Box Score

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Lycoming College women’s basketball team outscored Elizabethtown by 11 points in the second half, but after holding the Warriors to 14 points in the first half, the Blue Jays were able to hold on for an important 61-53 win in Commonwealth Conference action on Wednesday night, Feb. 9, at Lamade Gym.

The Blue Jays (13-8 overall, 5-6 Commonwealth) moved into a tie for the fourth and final playoff slot with Alvernia while the Warriors (9-13 overall, 4-7 Commonwealth) stayed one game behind the two clubs with three left to play.

Freshman Julia Antonelli (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford) led the Warriors with 16 points and eight rebounds, as she nailed all eight of her free throw attempts and freshman Jessica Knott (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) notched career highs of 11 points and three 3-pointers to lead the team. She also added four rebounds.

The Warriors were plagued with foul trouble in the first half, as senior Kaitlyn Ober (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) picked up her second foul with 11:30 left in the half. The Blue Jays took advantage with a 25-7 run to close the half, holding the Warriors without a field goal for five and a half minutes and took a 33-14 lead into the break.

Lycoming fought back in the critical game, though, as Knott hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the half and a free throw from junior Erin Connaghan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) cut the lead to 10 points at 37-27 with 14:20 left to cap a 13-4 run to open the half.

The Blue Jays got the lead back to 14 points before the Warriors responded with another run, cutting the lead to seven points at 44-37 with 7:42 left, but a solid night on the line by the Blue Jays (22-for-27) helped keep the Warriors from completing the comeback.

Ober finished with eight points, three rebounds and a block and Connaghan notched six points, six rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Rachael Scheller (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) added six points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Elizabethtown was led by 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks from Stephanie Ellwood and 14 points, eight rebounds and three rebounds from Kaity Snyder. Kendra Beittel added 12 points and three assists.

The Warriors face Alvernia in a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader on Saturday, Feb, 12, with the women tipping at 5 p.m. and the men playing at 7 p.m.