FREDERICK, Md. – Holding Hood College without a field goal for more than a 10-minute period, the Lycoming College women's basketball team outscored Hood by 16 points in the fourth quarter to win its first MAC Commonwealth game of the season going away, 72-56, at BB&T Arena on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2.
 
Senior Shelby Mueller (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) pulled in 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, as she pulled within seven points of becoming the 10^th player in school history to reach 1,000 in a career. She also posted two blocks and three steals in her third double-double of the season.
 
After working through six ties and 10 lead changes in the game's first 30 minutes, it was Mueller, the senior forward, who lifted the Warriors (5-2 overall, 1-1 MAC Commonwealth) in the fourth quarter, which began tied at 48 thanks to a run of five Warrior points in the quarter's final 1:45. Mueller got a backdoor layup just 12 seconds into the quarter while being fouled. On the team's next possession, junior Becca Painter (Elverson, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) hit her second 3-pointer of the game.
 
A pair of free throws from Hood (3-2 overall, 1-1 MAC Commonwealth) made it a four-point game, but Mueller responded with a layup and sophomore Hailey Dayton (Reisterstown, Md./St. Timothy's) swished through a floater to make it an eight-point game with 6:08 left. The Warriors continued to roll, building the lead to 70-53 after a pair of free throws from senior Haley Sipple (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) with 1:51 left. By the time Maggie Tien's 3-pointer with 1:11 went through, the Warriors had finished a 27-5 run to guarantee their first conference win of the year.
 
The Warriors jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, with sophomore Kayla Kline (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) getting an old-fashioned 3-point play before drilling a regular trifecta. The Blazers answered, though, with 10 straight points to take its first lead of the game. The Warriors answered with a 3-pointer from Sipple to retake the lead, setting the game on a pendulum that featured six more lead changes and two more ties before halftime.
 
The Warriors used a seven-point run that featured back-to-back layups from freshman Erica Lutz (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) to take a 32-27 lead before Hood responded with six straight points, but sophomore Akilah McFadden (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) drove in for a layup with the clock ticking under a minute in the half to give Lycoming a 34-33 lead and then she dropped back a pass for senior Hailey Fricke (Denver, Pa./Garden Spot), who canned a 3-pointer as time expired on the half.
 
In the third quarter, the Warriors kept the lead for a majority of the period, but Hood used a late 10-2 run to take a five-point lead off a layup by Mia Savoy with 1:45 left. The Warriors answered when Dayton found McFadden open in the corner for a 3-pointer and Mueller hit a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left to send the game into the final stanza tied.
 
Despite shooting just 37 percent from the field (24-of-65), the Warriors shot 50 percent (9-of-18) from 3-point range and had three players finish in double figures in Mueller, McFadden (10 points, four assists) and Kline (10 points, seven rebounds, two steals). Dayton, Sipple, Lutz, Painter and sophomore Morgan Mader (Cresco, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) each had six points, with Dayton also adding four assists and Painter and Lutz each getting two blocks.
 
Hood shot 35 percent (19-of-54) but just 23 percent (5-of-22) in the second half, as Lycoming outscored the Blazers, 22-10 in second-chance points and 28-20 in the paint. Savoy led the team with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Wednesday, Dec. 6, when they head to Alvernia Unversity for a 6 p.m. MAC Commonwealth game.