GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – The Albright women's basketball team used a dominant second half to cruise past Gwynedd Mercy as they claimed a 78-62 non-conference road victory on Saturday.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 4-3 overall and remain 0-1 in MAC Commonwealth action. Meanwhile, the Griffins fall to 4-5 overall.
 
It was a total team effort as five Lions reached double figures on the afternoon. Senior Gabby Boggs led all scorers and tallied her seventh-straight double-double with a career-high 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting, 15 rebounds, and added six assists. Senior Abby Gaffney posted her first career double-double with ten points on 4-for-10 shooting, a career-high ten rebounds, and added six assists. Senior Maggie O'Hare nearly reached a double-double with 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting, eight rebounds, and game-high six steals. Senior Amina Rauf tallied ten points on 4-for-14 shooting and five rebounds. Senior Kayana Chisholm added ten points off the bench on 5-of-10 shooting, while senior Brady Wassel matched a career-high 15 boards.
 
Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net in first five minutes of the game, as the Lions held just a 4-1 lead at the 5:19-mark of the opening quarter. A bucket from Chisholm and a three-pointer from Rauf put Albright ahead 9-1 with 2:38 left in the first. The teams finally got their feet under them as they netted eight points apiece to put the score at 17-9 in favor of the Lions to close out the first quarter. The Griffins went on an 11-6 run in the second quarter to get within three points of the Lions at the 3:28-mark. The teams traded baskets but Gwynedd Mercy was able to tie the game up at 27 with just under two minutes left in the half. The Lions pulled ahead by four with back-to-back baskets from Boggs and O'Hare. The Griffins closed out the half with an and-one play to get within one and bring the score to 31-30 at the half.
 
Albright used a strong third quarter to gain a comfortable lead over Gwynedd Mercy as they scored 13 unanswered points to open up the second half. The Griffins finally slowed the Lions down and went on an 8-3 run of their own to cut their deficit to 47-38 at the 2:51-mark. Both teams tallied eight points each to close out the third quarter 55-46 with the Lions in the lead. The Lions opened up the final stanza with an 11-3 run sparked by a three pointer from junior Lindsey Williamson and capped off with a bucket from Boggs to give the Lions their largest lead at 17 points. The two teams traded baskets, but Albright held onto a 70-55 lead with less than five minutes remaining. The Griffins were able to cut their deficit to 11 points with 1:43 left to play, but the Lions closed out the game on a 6-1 run to claim the 78-62 victory.
 
Albright shot 34-for-86 (39.5%) from the field, 4-for-30 (13.3%) from the three-point line, and 6-for-16 (37.5%) from the charity stripe. The Lions netted a monstrous 48 points in the paint and dominated on the glass with a 61-42 rebound advantage. Meanwhile, Gwynedd Mercy went 21-for-73 (28.8%) from the floor, 2-for-21 (9.5%) from beyond the arc, and 18-for-23 (78.3%) from the charity stripe. The Griffins tallied 26 points in the paint and saw 23 points off the bench.
 
The Lions return to action on Wednesday at 6 p.m. as they travel down the road to Alvernia to continue conference action.