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ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — With a spot in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals on the line, the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team led the entire way en route to their 72-55 win at Thompson Gymnasium Monday evening. Taylor Kreider, who averaged a double-double against the Warriors in two prior games this season, recorded her third against Lyco, leading the Blue Jays with 19 points and 17 rebounds.

Elizabethtown (15-10), the No. 4 seed, came into the contest on a three-game win streak and will now make their second straight trip to the semifinals. It is their first playoff victory since beating Messiah in the Commonwealth Conference final in 2001.

The Warriors (8-17), the No. 5 seed, kept it close for most of the first half. For about a five-minute stretch starting at the 15:22 mark, both teams traded baskets as the Jays could not pull away from Lycoming. A lay-up by Rachael Scheller had E-town's lead down to three with 9:14 left in the first half, but the Jays would steadily build it back up to a nine-point advantage after Erika Ferro's two free throws made it 33-24 with 3:58 to go.

Katy Fogel, for the second game in a row, put the first points on the board for the Elizabethtown. She also scored the final points of the half for home squad on a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining off an assist from Ferro. Kreider did most of her damage in the first 20 minutes, dropped 16 of her 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. She finished the game just four assists shy of a triple-double.

The Warriors, who trailed 38-26 at the break, started the second half on an 18-6 run over the first nine minutes of the second half. After Nadine Yunginger's layup with 14:16 on the clock, the Jays went nearly four minutes without scoring and saw their lead dwindle down to just six at 44-38.

However, a quick 7-0 run capped off by Kendra Beittel's three-point play pushed the Jays' lead back up to 13 with 8:39 left in the game.

Looking to extend the game, Lycoming began fouling with over two minutes left, forcing E-town to connect on their free throws. The Jays made ten of 18 attempts in the final minutes, something they'll want to improve upon in order to get past the top seeds. Overall, Elizabethtown was 19-for-34 from the foul line (55.9%).

Rachel Forjan came off the bench to score 12 points (3-4, 6-6 FT), Yunginger had 12 points including two treys, and Taylor Alwine scored with under 30 seconds to go to get into double figures with ten, the fourth Blue Jays player to get into double figures on the night.

Coach Sherri Gorman called a timeout with 39 seconds left and subbed out her seniors, Yunginger and Fogel, who were greeted with a loud ovation by the home fans after playing their final home game at Thompson Gymnasium.

The women's team will travel to face No. 1 seed and nationally-ranked Messiah on Wednesday, February 20 in Grantham, Pa. The Commonwealth Conference Semifinal has a scheduled tip-off time of 7 p.m.