The Lions are 13-1 since the calendar year changed to 2018, and a perfect 10-0 record at home this season. Wednesday's win gave the Lions their fourth straight 20-win season. Messiah is ranked nationally in both major D3 Women's Basketball polls with a 24-2 overall record, and finished the regular season with a 15-1 record in conference games. The Falcons have won 10 straight games since losing to Albright on January 13^th.
 
Scouting the Lions: Albright is second in the MAC Commonwealth in scoring defense, allowing just 57.1 PPG, and third in scoring offense at 67.2 PPG. The Lions also hold the best rebounding margin in the conference, and have limited their opponents to just 35.4 rebounds per game which is also best in the conference. Three Lions rank in the top 10 in the scoring for the conference, all of which were selected to the All-MAC Commonwealth team. Seniors Nina Mazzarelli in 3rd at 14.3 PPG, Alysha Lofton in 4th at 14.0 PPG, and Devan Horka in 8^th at 12.9. Lofton, the MAC Commonwealth player of the year, also leads the MAC Commonwealth in steals at 2.7, is tied for fourth in assists at 4.0, and is seventh in rebounding with 7.8. Mazzarelli leads the conference with 2.0 three-pointers made per game, and Horka ranks third in field goal percentage at 48.4 percent.
 
Lions in the Playoffs: Albright has made the MAC Commonwealth Tournament in four straight years and have advanced to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game in all four of those seasons. This is the third consecutive season that the Lions will be facing the Falcons in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament Championship Game.
 
Scouting the Falcons: Messiah leads the MAC Commonwealth in scoring offense at 71.4, and scoring defense at 50.1. The Falcons also lead the conference in field goal percentage at 43.8 percent, while limiting opponents to a conference low 33.8 field goal percentage. All-MAC Commonwealth first team selection, Alecia Rohrer, leads the conference in rebounds per game at 10.5, and is sixth in scoring at 13.4 points per game. She also has the best field goal percentage in the conference at 49.8 percent. Sophomore Leah Springer ranks second in the conference in scoring at 14.6 points per game as the Falcons primary weapon off the bench. She posted a double-double in the last meetings between the teams.
 
The Falcons in the Playoffs: Messiah is making its 18^th straight MAC Commonwealth Tournament appearance, and fifth appearance in the championship game in six years. The Falcons defeated Albright in the championship game last season at the Bollman Center by a score of 53-50 to win their eighth MAC Commonwealth Championship.
 
Series: The Falcons hold the series lead with a 46-13 record, but the Lions have won eight of their last 11 meetings with Messiah which includes two wins in the postseason. Albright holds a 2-1 record overall in postseason games against the Falcons.
 
Last Meeting: Messiah all but sealed the No.1 seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament by defeating the Lions at home back on February 10^th by a score of 65-57. The Lions got out to a hot start in the first half and led 13-4 before the Falcons slowly worked their way back in the game. Messiah took the lead for good in the third quarter behind a 13-2 run to open the second half after trailing by four at halftime. Albright handed the Falcons their only conference loss of the season back in January at home by a score of 63-54.
 
Head Coaches: Janice Luck has posted a 221-195 record in 16 seasons as the head coach of Albright. She is currently the winningest women's basketball coach in Albright history, and this is the seventh time overall that she has led the Lions to the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Under Luck, the Lions won the 2015-16 MAC Commonwealth Championship in addition to making three NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
Mike Miller is in his 32^nd season as the head coach of Messiah. He has compiled a 620-235 record during that span to become the winningest coach in Messiah program history, and became the 15^th head coach in Division III history to reach 600 wins this season. He has led the Falcons to eight MAC Commonwealth Championships, 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, and two Division III national championship games during his tenure. Miller also received his seventh MAC Commonwealth coach of the year honor this season.
 
Up Next: The winner will earn the MAC Commonwealth's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while the runner-up will await to see if they earned an at-large bid to the tournament.