Reading, Pa. (Feb. 7, 2024) - Kayla Williams broke the single-season block record and Alvernia University survived a second-half scare from Eastern University as the Golden Wolves evened the season series against Eastern with a 67-64 win over the Eagles on Wednesday night in MAC Commonwealth women's basketball action at Alvernia. 

The Golden Wolves led by as much as 20 early in the third quarter, but Eastern worked its way back in and ultimately tied it at 59-59 late. A Meghan Ruth jumper and six made free throws by Karmonick down the final stretch gave Alvernia back the lead as the Golden Wolves held off the Eagles for the 67-64 win.

Williams blocked two shots on the night to set a new single-season blocking record for the Golden Wolves. 

With the win, Alvernia improved to 6-5 in MAC Commonwealth play and 14-8 overall. Eastern dropped to 4-7 in conference play and 8-13 overall.

How it Happened

• Alvernia evened it up at 2-2 on a fade away jumper by Meghan Ruth on Alvernia's first possession. Ruth's shot sparked a 13-2 run for the Golden Wolves that gave Alvernia the 13-4 lead with 5:23 to play in the quarter. Kayla Williams led Alvernia with seven during the run.
• The Eagles called a timeout in an attempt to regroup, but Alvernia continued to hold them off the board. Alvernia kept its foot on the gas and pushed its lead to 15, 19-4, on back-to-back 3-pointers by Taliyah Malone and Ruth.
• Eastern's scoreless drought came a close with a layup with three minutes to play in the quarter, but Alvernia kept it rolling with another 3-pointer - this time from Jordan Karmonick- to make it a 22-6 game with 2:33 to play in the quarter
• The Eagles got back within 13 on a 3-pointer from Trinity Upton, but Alvernia scored the final five points of the quarter off a Tamia Wessesl field goal and buzzer-beater from Karmonick to take a 28-10 lead into the second quarter.
• The Golden Wolves struggled to regain its rhythm coming into the second quarter. The Eagles held Alvernia scoreless through the first four minutes of the quarter while getting six points back of their own to cut Alvernia's lead down to 12, 28-16. 
• Alvernia called a timeout to regroup and back-to-back layups from Williams gave Alvernia back a 16 point lead, 32-16, with 5:30 to play in the half.
• After a trading of baskets, Madison Miskar hit a quick five points to give Alvernia a 39-20 lead with 3:12 to play in the half. 
• Both teams went scoreless for two minutes before trading baskets in the final minute as Alvernia took a 41-25 lead into the half.
• The Golden Wolves shot 46% from the floor in the first half and 46% from beyond the arc. Alvernia forced 14 turnovers by the Eagles in the first half and Alvernia scored 17 points off of turnovers. 
• A Williams layup opened the second half scoring for Alvernia and a layup from Ruth gave Alvernia the 20 point lead, 45-25, after a minute of third quarter action.
• A 3-pointer later in the quarter from Wessels gave Alvernia the 19 point advantage, 50-31, with 6:29 to play in the quarter. But, the Eastern held Alvernia to just five points the rest of the quarter and a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by the Eagles to end the quarter cut Alvernia's lead down to 12, 55-43.
• The Eagles held Alvernia scoreless for the first four and a half minutes of the fourth quarter as Eastern worked its way within four, 55-51. A steal by Jordan Karmonick and layup by Malone ended Alvernia's scoreless drought and pushed the Alvernia lead back to six, 57-51, with 5:28 to play.
• The Eagles cut it down to two, 57-55, on a foul-line jumper with just under four minutes to play, but Alvernia responded with a Ruth layup off the inbounds to push it back to four, 59-55.
• The Eagles tied it at 59-59 on a Jeriyan Johnson layup with 2:06 to play, but Ruth again responded for Alvernia with a field goal to give Alvernia back the lead, 61-59, with 1:56 to play.
• Alvernia forced three Eastern turnovers on the next three Eagle possessions and Alvernia gave itself a four point buffer, 63-59, on a pair of made free throws by Karmonick with 31 seconds to play.
• The Eagles made a layup with 21.6 to play to once again get back within two, 63-61. Alvernia called a timeout and advanced the ball. The Eagles fouled Karmonick, who made two more at the line, to give Alvernia the four point advantage, 65-61, with 20 seconds to play. The Eagles weren't going down without a fight as Johnson hit a clutch 3-pointer with ten seconds to go. 
• Eastern fouled Karmonick again on the ensuing inbounds, and Karmonick added two more to make it a three point game. The Eagles had the last shot, but couldn't get enough on a corner 3-pointer as Alvernia escaped with the 67-64 win. 

Inside the Box Score

• Kayla Williams led Alvernia with 20 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Karmonick finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and nearly had a triple-double with nine assists.
• Meghan Ruth also reached double-digits with 11 points.
• After shooting 46% in the first half from both the floor and 3-point range, Alvernia finished the night shooting 41% from the floor and 38% from beyond the arc.

Of Note

• Kayla Williams recorded her 65th and 66th blocks of the season to break the single-season block record. The previous record of 64 was set by Cathryn Kramer in 17 games in 2021-2022. 
• Eastern outrebounded Alvernia 36-30. It is only the third time this season Alvernia has come away with a win after being outrebounded.
• With the win and an Albright loss to York, Alvernia is now in solo-fourth place in MAC Commonwealth standings with three games to go in the regular season. Following the restructuring of the conference prior to this academic year, the playoff field is now only four teams compared to five in years' past. 

Up Next

• Alvernia heads to Widener to take on the Pride on Saturday. Widener defeated Alvernia 82-71 in the first meeting of the season on January 13th.
• The Pride will be entering Saturday coming off a massive win over Messiah earlier tonight.