Reading, Pa. (March 12, 2021) - After jumping out to an early lead, Alvernia University (4-3, 3-3) held off a second half push by Albright College (6-4, 4-4) to defeat the Lions 61-53 in MAC Commonwealth Women's Basketball action at Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court on Friday night.

The win over the Lions is the first time Alvernia has defeated Albright since February 8, 2012. It is also the first time Alvernia caps off the regular season with a win in nine years.

Alvernia came out of the tip wasting no time with Dee McCormick sinking a three on the opening possession of the game. After the Lions went up 4-3 after two minutes of action, Alvernia held Albright scoreless for five minutes while Alvernia racked up an 18-4 lead over the Lions.

"We knew how important it was to come out strong," said Head Coach Rayne Reber. "The past couple of games we had comout out flare - so it was something that we talked about before the game."

A 3-pointer from Albright's Maggie O'Hare ended the Lions drought, but Alvernia extended the lead back up to 13 on the following possession with McCormick hitting a jumper.

The Lions took advantage of some ball handling mistakes and fouls by Alvernia to come back within six, 20-14 with a minute left in the quarter. But the Golden Wolves scored five unanswered to finish out the quarter with a 25-14 lead.

The Golden Wolves kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter, with McCormick scoring the opening points of the frame on a jumper. 

Albright's Allison Dienes responded to McCormick's jumper with one of her own with 7:56 left in the quarter. It would be Albright's only field goal of the second quarter. The Lions didn't score a point for over five minutes, and Alvernia extended its lead to 23, 36-19, on a layup by Kramer with 2:17 remaining in the half. Albright converted three free throws in the final minutes of the half as Alvernia entered the break with a 41-19 lead.

For the third quarter in a row, McCormick scored the opening points to give Alvernia its largest lead of the night at 43-19 with 8:43 left in the quarter.

Albright found its rhythm though and began chipping away at Alvernia's lead. This time it was the Lion's who went on a 9-0 run over three minutes to cut Alvernia's lead down to 43-28 with five minutes left in the quarter. A layup and converted and-one from Kramer stopped the scoreless streak for Alvernia with 4:30 left in the quarter.

"We knew Albright was too talented of a team to not make a run," said Reber. "We talked at the half and knew we needed to stay composed, stick to our game plan, and execute when Albright would go on their runs."

The Lions and Golden Wolves matched basket for basket over the final minutes of the third quarter, with Alvernia holding a 52-41 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

First year Jordan Karmonick scored her first points of the game on a steal-layup to open the quarter for Alvernia, and Kayla Williams took advantage of another turnover by the Lions to put Alvernia up 15, 56-41, on a layup.

Alvernia held a double digit lead over the next  three minutes, and layup by Kramer with 4:54 gave Alvernia the 59-46 advantage.

The Lions weren't going down without a fight, and held Alvernia scoreless for the three minutes. A 3-pointer by Albright's Amina Rauf cut Alvernia's lead down to two possessions, 59-53, with just under two minutes to play.

The Lions would miss three scoring opportunities, and Alvernia converted three free throws, as the Golden Wolves took the 61-53.

The win marked Alvernia's first over the Lions in over nine years.

"Words can't describe the feeling and the emotions in that locker room after this win," said Reber. "Albright is always a big game for us and to be able to win on the home floor - on what was our [Ewen's] possible last home game of her career - meant the world to this team"

"Every game the girls continue to show me how much they improve and how much growth they make," added Reber. "To say that they came out and beat the second place team from last year's season shows a lot about the heart and the effort of these girls. They will not back down to anybody"

Sophomore Dee McCormick led Alvernia's offensive efforts with 20 points. Sophomore Cathryn Kramer recorded a 15 point, 10 rebound double-double, and first-year Kayla Williams finished with ten points. Senior Julia Ewen continued to dominate the boards, picking up 19 rebounds, with seven points, two blocks, and two steals.

The Golden Wolves finish the regular season in fourth place in the MAC Commonwealth, tying their best finish since Alvernia joined the MAC Commonwealth in the 2009-10 season. Alvernia tied with Albright at .500 each in MAC Commonwealth play, but Albright took the three seed on point differential in its series with Alvernia. The Golden Wolves await the completion of the MAC Freedom side of the schedule to see who they will match up with in next week's crossover series. 

No matter who Alvernia draws in next week's crossover, Reber says the message stays the same.

"[We] want to continue to improve every game and to put a full game together. We want to make history for Alvernia Women's Basketball. It's been a long time since we've had a winning season, and it's been a long time since [the program] finished the season with a win. We just want to continue to snap records and continue to grow."