MADISON, N.J. – With a second-half surge that came complete with scoring 44 points and holding Bates College to 10 points in the third quarter helped the Lycoming College women's basketball team to a 67-56 win in the season opener at the Rose City Classic on Friday night, Nov. 15, at Baldwin Gym.
 
The Warriors (1-0 overall) advance to the championship game of the Rose City Classic, where they will face Drew University on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m.
 
Three Warriors finished in double figures, led by senior Kayla Kline (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg), who had 15 points and six rebounds. Senior Akilah McFadden (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) added 11 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals and senior Morgan Mader (Cresco, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) added 10 points and four rebounds.
 
Lycoming shot 43 percent from the field while holding Bates to 33 percent, helping overcome a 47-38 deficit in rebounding.
 
Down by eight at halftime, the Warriors scored the first 10 points of the second half, with Kline giving the Warriors their first lead of the second half with 7:01 left in the third quarter. The Bobcats (1-0 overall) tied the game twice more, the second time at 38 with 2:45 left in the quarter, but Mader hit a step-back 3-pointer under pressure to give the Warriors a 41-38 lead. McFadden followed with an old-fashioned 3-point play and a layup to make it 46-40 as the fourth quarter began.
 
The Bobcats began the fourth with an 8-4 run to cut within two points with 7:06 left after a pair of layups from Ariana Dalia. Junior Erica Lutz (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) ended the run with a layup before another old-fashioned 3-point play from freshman Kenzie Reed (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) made it 55-48 with 5:43, igniting a 12-2 run, with five points each from Kline and Reed during the run, giving Lycoming a 62-50 lead with 1:36 left. The Bobcats were only able to get as close as eight in the last minute.
 
Bates used eight second-chance points and 18 in the paint to take a 30-22 lead into the break. The Bobcats took control of the half by scoring 10 points in a row over the course of four minutes to take a 19-8 lead and a 19-10 lead into the second quarter. The Warriors were able to cut the gap to six once, on a layup by McFadden with 1:02 left, but the Bobcats answered with a layup to make it an eight-point game at the break.
 
Sophomore Kelly Vuz (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren Regional added eight points and three rebounds and freshman Emily Zoscin (Weatherly, Pa./Weatherly Area) also had eight points. Lutz finished with six points, seven rebounds and two blocks and Reed had seven points and two blocks.
 
Meghan Graff posted 20 points and six rebounds and Dalia posted 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for Bates.