Box Score

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – For the first time in a year, the Lycoming College women's basketball team benefited from two double-doubles, as the Warriors scored 44 points in the paint en route to a convincing 68-54 win over Wilkes in non-conference action at Lamade Gym on Wednesday night.

The Warriors (7-11 overall) were led by the first career double-double from freshman Julia Antonelli (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford), who tied a career-high with 20 points and set one with 12 rebounds and the fourth of the season from senior Kaitlyn Ober (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), who posted 18 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Erin Connaghan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) also flirted with the double-double, notching a career-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds.

Lycoming led for all 40 minutes in the game and a strong passing presence helped the team post 22 of its 28 baskets from down low. Meanwhile, the team was just as dominant on the glass, grabbing 50 boards and outrebounding Wilkes (3-14 overall) on Lycoming's side of the court, 23-20, helping to lead to 21 second chance points.

The Warriors opened the game on an 11-3 run, with Connaghan leading the charge with four points in the first five minutes. The lead grew to 11 points at 18-7 after a layup from Antonelli and the Warriors extended the lead to as many as 14 with 5:25 left after a layup from Ober.

However, the Freedom Conference's second leading scorer, Sam Lynam led a closing charge by the Colonels in the closing minutes of the half, scoring eight points during a 19-10 run that made it 38-33 with 33 seconds left in the half. A nice reverse layup from Ober helped the Warriors take a 40-33 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Megan Kazmerski cut the lead to four points at 32-28 just 92 seconds into the half, but a layup by Connaghan was followed by three straight from Antonelli to extend the lead to 12 points at 50-38.

With the score 54-41 with 13:16 left, a 3-pointer from Lyman ignited Wilkes on a 6-0 run that helped the Colonels come within seven points, but junior Chelsea Shearer (East York, Pa./Dallastown) hit a trey to get the lead back to double figures before a pair of layups from Ober ended the threat.

"Wilkes plays hard," Lycoming head coach Chris Ditzler said. "They play hard and they are scrappy. They can shoot the ball well. When you let a team hang around, you're going to be in for a long night. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't put them away early. Fortunately for us, we managed to answer their scores with our own and that's something we haven't been doing."

A 3-point play from Lyman got the lead back to seven points with 3:49 left, but the Warriors shut the Colonels out from there and they closed out the game on a 7-0 run.

Ober also added five assists and two steals and Antonelli posted four assists and two blocks, as they became the first Lycoming duo to post double-doubles since Ober (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Rebecca Leid (14 points, 11 rebounds) posted them against Arcadia on Jan. 16, 2010.

Connaghan also added two assists and two steals. Shearer posted five points and sophomore Rachael Scheller (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) added two assists, two steals and six rebounds. Senior Rebecca Spencer (Granville Summit, Pa./Troy) added four points and five rebounds.

Lynam led the Colonels with 22 points, four 3-pointers, five rebounds and two assists. Angela Palmerio posted 10 points and three rebounds and Kazmerski notched three steals.

The Warriors head into the second half of the Commonwealth Conference schedule on Saturday, Jan. 29, when they head to Albright for a doubleheader, with the women tipping at 1 p.m. before the men play at 3 p.m.