Reading, Pa. (Feb. 5, 2022) - Trailing by three with time expiring, Alvernia University (9-10, 3-9) nearly pulled off a buzzer-beater to force overtime, but the half-court Hail Mary bounced off the rim allowing Albright College (11-7, 6-5) to come away with a 64-61 win over the Golden Wolves on Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth women's basketball action at Albright.

With four seconds left in the fourth quarter, Tamia Wessels picked up the rebound off a missed free throw by Albright. She quickly made her way to half court and fired off a solid shot, but the shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded in the Bollman Center. 

The Golden Wolves scored the opening points of the game with a 3-pointer off the hands of Jordan Karmonick on Alvernia's first possession.

Albright responded with a layup, but another Karmonick three at the 8:15 mark of the first quarter gave Alvernia the earlier 6-2 advantage.

The Lions got back within one, 6-5, off a series of made free throws, but a Kayla Williams layup put Alvernia back up by three, 8-3, with 6:38 to go in the first.

The Lions stayed within four points for the next five minutes, but Alvernia did not give up the lead.  A fastbreak layup from Williams off a Tyra Robinson rebound at the 1:11 mark put Alvernia up by six, 20-14.

The Golden Wolves did not score a basket in the final 60 seconds of the first frame and a layup from Albright's Brady Wassel marked the final points of the quarter as the Golden Wolves held a 20-16 lead going into the second quarter.

Tyra Robinson scored the opening points of the second quarter to put Alvernia up by six, 22-16.

A layup from the Lions brought them back within four, but Karmonick responded with a three to give Alvernia a seven point lead, 25-18, with 8:15 to go in the half. A Gabby Boggs layup for the Lions brought them back within five, but a Karmonick layup at the 7:44 mark kept Alvernia up by seven, 27-20.

Karmonick stayed hot and a driving layup at the 7:03 mark gave Alvernia its largest lead, 29-20. But, following the Karmonick layup, Alvernia's scoring went cold and the Lions went to work. Going on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes, a layup from the Lions at 4:43 put them within one of Alvernia, 29-28.

Both teams then went scoreless for three minutes until a putback layup by Kelly Fetter at 1:29 put Alvernia back up by three, 31-28. Boggs responded with a layup for Albright with 41 seconds to go. Alvernia scored the final point of the half off a free throw from Wessels to put Alvernia up two going into the break.

Karmonick was perfect at the mid-way point - going 5-for-5 in the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. 

For the third straight quarter, Alvernia opened the scoring - this time on a layup from Williams - for a 34-30 Alvernia advantage.

After an Abby Gaffney free throw for Albright, a Wessels' layup at the 7:04 mark put Alvernia back up by five, 36-31. 

A quick 7-0 run by the Lions over the next two minutes flipped the lead in favor of Albright for the first time of the game, as the Lions took a 38-36 lead at the 5:16 mark of the third quarter. 

A Karmonick layup nine seconds later tied it up at 38-38, but Albright retook the lead, 40-38 on its next possession with a putback layup from Boggs at the 4:36 mark. 

The Lions then went on a 7-1 run to push its lead to eight, 47-39, with 2:23 to play in the third.

A Fetter free throw and Wessels jumper brought Alvernia back within five, 47-42, with just over two minutes to play in the third. Those would be the final points of the third frame as Albright took the five point lead into the final ten minutes.

The Lions opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with two made free throws from Lindsey Williamson to extend Albright's lead to 49-42 after about a minute of fourth quarter action.

The Golden Wolves and Lions then exchanged free throws over the next two and a half minutes as Albright held a 51-43 advantage with 7:24 to play.

A quick 5-0 run by Karmonick off a combo of a 3-pointer and two made free throws by the sophomore, brought Alvernia right back within three, 51-48, with 6:30 to play.

Two quick layups by the Lions pushed their lead back to seven, 55-48, but a series of four made free throws by Karmonick brought Alvernia back within three, 55-52. Then, two made free throws by Jannelle Robinson at the 4:26 mark brought Alvernia within one, 55-54.

The Golden Wolves and Lions then traded points over the next two minutes. Two made free throws by Tyra Robinson kept Alvernia within two, 60-58, with two minutes to go.

Alvernia didn't make a basket for the next 90 seconds and started sending the Lions to the line with 30 seconds to go. Brady Wassel made two made free throws to put Albright up four, 62-58.

Head Coach Rayne Reber called a timeout to advance the ball, and Tyra Robinson hit a clutch three to put Alvernia within one, 62-61, with 26 seconds to go. 

The Golden Wolves fouled the Lions again, and Albright's Gaffney converted both to make it a three point game, 64-61, with 11 seconds to go.

Reber again called a timeout and set up another play. The play found Tyra Robinson just outside the arc in front of Alvernia's bench. Tyra Robinson was able to get a nice shot off despite heavy pressure from the Lions, but the shot bounced off the rim.  She quickly fouled Mackenize Dover with five seconds to play. 

Alvernia was given a second chance to tie as Dover missed both free throw opportunities that could have put the game out of reach. Instead, Tamia Wessels grabbed the rebound with four seconds on the clock and fired off a shot just past half-court. Her shot had the distance and arc, but, again, the Golden Wolves got unlucky as the shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded. 

Karmonick posted a career-high 24 points to lead all scorers. She finished 7-for-13, and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. She was also 6-for-6 from the line. Karmonick also added seven boards. 

Wessels finished with 11 points and five boards, and Tyra Robinson finished with ten points, and Williams also matched Karnonick with seven boards while scoring six points.

The Golden Wolves return to action on Monday for a non-conference game with Immaculata.