READING, Pa. – Senior Chelsea Henderson (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) and sophomore Shelby Mueller (Collegeville, Pa./Spring-Ford) led the Lycoming College women's basketball team with 14 points and Lycoming used a strong second half to down Alvernia University, 64-52, in MAC Commonwealth action on Wednesday night, Jan. 27, at the Physical Education Center.
 
The win moves the Warriors to an 11-7 overall record and 6-3 in the MAC Commonwealth while the loss drops the Crusaders to 7-12 overall and 2-8 in conference.
 
Mueller finished 7-for-11 (.636) from the field, including going 4-for-5 and eight points in the first quarter, while Henderson shot 7-for-12 (.583) from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Senior Olivia Manges (York, Pa./West York) continued her hot outside shooting, as she hit 3-of-5 from long range and finished with 13 points and three rebounds.
 
Leading by six with 2:41 to play, the Warriors went to work to make sure the Crusaders could not come back. Calella hit a pair of free throws and Henderson hit a jumper on the next possession to push the lead to 58-48. After both team traded baskets, with under a minute left, junior Nicole Calella (Sandyston, N.J./Kittatinny Regional) hit three free throws and sophomore Haley Sipple (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) hit another to give the Warriors the final margin of 12 points.
 
The Warriors took an 11-2 lead to begin the game and never looked back. Mueller made each of her first three shots in the opening frame, but the Crusaders fought back to trail just 20-14 after the first quarter. Both teams pushed hard in the second, as the Crusaders outscored the Warriors 13-11 in the frame, but the Warriors still held a 31-27 advantage at the half.
 
The Warriors shot 14-for-33 (.424) in the first half as they only turned the ball over three times while scoring 11 points on nine Crusader turnovers.
 
Manges and Henderson took over for the Warriors in the third as they scored four and six points, respectively, in the quarter to help the Warriors cling to a five-point lead heading into the final frame. The Warriors played their best defense of the game in the fourth as they limited the Crusaders to just eight points on 3-for-14 shooting (.214).
 
Calella finished with 11 points, including 5-of-6 from the free throw line to go along with six assists and four steals. After pulling in her first rebound of the game mid-way through the first, Mueller became the first Warrior to post 100 rebounds in each of her first two seasons since Julia Antonelli (2010-11).
 
As a team, the Warriors shot 27-for-63 (.429) from the field and 4-for-7 (.571) from long range while only committing nine turnovers and holding advantages in points off turnovers (19-8), points in the paint (30-16), and second-chance points (10-6). After scoring the first basket of the game, the Warriors never trailed.
 
Junior Jenna Wolff led the way for the Crusaders, as she scored 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting (.643) and pulled in five rebounds while freshman Miranda Hoover contributed a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling in 11 rebounds.
 
The Warriors return to action on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 1 p.m. as they host Widener University in a crucial MAC Commonwealth matchup.?