By Jimmy McCumber
The Albright College women's basketball team finished the game on a 20-2 run to grab a 62-60 victory over their biggest rival, shocking Alvernia on Saturday in the Bollman Center.
The Lions' run all came on the back of the same unit, as senior Kari Ludy, sophomores Amanda Tiritilli and Tara Sabotchick, and freshmen Kelecia Harris and Kadijah Harris meshed perfectly down the stretch to pull back a game that appeared lost.
Three of those players were in double-figures, including a big double-double from Harris (16 points, 14 rebounds). Tiritilli made three treys and finished with 11 points, and Sabotchick had 10 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting. Sabotchick (six) and Tiritilli (four) also combined for 10 assists on the day.
Down 58-42 with 6:25 to play, Tiritilli started things up with a three-pointer, and Sabotchick followed with a jumper on the next possession. Harris' layup cut the deficit to single-digits, with more than five minutes still left to play.
Harris' put-back soon made it 58-51, and she followed an Alvernia miss with her sixth consecutive point to make it a five-point game and force a reeling Crusaders squad to call timeout. Alvernia missed again out of the huddle however, and Sabotchick scored to make it a one-possession game.
A put-back from Kayla Long gave the Crusaders a much-needed basket, but it was the only two points they would score over the final 6:39 of the contest.
Bishop answered immediately with a bank shot, and then fed Sabotchick for a wide-open three-pointer that tied the contest with 1:30 to play.
Alvernia missed a pair at the free throw line and the Lions found themselves inbounding the ball with 21 seconds left and the shot clock turned off. Harris cut right to the hoop and finished off the lay-in, and Albright left with a 62-60 victory following a pair of misses from Kaitlyn Yoh.
Chelsea Ebersole sank 6-of-12 three-pointers to finish with a game-high 21 points. Long had a double-double underneath with 16 points (8-of-11) and 10 rebounds.
A nice baseline cut by Ludy had given Albright a 9-7 lead early, but Ebersole answered with a three-pointer. Another trey by Ebersole gave the visitors a 15-11 advantage, but Tiritilli soon tied it at 17-all with a triple of her own.
After a nice scoop shot by Tiritilli with 12 minutes to play, Ebersole connected again from behind the arc. Long-range efforts from the Alvernia freshmen later made it 47-39 and then 58-42, setting up Albright's run.
The Lions improve to 4-2, 2-0 on the season, and will host Widener on Wednesday in more Commonwealth Conference action. Alvernia falls to 3-2, 1-1.