READING, Pa. –  Sophomore Dejah Terrell led the Albright women's basketball team with 26 points and 15 rebounds as the Lions fell to Messiah, 74-68, in the final game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon.  The game also took time to recognize Albright's lone senior, Hailey Dayton.
 
Two Albright sophomores earned a double-double in the game, led by Terrell with 26 points and 15 rebounds while blocking four shots.  Terrell shot 11-of-22 from the field, 2-of-7 from three, and 4-of-7 from the line.  Gabby Boggs scored 11 points for the Lions and pulled down 13 rebounds.  Boggs also registered six assists and blocked three shots.  Sophomore Brady Wassel recorded 11 points by shooting 5-of-11 from the floor, and 1-of-1 beyond the arc.
 
Albright won the tip-off, but a missed layup gave Messiah the opportunity to earn the first basket of the game off a jumper by Leah Springer.  Terrell tied the game at two apiece at the 8:53-mark and a layup by Wassel gave the Lions its only lead, 4-2, at the 7:50-mark.  Messiah tied the game at four each a minute later and a 7-2 Falcons run gave Messiah a five-point lead at the 1:33-mark.  A layup by Terrell and a jumper from sophomore Amina Rauf closed Messiah's lead to four points, 14-10, by the end of the first quarter.
 
A three-pointer from the Falcons gave Messiah a seven-point lead to start off the second quarter, 17-10.  The lead jumped to nine points at the 7:28-mark for a score of 22-13.  A three-pointer by Terrell and a layup by Boggs lessened the deficit to just three points with five minutes to half and the Lions made up ground for a 28-26 Messiah lead at the 3:14-mark.  The first half closed on a 6-3 Messiah run and the score was 34-29 going into the locker rooms at half time, in Messiah's favor.
 
The third quarter opened with a good layup by Terrell, but the Falcons went on a 6-0 run to increase their lead back to nine points by the 7:15-mark.  Messiah's lead was as much as 10 points at the 4:48-mark and nine points as the quarter closed for a score of 51-42 going into the last 10 minutes.
 
Albright outscored Messiah in the fourth quarter, 26-23, but the rally was not enough to catch the Falcons.  Wassel led the quarter's scoring with nine points and Boggs and Terrell each added a block.  Dayton scored the final basket of the game from beyond the arc with eight seconds remaining.
 
Messiah's Springer scored a game-high 31 points and pulled down 11 rebounds and Jayneisha Davis followed with 18 points in the win.  Eleana Eckley tallied six rebounds and 15 points while Megan Zimmerman added 11 rebounds.  Messiah will host Game Two of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament.
 
The Lions shot 27-of-71 (38.0%) from the floor, 4-of-22 (18.2%) from three, and 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the line.  The Falcons went 50.0 percent (28-of-75) from the field, 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from beyond the arc, and 76.5% (13-of-17) on free-throws.  Messiah allowed just six turnovers to Albright's 13 and scored 36 points in the paint and 17 fast-break points.  The Lions scored 40 points in the paint and 20 second-chance points.
 
Albright will travel to Widener on Wednesday, Feb. 26 for the Semifinals of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament set to tip-off at 8 p.m.