READING, Pa. – Behind a dominant first quarter, the 15^th-ranked Albright Lions women's basketball team bounced back with an 82-59 win over Lycoming on Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth play.
 
With the win, the Lions improved to 20-3 overall on the season to notch their fifth 20-win season in program history. Albright also improves to 11-3 in MAC Commonwealth play to stay tied for second place with Widener in the standings. Meanwhile, the Warriors fall to 15-9 on the season and 8-7 in conference play.
 
Sophomore Abby Gaffney registered a career-high 20 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, dished out six assists, and grabbed five rebounds. Classmate Dejah Terrell posted a line of 16 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks on the afternoon. Terrell continued her record-breaking week by shattering the program single-season blocks record that was held by Kelecia Harris in the 2015-16 season with 67. Sophomore Maggie O'Hare tallied 13 points in the win behind going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, while classmate Gabby Boggs matched her with 13 points along with posting seven rebounds, four assists, four steals, and three blocks.
 
The Lions came out shooting from the field as they made five of their first six shots to take an 11-3 lead at the 7:01-mark of the first quarter. Five-straight points from the Warriors pulled them within three points at 11-8, but the Lions used a 14-2 run to take a 25-10 lead at the 2:09-mark of the first quarter.  Albright continued their hot stretch by out-scoring the Warriors 8-2 in the final 1:49 of the opening quarter to take a 33-12 lead into the second quarter. The 33 points was the third-most points they have scored in any quarter this season as they shot 73.6 percent (14-of-19) from the field. It was more of the same for the Lions to open the second quarter as they started on a 15-4 run to go up 48-16 at the 6:23-mark. Albright made its first five field goals of the quarter during that stretch to give them their largest lead of the game. However, the Lions did not score a point in the final 6:23 of the second quarter as the Warriors closed the half with 12 unanswered points to make it a 48-28 game at halftime.
 
In the third quarter, Lycoming sustained momentum from the end of the second quarter as they opened with a 14-5 run to make it a 53-42 game at the 5:51-mark. O'Hare ended the run with a three-pointer just 28 seconds later, and the Lions were able to maintain their double-digit lead into the fourth quarter at 63-48. A three-pointer for Lycoming made it a 63-51 game just 22 seconds into the fourth quarter, but the Lions took command of the game with a 13-2 run to go up 76-53 with 4:03 left in regulation. Albright was able to build its lead in the fourth quarter by as many as 27 points before sealing up the victory at 82-59.
 
Albright shot 46.2 percent (30-of-65) overall from the field, and went 9-of-21 (42.9%) from three-point range. The Lions shot 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the free throw line and held a slight 44-43 rebounding advantage. Albright forced 22 Warrior turnovers that led to 29 points while tallying nine blocks as a team. Meanwhile, the Warriors shot 30.9 percent (21-of-68) from the field and went 7-of-20 (35%) from beyond the arc. Lycoming went 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the free throw line, and scored 21 points off 16 Lion turnovers.
 
Morgan Mader led the Warriors with a team-high 14 points behind going 4-of-8 from three-point range, while Akilah McFadden nearly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Lions will return to action on Tuesday, February 18^th as they will head across town to face Alvernia at 8 p.m.