OWINGS MILLS, Md. – A second-half rally from the Albright women's basketball team fell short as the Lions fell to the Stevenson Mustangs 55-53 on Wednesday evening.
 
With its second loss of the season, Albright falls to 18-2 on the season and 9-2 in conference play.  Stevenson improves to 11-10 overall and 6-6 in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Sophomore Dejah Terrell led the way for Albright and picked up a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds.  Terrell tallied seven blocks on the night, which ties her career-high and is the third-most in a game in program history.  Classmate Amina Rauf followed with 12 points and sophomore Gabby Boggs pulled down 18 rebounds for the Lions to tie her career-high.  Sophomore Maggie O'Hare registered four steals, while Rauf and classmate Abby Gaffney each recorded three assists.
 
The Mustangs opened the conference matchup with a fast-break from Stevenson's Brandi Hall and Albright quickly responded with a good three-pointer from senior Hailey Dayton.  The Mustangs then started on a 9-2 run to take a six-point lead at the 4:43-mark.  With 1:33 remaining in the first quarter, Stevenson extended the lead to seven points, which closed to two behind four points from Rauf.
 
A 6-0 run from Albright kicked off the second quarter for the Lions to take the lead at the 8:51-mark.  Albright's lead increased to as much as four points before the Mustangs took over following a three by Kellie Johnson with 3:48 remaining in the half.  A 10-4 Stevenson run to close the quarter gave the Mustangs a seven-point lead going in to the locker rooms, 33-26.
 
The third quarter of the contest was the only 10-minute period that the Lions outscored the Mustangs, with 16 points for Albright and 10 from Stevenson.  Stevenson reached its highest lead of 12 points at the 5:09-mark of the quarter after a good jumper by Brynne Deluzio.  A 13-2 Albright run closed the deficit to one point (43-42) with ten minutes remaining in the game.
 
Stevenson held its lead throughout the fourth quarter until a good jumper by O'Hare tied the game at 53 points apiece with 1:43 remaining on the clock.  Each team held three scoreless possessions until there were nine seconds remaining in regulation and the Mustangs had the ball.  Stevenson's Brandi Hall missed her first jumper attempt, but rebounded her shot before the ball went out of bounds.  She stepped back inside for a good jumper from the left wing to put the hosts up by two points with one second left.  Stevenson committed a foul on the floor as Albright was inbounding the ball, but the Lions were unable to get a clear shot off before the buzzer sounded.
 
Stevenson's Hall scored 16 points to lead the Mustangs offensively, and Olivia Coleman followed with 11 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.  Kellie Johnson also registered 11 rebounds for Stevenson and Hannah Crist recorded a game-high four assists.
 
Albright went 16-of-65 (29.2%) from the field, 2-of-19 (10.5%) from deep, and 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the line.  Stevenson shot 30.0 percent (21-of-70) from the floor, 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from three, and 70.0 percent (7-of-10) on free throws.  The Lions tallied 32 points in the paint and 14 points off 19 Mustang turnovers.  Stevenson scored 17 points off 20 Lions' turnovers and earned 13 second-chance points.
 
The Lions return home for a 3 p.m. conference tip-off against Lebanon Valley on Saturday, February 8.