WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – With a pressure defense that forced eight fourth-quarter turnovers, the Lycoming College women's basketball team nearly pulled off a comeback after being down 11 points at the beginning of the quarter, but fell just short, 74-70, to William Paterson, in the Hoops for Hounds Tournament Championship at Lamade Gym on Thursday, Dec. 29.
 
Freshman Akilah McFadden (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) earned a spot on the all-tournament team for the Warriors (8-4 overall), despite playing just 17 minutes due to foul trouble. She still finished with seven points, four rebounds and four steals and finished the tournament with an average of 11.5 points, 5,5 rebounds and 4.5 steals per game.
 
Down by 12 points with 2:29 left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors began a rally with a layup inside by junior Shelby Mueller (Collegeville, Pa./Spring-Ford) and with 1:56 left, she hit a pair of free throws to close within eight points. The Pioneers (7-5 overall) got the lead back to 10 with 59 seconds left, as Nikole Williams hit a pair of free throws, but freshman Morgan Mader (Cresco, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) responded with a 3-pointer, then she got a steal off the inbounds and laid it in before McFadden got a steal at midcourt and brought it in for the score to make it 69-66 with 43 seconds left.
 
Fouling on the next possession, the Warriors fell behind by four when Kristina Ulrich hit the front end of a pair of free throws and Mueller hit a layup to make it a two-point game with 32 seconds left. After another Pioneer free throw, sophomore Becca Painter (Elverson, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) hit a 19-footer from the baseline to make it 71-70 with 23 seconds left.
 
Williams responded for the Pioneers, though, hitting a layup after the team broke the press. Lycoming for a look from three with four seconds left, but it fell off the rim.
 
Up five at halftime, the Pioneers expanded the lead to 60-49 at the end of the third quarter, as they shot 47 percent in the quarter and held the Warriors to 24 percent and led by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter before the Warriors began their comeback.
 
In the first quarter, the two teams fought back and forth, with neither team taking more than a three-point advantage while working through three ties and three lead changes. With four players relegated to the bench in the second quarter, Lycoming was still able to take the lead twice in the second quarter thanks jumpers from junior Haley Sipple (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester), the second making it 26-25 with 6:32 left. However, William Patterson responded with a 3-pointer and a five-point run late in the quarter made it 39-32, but a baseline jumper from sophomore Jenn Grove (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) cut the lead to five points at the break.
 
Mueller led the Warriors with 14 points and six rebounds, as she moved past 700 points in her career. Sipple added 11 points and nine rebounds and Grove finished with 10 points. Freshman Hailey Dayton (Reisterstown, Md./St. Timothy's) added seven points and two assists.
 
Gabby Harris led the Pioneers with 14 points and seven rebounds and Williams added 13 points and seven rebounds. Sihani Asani posted 12 points, hitting three 3-pointers.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Wednesday, Jan. 4, when they host Lebanon Valley in a 6 p.m. MAC Commonwealth game in Lamade Gym.