GLENSIDE, Pa. – Behind a strong shooting performance, the Albright Lions women's basketball team picked up a 71-58 win against Arcadia on Wednesday night in their MAC Commonwealth opener.
 
With the win, the Lions continue to their best start to a season since 2015-16 by improving to 8-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Knights fall to 4-4 overall and 0-1 in MAC Commonwealth play.
 
Sophomore Brady Wassel matched a team-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and grabbed three rebounds plus two steals. Classmate Maggie O'Hare came off the bench and scored 18 points behind going 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. O'Hare also grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists. Sophomore Dejah Terrell added 13 points, seven rebounds, and five blocks in the win as well. Sophomore Gabby Boggs tallied six points on 3-of-4 shooting along with six rebounds and three assists.
 
Arcadia started strong in the first quarter as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead at the 6:28-mark. However, the Lions began to heat up as they used a 15-4 run to take a 17-12 lead at the 1:28-mark of the first quarter that was capped by a jumper from sophomore Kayana Chisholm. O'Hare fueled the run with back-to-back three-pointers that put the Lions ahead for the first time in the game. Wassel concluded the first quarter with a layup with 19 seconds left that gave the Lions a 19-14 advantage into the second. Arcadia worked its way back to within three points at 21-18 with 8:05 left in the second quarter, but the Lions responded with a 14-3 run to go up 35-21 at the 3:45-mark following a layup from O'Hare. Albright led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter until the Knights closed out the final 1:15 with seven-straight points to make it a 41-32 game at halftime.
 
The teams traded baskets in the first part of the third quarter as the Lions continued to hold at least a nine-point lead over Arcadia in the opening four minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers from Terrell put the Lions up 54-38 at the 4:46-mark of the third quarter, but the Knights again scored seven-straight points to make it a nine-point game at 54-45 at the 1:23-mark. Wassel ended a 3:52 scoreless drought for the Lions with a layup at the 54-second mark to give the Lions a 56-45 lead headed into the fourth quarter. Albright opened the final quarter with five points to take back a 16-point lead at 61-45 with 7:55 left in regulation. The Knights would get within 11 points at 64-53 with 5:21 left in the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as they would get for the rest of the game. Albright used a 7-2 run to go up 71-55 with 1:46 left in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the win.
 
The Lions shot 51.7 percent (30-of-58) from the field and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from beyond the arc. Albright went 2-of-4 from the free throw line and scored 17 points off 18 Arcadia turnovers. Meanwhile, the Knights shot 36.5% percent (23-of-63) from the field and just 3-of-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc. Arcadia went 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the free throw line and held a slight 39-32 rebounding advantage.
 
Julia Makowski led all scorers on the floor with 21 points and added six rebounds, while Taylor Dunn finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Albright will return to action on Saturday, December 7^th as they will travel to face Lebanon Valley in MAC Commonwealth play at 1 p.m.