ALBION, Mich. – Taylor Nugent and Lauren Epple combined to score 17 points during a 21-4 second half run as Albion College pulled away for a 79-67 victory over local rival Spring Arbor University.

Albion led by as many as five early in the second half, but the lead shrank to a single point when Audra Norris knocked down a 3-point basket to make the score 50-49 with 14:29 to play. Nugent produced the Britons' next three baskets – all from 3-point range – as the margin ballooned to nine, 60-51, with 10 ½ minutes to play. Epple followed with three baskets and a pair of free throws and Albion held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

"I feel good because we took a step forward," Albion Coach Doreen Carden said after her Britons improved to 1-3 on the young season. "It's going to take the young kids time, and it helped that we played with a lot of confidence."

Carden was also pleased that the Britons played a long stretch of the first half without Patty Rewa. Rewa, the team's leader in points and rebounds, picked up her second foul with 13:56 left in the first half.

Albion ripped off a 7-0 run immediately after Rewa went to the bench as Nugent sank a 3-point goal and Emily King and Brett deBear each went 2-for-2 from the line. Albion led by as many as 11 in the first half before settling for a 37-32 halftime lead.

"I felt like we had the game under control even without Patty on the floor," Carden said. "We did enough to stay with them."

Rewa scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half. Nugent finished with a career-high 16 points, knocking down 4-of-5 shots from 3-point range. Epple produced 12 points to score in double figures for the first time in her career, and deBear added a season-high 10 points.

Jessica Garrison led Spring Arbor with 18 points. Norris and Alex Glenn finished with 12 and 11, respectively.

Albion will challenge a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association rival for the first time this season at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when it plays host to Calvin College.