By Jimmy McCumber

The Albright College women's basketball team routed local rival Alvernia on Wednesday, pulling away for a 68-45 victory on the road.

Freshman forward Kelecia Harris had another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in just 23 minutes of action. Fellow rookie Emily O'Donnell nearly had one as well (12 points, nine rebounds), in just 14 total minutes.

Junior Kristi McFadden came off the bench and contributed seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, four rebounds and six assists. Classmate Meghan Boyle had seven points and seven boards.

Albright took its first lead after five-and-a-half minutes, as Tara Sabotchick found Harris for a 10-8 lead. Jessica Venturelli then drove for a lay-up and a 12-10 advantage, forcing Alvernia to take a timeout.

Chelsea Ebersole answered with another three, after opening the game's scoring from behind the arc. The Crusader freshman picked up where she left off, following her six-trey performance in the teams' first meeting this season.

Harris blocked a shot and then scored on a backdoor cut at the other end, with an assist from McFadden, to put the Lions up 14-13.

Up 19-17, the Lions closed the first half on a 19-4 run. Venturelli hit a three, then Amanda Tiritilli was good from the right side for another triple and a 25-17 Albright lead.

Sabotchick hit an open three with 5:17 left before halftime, after a nice swing from McFadden to Tiritilli to the Lion sophomore. McFadden found O'Donnell on the fast break as the Lions went up 33-19 and forced yet another timeout. McFadden's corner three made it 38-21 at the break as Albright kept finding open shots.

Venturelli hustled back to block an Alvernia break, then got back down the floor to score at the offensive end, giving her side a 44-24 lead early in the second half. O'Donnell soon scored right under the basket for a 48-28 advantage.

Boyle converted a three-point play with 13:19 remaining, giving the Lions a 51-30 lead. O'Donnell repeated the feat with 10:14 left to keep the gap at 21 points, 56-35.

McFadden took over late, driving for a 60-37 lead and then hitting Shawn Barczynski with a nice pass for a 64-60 advantage. McFadden then converted a hard drive to the hole to put the Lions ahead 66-40.

Albright held its rivals to just 30.6% from the floor, and 18.8% from behind the arc. The Lions held a 51-28 edge in rebounding and 46-28 advantage in the paint as the Crusaders' struggled to handle the Red and White's post players, opening up open looks that the guards knocked down all night.

Ebersole led the Crusaders with 11 points, while Kelsey Wolf had seven points and three steals.

With the win, Albright (9-11, 5-8) moves into a tie for the fifth and final playoff spot with Lycoming, although the Warriors would currently hold head-to-head tie-breaker after beating the Lions earlier this season. Albright faces defending conference champion Lebanon Valley on Saturday in the Bollman Center.