Reading, Pa. (Feb. 19, 2022) - Alvernia University (11-13, 4-12) jumped out to a 32-11 lead after the first quarter and never looked back as the Golden Wolves defeated Hood College (6-19, 2-14) 88-52 on Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth women's basketball action at Alvernia. 

Alvernia scored a season-high 33 field goals and season-high 13 made 3-pointers while scoring 38 points off of turnovers to cruise to an 88-52 win over the Blazers. With the win, Alvernia locked up the #8 seed in the MAC Commonwealth Championship, and will host #9 Hood College again on Monday night at 7:00 PM.

The Golden Wolves jumped out to an early 7-0 lead following layups from Taliyah Malone and Tamia Wessels, as well as a 3-pointer from Jordan Karmonick, after just under three minutes of action.

The Blazers first points of the afternoon came off a 3-pointer from Bre Smith to make it a 7-4 game with 6:43 to play in the first.

With Alvernia leading 9-5 20 seconds later, Tyra Robinson knocked down a jumper to put Alvernia up 11-5. Tyra Robinson then went on to score seven of Alvernia's next nine points as the Alvernia lead grew to 13, 20-7, with 4:05 left in the first.

Later on in the quarter following a Morgan Anderson layup for Hood, Kayla Williams hit a 3-point shot to extend Alvernia's lead to 14, 23-9. Williams then converted a layup off a Hood turnover to put Alvernia up by 16.

Alvernia scored seven in the final minute of the first to take a 32-11 lead into the second frame.

A 3-pointer from Malone marked the first points of the second quarter and extended Alvernia's lead to 24, 35-11. Following a layup from Anderson to open Hood's second quarter scoring, the Blazers went scoreless for the next four minutes while Alvernia powered ahead. The Golden Wolves put up 14 with the run being capped off by a Tyra Robinson three to lead the Blazers 49-13 with 5:43 to play in the half.

A 3-pointer from Bre Smith with 5:17 remaining in the second ended Hood's scoring drought, but the Blazers couldn't get much more going. Alvernia closed out the half out-scoring Hood 9-2 to take a 58-18 lead into the break.

The Golden Wolves scored the opening eight points of the second half - including six points off of 3-pointers from Williams and Malon - to extend its lead to its largest margin of the game, 66-18, with 8:15 to play in the third.

Alvernia held around a 40 point lead the rest of the quarter. Tyra Robinson capped off the third quarter for Alvernia with a 3-pointer to make it 75-33 with 1:43 to play in the frame. Hood scored the final points of the third on a layup to make it a 75-35 game going into the final ten minutes.

The Golden Wolves did not allow Hood to get any closer than 40 points until the final two minutes of action as Alvernia coasted to the 88-52 win.

Tyra Robinson easily bettered her previous career-high of 15 points with a 26 point performance this afternoon. She went 11-for-13 from the floor and was a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. She also added five rebounds and two steals in just 23 minutes of action. Malone also scored a career-high 20 points, going 7-for-10 from the field and 4-for-6 from three point range. She also dished out a team-high six assists.

The Golden Wolves scored 38 points off of 31 Hood turnovers. 

Alvernia will host the Blazers again on Monday night in the play-in round of the MAC Commonwealth Championship. The winner of the Alvernia vs. Hood matchup will head to top-seeded Messiah on Wednesday night.