By Jimmy McCumber
The Albright College women's basketball team went on a 25-8 second half run to break open a close game, beating host Arcadia 77-64 in the Lions' 2012-13 Commonwealth Conference opener.
Sophomore Jessica Venturelli had 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and junior Meghan Boyle totaled 15 points and six rebounds in the second half alone. Junior Shawn Barczynski totaled a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman center Emily O'Donnell had 10 points and five boards in just 12 minutes of action.
Boyle scored five straight points, including an and-one, to erase a 44-40 deficit and put the Lions ahead. Albright's run stretched to 7-0 on a Barczynski fadeaway, and 12-2 after Kari Ludy's three-point play on the break.
Arcadia's Dominique Hassinger hit a three to keep it close at 52-48, but Ludy hit a tough double-clutch lay-up and Venturelli's open jumper made it 56-48 Lions.
Amanda Tiritilli's long three-pointer with 5:40 to play made it 61-52, and freshman Kelecia Harris then added two free throws to give Albright the first double-digit lead of the game, with five minutes left.
Venturelli had hit a jumper to open the scoring one minute in, and then swished a corner three on the next possession to give Albright a 5-2 advantage.
A Tara Sabotchick trey soon re-took a 10-9 lead for the Red and White, but Sara DeCinque answered with a triple at the other end. Sabotchick made it 13-11 after Boyle dove for a loose ball and managed to hand it off to Harris.
Arcadia's point guard Hassinger was playing aggressive full-court defense all game and stripped Sabotchick to go the other way, tying the contest again at 13-all. A pair of triples from Morgan Wensley soon put the Knights ahead 21-15.
O'Donnell recorded a block and then made an elbow jumper to cut the deficit to 26-23. Barczynski tied it at 26-26 with a put-back off O'Donnell's miss, and gave the Lions a 32-31 lead at the break with a bucket in the final 30 seconds.
The teams traded baskets early in the second half. Boyle hit a jumper to tie the game at 36-36, and then scored again to push the Lions ahead by two. Hassinger tied the game again with a hard drive in transition.
Barczynski had a put-back with 13:17 to go, but the game was tied again at 40-40 after two Samantha Caligiuri free throws. Wensley's third three-pointer of the contest put Arcadia ahead 43-30.
Albright improves to 3-2, 1-0 and hands a young Arcadia squad (4-1, 0-1) their first loss of the season. 13 of 17 Knights are freshmen, including eight of nine rotation players.