The Lancaster Bible women's basketball team took its first steps towards a North Eastern Athletic Conference title on Tuesday night as the Chargers crushed Wells, 70-39 at Horst Athletic Center. The victory sends the Chargers to the NEAC Semifinals where they will face Morrisville State. The Mustangs defeated Cazenovia in a North Division Quarterfinal on Tuesday evening. 

Lancaster Bible dominated the paint on Tuesday night as Aubrey Folger and Shanice Smith were a force to be reckoned with. Smith had 15 points and 17 rebounds, while Folger had 12 points and 18 boards. Lancaster Bible controlled the game from the opening tip as the Chargers opened the game on a 11-5 run over the first 5:42. Wells cut the deficit to 11-7 on a jumper from Jasmine Thomas with 14:01 to play in the half, but it would the last Express bucket for nearly five minutes and over the next minutes, Wells would only score five points.

During that span, Lancaster Bible got rebound after rebound, specifically on the offensive end where the Chargers extended many possessions. During the 10 minutes where Wells managed just five points, Lancaster Bible scored 18 and took a 27-12 lead on a layup from Smith with 5:41 to play in the half.

The sequence of plays that paint the picture of the entire game occurred with just over two minutes to play in the opening half when Katy Stover missed a shot and the offensive board was grabbed by Folger. Folger missed her layup, but grabbed the offensive rebound. Folger missed her layup again, but this time Smith got the offensive board and her put back went in and effectively broke the back of the Wells defense. Lancaster Bible rode the momentum from that play to a 41-20 advantage at halftime as the Chargers shot just 13-of-30 from the field in the first half, but out-rebounded Wells, 24-9, including 11-3 on the offensive glass.

Any chance of a comeback was immediately squashed by Lancaster Bible in the second half as the Chargers opened the half on a 9-0 run and opened up a 50-20 lead with 16:36 to play. Wells eventually cut the deficit to 23 at, 56-33, on a bucket by Kamarie Maturine with 11:42 to play, but the Express once again went cold from the field as they would not score again until the 5:31 mark on a jumper from Kaitlynne Knapp. 

During the six minute drought, Lancaster Bible outscored Wells just 6-0, but continued to control the glass and finished the game with a 46-20 rebounding advantage.

"Our ability to rebound and control inside was the focus of practice yesterday, during our shoot around today and during our pre-game talk," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Rachel Steinbarger said. "We knew we had that advantage going into the game and we did a great job taking advantage of it during the game."

With Folger and Smith combining for 27 points and 35 rebounds and Katy Stover adding 15 points and Kirsten Webster chipping in with 14 points, Steinbarger thinks the Chargers have set a tone for the rest of the week.

"When we play like we did tonight, teams have to respect our game in the post and they have to cover our shooters," Steinbarger said. "We will be successful this weekend if we continue to play like we did tonight."

Senior Meaghan Williams added six points, three rebounds and three assists on Tuesday and Steinbarger said the team wants to keep Williams' career going this weekend in New York.

"We are excited for the weekend and the girls just want to keep playing for Meaghan," Steinbarger said. "She is one of our leaders and the team wants to keep winning for her."

Saturday's NEAC Semifinal against Morrisville State is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

Notes:
-Wells finishes the season with a 9-15 record.

-Lancaster Bible is now 6-1 all-time against Wells.