ST. DAVID'S, Pa. – Playing its first game in nearly a year, the Albright Women's Basketball team opened its 2021 season by outlasting Eastern 53-50 on the road Thursday night in MAC Commonwealth play.
 
Junior Gabby Boggs led the way for the Lions with a double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds. The reigning MAC Commonwealth defensive player of the year also added two blocks in the win. Classmate Brady Wassel pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds along with adding nine points off the bench, while Maggie O'Hare added eight points, eight rebounds, and three steals. In her first game since the 2018-19 season, senior Allison Dienes posted four points and a career-high three blocks.
 
Both teams struggled from the field in the first quarter as the Lions held an 8-7 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes. Following a jumper from Dienes at the 9:38-mark for the first two points of the game for the Lions, Albright did not make another field goal until the final minute of the quarter when O'Hare made a layup following a steal. The Lions limited the Eagles to shoot just 21.4 percent from the field in the opening quarter, and allowed just two points after Eastern scored five points in the opening minute. Each offense began to heat up in the second quarter as the Lions stretched their lead out to 14-10 at the 7:27-mark following a three-point play from Boggs. Albright held a 16-12 lead at the 6:15-mark before the Eagles rattled off six-straight points to take their first lead of the second quarter at 18-16. Following a pair of 5-0 runs from each team, Eastern took its largest lead of the first half at 28-24 with 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Boggs was able to cut the Eagles lead down to 28-26 at halftime after making a layup with three seconds left in the half.
 
Boggs opened the second half by scoring the first two points of the third quarter at the 7:46-mark to tie the score at 28. Neither team would hold a lead larger than two points in the third quarter as both offenses struggled much like the first quarter. Boggs scored six of the eight Lions points in the third as the Lions held Eastern to shoot 18.7 percent. Eastern started strong in the fourth quarter as they scored the first five points to take a 39-34 lead at the 8:56-mark. Down 41-36, the Lions rallied to score six-straight points to take a 42-41 lead at the 4:47-mark following a steal and score from first-year Frances Glover-Bey. Eastern responded with a layup to go back up 43-42, but that would be the last time they would hold the lead in the contest. Wassel scored five-straight points to put the Lions up 47-43 at the 3:13-mark, and would be followed by five-straight points from O'Hare after an Eagles basket to give Albright a 52-45 lead at the 1:29-mark. However, the Eagles rallied with five-straight points of their own to cut the Lions lead down to 52-50 with 48 seconds left in regulation. Albright was able to hold Eastern off the scoreboard for the rest of the game as a potential game-tying three-pointer hit the front of the rim at the buzzer.
 
The Lions shot 31.7 percent (20-of-63) from the field and just 16 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc. Albright went 50 percent from the free throw line (9-of-18) and held a slight 49-45 rebounding advantage. Meanwhile, the Eagles shot just 28.6 percent (18-of-36) from the field and 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from three-point range. Eastern shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the charity stripe as well.
 
Eastern was led by a game-high 18 points from Jaelyn Harris, who shot 4-of-6 from three-point range. Mikayla Wright added 10 points and Viki Kneis grabbed 13 rebounds for the Eagles.
 
The Lions and Eagles will switch venues to the Bollman Center tomorrow, February 12^th at 7 p.m. in the second game of the home-and-home series.