By Jimmy McCumber

The Albright College women's basketball team broke a three-game skid in style, running away from new conference rival Hood 73-52 on Wednesday in the Bollman Center.

Freshman Kelecia Harris was 7-of-12 from the floor and totaled 15 points and 16 rebounds for an emphatic double-double. She also had four steals and two blocked shots.

Albright's bigs were solid all around as junior Meghan Boyle had 11 points, eight boards and four assists, and freshman Emily O'Donnell added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Lions jumped out to a 43-26 halftime lead, holding a 33-15 rebound advantage after pulling down 16 offensive boards. Harris nearly had a double-double in 14 first half minutes, totaling 11 points and nine rebounds.

Kristi McFadden and O'Donnell were inserted into the starting lineup and McFadden fed O'Donnell for an elbow jumper to open the scoring.

The teams soon traded three-pointers as Hood's Briana Lee banked one in to answer Tara Sabotchick. Emily Maerz gave the visitors a 12-10 advantage with another triple, but O'Donnell put Albright back on top with a three-point play.

The Lions trailed 14-13 with 15:09 remaining in the first half and then ripped off a 28-4 run to blow things open.

Harris' put-back made it 21-16, and Sabotchick's three-pointer soon pushed the lead to 31-16 and forced Hood to call timeout, exactly halfway through the period.

Albright would ultimately score 18 consecutive points, capped by a Kari Ludy put-back and then an offensive put-back from Harris that gave the Lions a 37-16 lead. Verkia Smith made a free throw for Hood, but Harris and Amanda Tiritilli had baskets as the hosts continued to roll.

Sophomore Jessica Venturelli (12 points) drained three-pointers in the second half to give Albright leads of 48-26. Shawn Barczynski converted a three-point play off a pass over the top from Boyle to push the gap to 63-37.

Lee and Smith each had 11 points for Hood (4-9, 2-4). Albright improves to 7-7, 3-4 and will travel to face defending Commonwealth champion Lebanon Valley on Saturday.