Box Score

READING, Pa. – The Albright College women’s basketball team outscored Lebanon Valley 15-2 to start the game and never looked back, as the Lions used stifling defense to down the Dutchmen 58-27 in the Commonwealth Conference opener for both teams Tuesday evening in the Bollman Center.

Albright (3-1, 1-0 CC), which held LVC scoreless over the opening 8:52, received 16 points and seven rebounds from Mallory Olsheski in 20 minutes off the bench. Annie McMahon added 10 points for the Lions while Jaqueline Hardwick had eight points and nine rebounds. Charlotte Ciccone added six points and five assists.

Lebanon Valley (1-3, 0-1), which lost its third game in a row after winning its season opener, received a team-high eight points from junior guard Donna Geiger. Senior forward Monica Johnson netted six points to move to within 14 points of 1,000 for her career. Johnson also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Lions shot only 35.3% but limited the Valley to 18.2% shooting.

An Olsheski jumper with 9:54 left in the opening half gave Albright its 15-2 lead before a Jenna Gambino lay-up and a pair of Johnson free throws cut the gap to nine with 8:34 on the clock. A Johnson lay-up 6:15 before the intermission made it 17-8, but that’s as close as LVC would get the rest of the way. The Lions led 24-10 at the break despite shooting just 29.7% over the opening 20 minutes.

The second half started much like the first for Albright, as it opened the stanza with a decisive 15-3 run to assume a 26-point lead (39-13) with 14:28 remaining.

Lebanon Valley returns to action on Saturday, when it hosts Elizabethtown College at 1 p.m. in the opener of a men’s and women’s doubleheader.

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