CHESTER, Pa. – The Albright women's basketball team (6-11, 3-4 MAC Commonwealth) picked up a big Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth victory over Widener (13-4, 3-3 MAC Commonwealth) on Saturday afternoon.
CJ Apistar's game winning free throw gave the Lions a 67-66 win over the Pride.
Albright has beat Widener in three straight games including today's win. The Lions have won three of their last for games overall all coming in MAC Commonwealth play.
Gigi Serrano led the Lions in the first half scoring 10 points. Serrano came off the bench and provided a spark offensively shooting 4-6 from the floor. Of the 10 first half points, eight of them came in the opening 10 minutes.
The Lions used an 18-3 run in the first quarter to take a 18-10 advantage after one.
Jacey Petruno scored five points during the run including a three pointer. Petruno finished the game with eight points knocking down two threes' while collecting four rebounds.
Despite the close score throughout the second half, the Lions never trailed over the final 20 minutes. With the Lions up two with 1:56 on the game clock and the shot clock running down,
Kenedy Cooper hit a big three pointer to put Albright up 64-59 late in the game.
Widener scored the games next seven of nine points to tiw things up at 66-66 with 10 seconds to play. On Albright's ensuing possession,
CJ Apistar drew a foul and was headed to the free throw line. Apistar made one of two to put the Lions up by one and ultimately for good.
The Albright defense stood tall denying Widener of game winning shot on the final play of the game. The 67-66 win over the Pride pulls the Lions even with Widener in the MAC Commonwealth standings.
Apistar finished with 13 points going 4-6 overall from the free throw including the game winner. The starting point guard added four rebounds and three assists to the sophomores overall stat line.
Despite having just two points at halftime,
Mackenzie Dover scored 15 second half points to lead Albright in scoring this afternoon. The 17 points marks the third straight game that Dover has scored exactly 17 points. The do it all guard played 35 minutes today totaling four rebounds and four assists.
Serrano finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Cooper had nine points and six rebounds on the afternoon continuing her strong play off the bench for Albright.
Albright was clutch from the free throw line all afternoon going 15-22. Albright held Widener to 17.4% from three-point line in a collective team defensive effort. The bench scoring was crucial for Albright this afternoon as the Lions bench outscored Widener's 23-3.
Up Next:
The Lions will look to continue the strong play of late at home against Eastern. The game is set for a 6:00 p.m. start time on Wednesday, January 23 from the Bollman Center.
