READING, Pa. – The No. 5 Albright women's basketball team will travel to the No. 1 seed and nationally ranked Messiah tomorrow for the semifinal round of the MAC Commonwealth tournament at 7 p.m.
 
Tickets:  The MAC mandates the prices for adults at $6, senior citizens at $4, and children $2, and for children under 6 with an adult are free. All tickets can be purchased at the door. Fans are encouraged to refer to Messiah's most updated COVID-19 protocols and guidelines here.
 
Merchandise: Official MAC Commonwealth Women's Basketball Championship merchandise can be purchased online here.
 
Live Coverage: The Messiah sports information office will provide live video and live stats for the game.
 
MAC Commonwealth Tournament: Albright is the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will travel to the No. 1 seed Messiah at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the championship game on Sunday, Feb. 27^th and face either the No. 2 seed Widener or the No. 3 seed York.
 
Records: Albright advanced through the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament with a thrilling 66-65 victory at No. 4 Stevenson on Wednesday, improving to 13-10 overall. Meanwhile, Messiah took down the No. 8 seed Alvernia 74-60 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday to advance to 21-3 overall.
 
Scouting the Lions: Albright ranks fifth in the MAC Commonwealth in points per game with 59.0. Senior Gabby Boggs leads the Lions offense and ranks second in the conference averaging 16.8 points per game. Boggs also leads the conference in rebounds per game with 12.6 while Senior Brady Wassel is sixth in the conference at 9.6 rebounds per game. Senior Amina Rauf paces the team and the conference in three-point field goals with 44 on the season. Senior Abby Gaffney leads the conference in assists per game at 4.1 and ranks third in assist to turnover ratio.
 
Lions in the Playoffs: The Lions have made an appearance in the postseason the past seven of eight years. Albright's last postseason playoff appearance in the 2019-20 season featured a semi-final victory over Widener and a trip to the championship game against Messiah where they fell 78-69.
 
Scouting the Falcons: Messiah ranks second in the conference in scoring with 67.0 points per game and first in fewest points allowed at 50.6 per game. The team also has the highest field goal percentage (44.1%), three-point percentage (31.3%), and free throw percentage (77.9%) in the MAC Commonwealth. Graduate student Leah Springer fuels the Falcons offence as she paces the conference in scoring with 17.7 points per game. Springer also ranks third in the MAC Commonwealth in rebounding with 11.3 per game and fifth in field goal percentage with 47.6%. Senior Eleana Eckley averages 10.1 points per game, leads the Falcons with 20 threes made on the season, and ranks fourth in the conference in assists to turnover ratio with 1.4. sophomore Morgan Adams is another threat for the Falcons averaging 9.3 points and leading the team with 19 blocks on the season.
 
The Falcons in the Playoffs: Messiah has appeared in the last six championship games and has captured five-straight MAC Commonwealth titles. The Falcons last postseason appearance featured a 60-45 win over Widener in the championship game of the shortened 2021 season.
 
Series: The Falcons lead the all-time series 21-8. Messiah completed the series sweep over Albright this season after a 61-49 victory in the Bollman Center on Jan. 26^th. The Falcons have also claimed nine of the last ten matchups against the Lions. The last time Albright defeated Messiah was in the 2017-18 season in Reading, Pa. when the Lions claimed a 63-54 victory.
 
Last Meeting: Albright was unable to overcome Messiah in their last meeting as they were defeated 61-49. The Lions trailed for majority of the game but stayed within reach until the Falcons began to pull away in the fourth quarter. Albright got within eight but was forced to foul Messiah at the end of the game where they went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe to solidify the victory.
 
Head Coaches: Janice Luck has posted a 268-226 record in 19 seasons as the head coach of Albright. This is her tenth MAC Commonwealth tournament appearance for the Lions at the helm of the women's basketball program.
 
Mike Miller is in his 36^th season at the helm of the Messiah women's basketball program and posts an overall record of 708-245. This season marks Miller's 27^th MAC Commonwealth tournament appearance. He has led the Falcons to 14 conference titles.
 
Up Next: The winner will advance to the championship of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 27th and face the winner of No. 2 Widener and No. 3 York.