Albright 55, Lebanon Valley 49

LVC Starters
Rothert, Umbrell, Troutman, Chaklos, Cirucci

Albright Starters
Thomas, K. Harris, Mazzarelli, Lofton, Joyce

How It Happened
In a matchup between the two top teams in the MAC Commonwealth currently, Albright came out on top in a defensive battle with Lebanon Valley by a 55-49 score. The Lions stayed undefeated and moved to 7-0, 2-0 Mac Commonwealth, while the Dutchmen fell to 5-2, 1-1 MAC Commonwealth.

Down 34-25 with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter, LVC started the comeback with a jumper from Bridget Rothert, followed by a layup from Lexie Lantz to make it 34-29 with 3:12 to go. In the closing seconds of the quarter, Rothert converted back-to-back free throws and drilled a jumper with two seconds left, as the Dutchmen were down by just one point (38-37) heading into the final quarter of action.

The first points of the fourth quarter were again from Rothert, as she converted a layup to give the Dutchmen their first lead (39-38) since early In the third quarter. As was true for most of the game, both defenses continued to play well in the fourth quarter. With LVC ahead 49-47 with 3:44 remaining in the game, Albright's Amara-Niani Jackson tied the game for the ninth time with a layup, followed by a huge 3-pointer from Shannon Thomas that put the Lions ahead for good with 2:23 to go in the contest. Albright went 3-for-3 down the stretch from the charity stripe to seal the narrow 55-49 victory.

The Dutchmen led early on, jumping out to a 10-4 advantage with 4:45 to go in the first. The Lions, however, ended the opening quarter on a 9-5 spurt to cut the deficit to 15-13 after one quarter of action. In the second quarter, the score stayed close and Albright held the biggest lead of the quarter at 19-15 with 5:56 to go, but the Dutchmen never allowed the Lions to run away and went into halftime down by just one at 24-23.

Inside the Numbers
 - Lantz finished with a team-high 11 points and three blocks, while Rothert recorded 10 points.
 - Taylor Umbrell and Taylor Troutman added nine points apiece, while Troutman brought down a game-high 12 rebounds.
 - Thomas paced Albright with a game-high 16, while Kelecia Harris notched 10.
  - The Lions held the slight edge in rebounds at 37-32.
 - LVC had 12 points off of 19 Albright turnovers.
 - Each team recorded 24 points in the paint.

Who's Next?
The Dutchmen look to get back on track on Wednesday when LVC travels to take on Misericordia at 7 p.m.