WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – With the Lycoming College women's basketball team's lead down to three points late in the first half, senior Janelle Ziminski (Drums, Pa./Hazleton Area) read an entry pass at the top of the arc perfectly, picking it off and cruising in for her second fastbreak layup of the game and the team never looked back, posting a 57-47 win over Delaware Valley College in the first round of the ninth Hoops for Hounds Classic on Sunday night, Dec. 28, at Lamade Gym.
 
The Warriors improved to 9-1 overall for the first time since 1996-97, as they held Delaware Valley (4-8 overall) to 26 percent (16-of-62) from the floor.
 
The Warriors finished the first half on a 6-1 run after Ziminski's layup to take a 26-18 lead into the break and were able to withstand a run by Delaware Valley early in the second half that cut the lead to two points at 28-26 with 16:45 left. The Warriors responded with eight straight points, four coming from senior Ali Derr (New Columbia, Pa./Milton Area), as they took a 36-26 lead just 2:30 minutes after the Aggie run.
 
The Aggies couldn't get closer than six points the rest of the way, as the Warriors kept a comfortable three-possession lead for much of the half, while forcing the Aggies to hit just 29 percent from the floor while hitting 46 percent themselves in the second period.
 
Both teams struggled from the floor in the first half, but Lycoming took control after the game was tied at nine seven minutes into the game, using an 8-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 17-9 lead after three fastbreak buckets during the run.  
 
The Aggies cut the lead down to three points twice after that, the last time at 20-17, but Ziminski stopped the run with her coast-to-coast steal which set up the Warriors' late half run.
 
Junior Chelsea Henderson (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) led a group of three Warriors in double figures, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Sophomore Nicole Calella (Sandyston, N.J./Kittatinny Regional) added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds and Derr posted 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
Ziminski notched all eight of her points in the first half, while also adding nine rebounds, a game-high four steals and three assists. Junior Olivia Manges (York, Pa./West York) and freshman Shelby Mueller (Collegeville, Pa./Spring-Ford) each added six points, with Mueller posting a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Brenna Coll led the Aggies with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Eireann Anastasi finished with 13 points, five assists and four steals. Agatha Drozd also posted 10 points and two steals.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Monday, Dec. 29, when they host TCNJ in the final game of the Hoops for Hounds Classic at 3 p.m. in Lamade Gym. The game will be the de facto championship game of the classic, as TCNJ beat Case Western Reserve, 57-51, in the other first round game. Case Western Reserve will face Delaware Valley in the first game of the day at 1 p.m.