READING, Pa. – Defense led the Albright women's basketball team to a 74-37 victory over Alvernia in MAC Commonwealth play on Wednesday evening at the Bollman Center.  Albright improves to 16-1 overall and 7-1 in conference play and Alvernia falls to 6-10 on the season and 1-7 in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Sophomore Dejah Terrell led the way for Albright by registering 18 points and grabbing 17 rebounds for a double-double.  Terrell added three blocks, three steals, and three assists in the victory and paces conference scoring by averaging 22.8 points per game.  The sophomore also ranks second in MAC Commonwealth rebounding with 12.0 per game and second in blocked shots with 3.2 per game.
 
Classmate Maggie O'Hare came off the bench to score 15 points and earned two blocks and two steals on the night.  O'Hare is seventh in MAC Commonwealth scoring with 13.9 points per game.  Sophomore Brady Wassel also earned double-digit scoring after recording 13 points behind going 5-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
 
Leading the Lions' defense, sophomore Gabby Boggs pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked four shots.  Boggs ranks third in conference rebounding with 11.5 per game, third in field goal percentage with 53.5 percent, and fifth in blocked shots with 2.3 per game.
 
Pacing the way in the MAC Commonwealth, sophomore Abby Gaffney holds an assist to turnover ratio of 1.9.  Gaffney added 10 points in the win this evening by shooting 4-of-5 from the floor, 0-of-1 from three, and 2-of-2 from the line.
 
The opening seconds of the game saw a good three-pointer from Terrell that kicked off a 9-to-4 run by the 5:57-mark.  Alvernia battled throughout the first quarter for a 14-12 Albright lead going into the second.  The Lions' defense held the Golden Wolves to just four points in the second quarter and scored 15 points led by Wassel for a 29-16 lead at the half. 
 
The third quarter was much like the second, as Albright held Alvernia to five points and added 24 themselves.  Wassel scored two three-pointers within 20 seconds of each other while senior Hailey Dayton and O'Hare both added threes in the quarter.  After 30 minutes of play, the Lions led 53-21.
 
A 12-4 run by Albright started the fourth quarter as Alvernia battled back to score 16 points in the last 10 minutes to Albright's 21.  Gaffney scored her 10 points in the fourth to lead the way for the Lions and first-year Lindsay Williamson added two points on a jumper with four seconds on the clock.
 
A total of 11 players tallied points tonight for Alvernia as Jannelle Robinson paced the team with seven, and Cathryn Kramer and Gabriella De Vito each added five.  Julia Ewen led the Golden Wolves with 12 rebounds and Kramer blocked three shots.
 
Albright started the game off shooting just 22.7 percent from the floor, but averaged over 50 percent in two quarters to raise the overall shooting average to 39.7 percent.  The Lions went 9-of-28 (32.1%) from beyond the arc and 11-of-22 (50%) on free throws.  Alvernia shot 21.3 percent (16-of-75) from the floor, 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from deep, and 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from the line.
 
Albright women's basketball will travel to Hood on Saturday, Jan. 25 for a conference matchup at 1 p.m.