READING, Pa. – The Albright women's basketball team was unable to overcome No. 16 Messiah as they were defeated 61-49 in MAC Commonwealth action inside the Bollman Center on Wednesday evening.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 4-5 in conference and 9-6 overall. Meanwhile, the Falcons advance to 9-1 in conference action and 15-2 overall.
 
Senior Maggie O'Hare led Albright with 17 points behind 6-for-11 shooting and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. O'Hare also grabbed six rebounds and tallied two blocks. Senior Gabby Boggs followed with 12 points behind 2-for-9 shooting from the field and 8-for-9 from the charity stripe, seven rebounds, and two steals. Senior Amina Rauf added 11 points on 5-for-17 shooting from the field, while senior Brady Wassel grabbed a game-high nine boards.
 
The Falcons had the opening bucket of the contest, but the O'Hare scored on consecutive plays for the Lions to give them an early 5-2 lead. Both teams struggled to score throughout the first quarter, but Messiah used a 10-1 run throughout the remainder of the frame to hold a 12-6 lead entering the second stanza. Neither team was able to score for the first three minutes of action in the second quarter until finally Messiah earned a bucket in the paint to take a 14-6 lead at the 6:46-mark. Rauf got the Lions out of their shooting slump with a three-pointer at the 6:19-mark to cut their deficit to five. Eight unanswered Falcons points put them ahead 20-9 with 4:16 left in the half. The Lions closed out the half with a 5-3 advantage to cut their deficit to 23-14.
 
Albright opened up the second half with an 8-6 advantage fueled by an and-one from O'Hare, bringing the score to 29-22 at the 5:16-mark. A pair of free throws and a basket from the falcons put them back in front by double digits. Rauf then sparked a 6-2 run for the Lions that was capped off with a basket from sophomore Frances Glover-Bey to cut their deficit to 35-28. The two teams then traded and-ones, but the Falcons added the last bucket of the third to take a 40-32 lead. Messiah opened the final stanza with six unanswered points to take their largest lead at 14. An 8-2 run for the Lions fueled by three straight baskets from Rauf brought the score to 48-40 with 5:36 remaining. The Falcons answered with a 10-5 run to pull ahead by 13 with two minutes left to play. Four straight points for Boggs cut the Lions deficit back to single-digits with under a minute to go, but Messiah was able to close out the game after going 3-for-4 from the charity stripe to solidify their 61-49 conference win.
 
The Lions shot 17-for-56 (30.4%) from the floor, 4-for-14 (28.6%) from beyond the arc, and 11-for-15 (73.3%) from the charity stripe. Albright tallied 20 points in the paint and converted ten points off Messiah turnovers. Meanwhile, the Falcons shot 25-for-56 (44.6%) from the field, 1-for-8 (12.5%) from three-point range, and 10-for-17 (58.8%) from the free-throw line. Messiah won the battle on the glass 40-34 and earned 40 points in the paint and 14 second chance points.
 
The Lions will continue MAC Commonwealth action on Saturday as they travel to Hood at 1 p.m.