GLENSIDE, Pa. – Junior Kelecia Harris had 20 points and 17 rebounds and Albright clinched the No. 2 seed in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament with a 71-68 victory over Arcadia on Saturday in Alumni Gymnasium.
Albright improved to 17-6 overall and 11-3 in the Commonwealth Conference. With only two regular season games to play, the Lions locked up the second spot in the postseason tournament and will host the No. 3 seed on Feb. 25 in the Bollman Center at a time to be determined. Messiah currently occupies the No. 3 seed, but is just one game ahead of both Lebanon Valley and Arcadia.
The Lions will be making their first appearance in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament since the 2008-09 season. Also, Albright's 11 conference wins this season is a school record surpassing the previous record of 10 wins set by the 2006-07 team.
The Lions 11th conference win of the season did not come easily as Albright had to fend off a charge by the Knights.
Albright took a 60-51 lead with 7:22 to play in the game following a pair of free throws by freshman Devan Horka.
Arcadia responded with a 10-3 run, aided by a pair of three-point baskets, to trim the Albright lead to 63-61 with 3:06 remaining in the game.
Harris hit two free throws and Shannon Thomas added a jumper as Albright increased the lead to 67-61 at the 2:09 mark of the second half.
Two free throws by Dominque Hassinger and a layup by Megan Fox sandwiched a Kadijah Bishop free throw, which brought the Knights to within 68-65 with 37 seconds left.
Thomas made one of two free throw attempts to increase the lead to 69-65, but Albright would miss its next four free throw attempts.
Arcadia was unable to take advantage on the offensive end and Harris increased the lead to 70-65 with a free throw with 13 seconds to play.
The Knights got a three-point play from Maureen Fiocca to get to within 70-68 with five seconds left, but Jane Joyce made one of two free throws to up the Albright lead to 71-68 with three seconds to play.
Arcadia had an opportunity to tie, but Fiocca missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer.
Albright, which shot 45.7 percent from the floor in the first half, used a late run to take the lead into intermission.
Emily O'Donnell ignited an 8-1 Albright run to end the first half with a layup giving the Lions a 41-34 lead at halftime.
Harris was 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-8 from the foul line in posting her 14th double-double of the season. Thomas finished with 18 points, which included a 3-of-6 shooting performance from the three-point line, and Joyce added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Arcadia, which dropped to 11-12 overall and 7-7 in conference play, was led by Fiocca and Fox who each had 19 points. Addy Crenny finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Knights.
Albright will resume action on Tuesday (Feb. 17) when it hosts Hood at 6 p.m. in the Bollman Center.