READING, Pa. – Junior Kelecia Harris led four players in double figures with 20 points and Albright opened the game with a 21-2 run as it closed out the regular season with a 73-54 Commonwealth Conference victory over Alvernia on Saturday in the Bollman Center.
Harris opened the game with back-to-back baskets before Kaitlyn Yoh cut the Lions lead to 4-2 with a layup. Albright then responded with a 17-0 run to take a 21-2 lead with 13:39 to play in the first half.
Jessica Venturelli ignited the run with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws and Harris added six points.
Albright stretched the lead to 33-11 on a Harris layup with 6:50 left in the first half before the Crusaders fought back.
Chelsea Ebersole hit a pair of three-pointers during a 15-4 Alvernia run that cut the lead to 37-26 with 2:06 left in the first period.
Kadijah Bishop ended the run with a basket for Albright, which gave the Lions a 39-26 lead at the intermission.
Alvernia (8-17, 4-12 Commonwealth) rallied to within 42-32 on a layup by Mya Lobb, but Albright responded with baskets from Harris and back-to-back buckets from Jane Joyce to increase the lead to 48-32 with 15:17 to play.
Alvernia was never able to get the lead under 11 points for the remainder of the contest and Albright took its largest lead of the game at 69-45 when Emily O'Donnell converted a three-point play with 2:53 to play in the game.
Albright, which won its fifth consecutive game, limited Alvernia to just 36.2 percent shooting from the floor and forced 20 Crusader turnovers. The Lions had a season-low 10 turnovers and scored 23 points off of the 20 Alvernia turnovers.
Albright, led by Harris, dominated the inside as it outscored the Crusaders 40-26.
Saturday marked Senior Day for Albright as Venturelli and Allison Hardwick played their final regular season game in the Bollman Center. Venturelli finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Hardwick, who started her first career game, finished with one point and a career-high five rebounds.
Albright also received 11 points each from Joyce and sophomore Shannon Thomas.
Alvernia was paced by Tyra Roberts who had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Albright finished the regular season with a 19-6 overall record and a school-record 13-3 mark in Commonwealth Conference play. The Lions are just one win shy of tying the school record of 20 wins in a season.
The Lions earned the No. 2 seed in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament and will host the No. 3 seed Messiah on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Bollman Center.