Box Score

READING, Pa. – Using a gritty defensive effort and a backdoor layup from senior Erin Connaghan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) with 31 seconds left helped the Lycoming College women’s basketball team  secure the first win in school history over Alvernia University, 44-41, to stay perfect in Commonwealth Conference action on Saturday, Dec. 3.
 
The Warriors (4-2 overall, 2-0 Commonwealth) won its fourth straight game, its first in six meetings with Alvernia and improved to 2-0 in the league for the first time since 1997-98, when it was still in the Freedom Conference.
 
With the score tied at 40, Connaghan got the ball inside and drove behind four Alvernia defenders for a wide open layup. After a foul with 24 seconds left, Alvernia’s Allie Toczylowski hit the front end of the two shots but missed the second and Connaghan delivered the rebound. However, a missed Warrior free throw gave Alvernia (3-3 overall, 0-2 Commonwealth) another chance, but a jumper fell off the mark and sophomore Julia Antonelli (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford) grabbed the rebound and hit both free throws to ice the game with 1.3 seconds left.
 
The Warrior offense opened up inside in the second half, shooting 52 percent (14-for-27) after hitting just three field goals in the first stanza. Meanwhile, Alvernia also improved, hitting 31 percent (8-for-26), but Lycoming used 11 points off turnover to help turn the game in its favor.
 
Down 17-12 at halftime, the Warriors got a huge lift in the opening moments of the second half, as junior Rachael Scheller (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) hit two 3-pointers. With the score 25-20, freshman Ali Derr (New Columbia, Pa./Milton) hit a pair of field goals and Scheller hit a layup to complete a six-point swing.
 
“Ali made some tough shots,” Lycoming head coach Chris Ditzler said. “As a freshman, she just stepped right up. Kylee Sutton had a great game as well. We did a great job of closing the inside down for them. We forced them to shoot the outside shot.”  
 
Alvernia got the lead back with a 8-2 run that made it 32-28 with 7:17 left, but Lycoming answered as Derr hit a turnaround jumper and Scheller picked a Crusader’s pocket near their 3-point line and she drove in uncontested for the game-tying layup with 6:17 left.
 
After each team traded buckets, a steal by sophomore Jess Knott (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) led to a layup from Connaghan and Derr jit a jumper with 1:58 left to make it 38-34. The Crusaders got back into the game with a jumper by Toczlyowski and then a pair of free throws tied the game at 38. Each teams traded buckets in the next minute to set up the dramatic ending.
 
Both squads struggled early in the game, as the first 14 shots from the field before a 3-pointer from Cori Conner made in 7-2 with 12:54 left in the first half as the first six points of the game came from the free throw line. Lycoming finally broke through with a bucket from freshman Kylee Sutton (Wysox, Pa./Towanda Area) with 11:15 left to cut into the lead before a pair of field goals by Alvernia over the next five minutes to take a 11-4 lead. Sutton cut the lead with a traditional three-point play and from there, the Warriors started an 8-2 run to cut the lead to a point after a three-point play from senior Erin Connaghan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) with 4:20 left.
 
The Crusaders scored the last four points of the half, though, as they took a 17-12 lead into the break. Sutton led the Warriors in the half with seven points and six rebounds and Connaghan added three points and six boards. Alvernia, which shot just 16 percent in the half, was led by five points from Conner and five rebounds from Allie Toczylowski.
 
Derr finished with 10 points and six rebounds, as she hit all five of her shots and added a block and a steal. Antonelli posted 10 points and five rebounds and Scheller added 10 points, two treys, four assists and two steals. Connaghan added seven points, nine rebounds and two steals. Sutton posted seven points and six rebounds.
 
Angela Altemose posted 10 points and 10 rebounds and Toczylowski added nine points, nine rebounds and two steals for the Crusaders. Cori Conner added eight points.
 
The Warriors get back into action on Thursday, Dec. 8, when they host King’s (Pa.) at 6 p.m. in a Middle Atlantic Conference crossover battle.