Saturday's Lancaster Bible women's basketball season opener turned into a history making event as junior Aubrey Folger scored her 1,000th point in the Chargers 91-23 thrashing of Baptist Bible at Horst Athletic Center. In addition to the personal history for Folger, the 68-point margin of victory for Lancaster Bible was the sixth largest in program history.

Coming into the game, Folger needed just five points to reach the 1,000 point mark and she wasted little time as she connected on two free throws at the 14:18 mark to reach the milestone. Folger finished the game with 24 points, 13 assists and three blocks as Lancaster Bible defeated Baptist Bible for the third straight season.

Lancaster Bible opened the game on a 21-8 run in the first seven minutes as Folger, Katy Stover and Shanice Smith got the Chargers rolling offensively and the team clamped down defensively and forced nine first half turnovers. Baptist Bible went over seven minutes without a bucket in the first half as the Chargers used a 10-0 run over those seven minutes to stretch their lead from 28-10 to 38-10. Smith took the game over late in the first half as she completed the first half double-double with 15 points and 10 boards at the break as Lancaster Bible led 50-15.

The Chargers kept up the solid play in the second half as they opened the half on a 21-0 run and extended their lead to 71-15. The Defenders were held off the scoreboard for the first 8:53 of the second half and made just three second half field goals. 

"We played well today," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Rachel Steinbarger said. "We ran plays when we needed to and we pushed the play when we needed to. Overall, we controlled the tempo of play, which is something we really wanted to do."

Due to both schools soccer teams still playing, Baptist Bible and Lancaster Bible each had just six players available for Saturday's game. With the Lancaster Bible women's soccer team losing on Saturday however, the Chargers will get four players beginning Monday and should have their full squad available next Thursday at Elizabethtown.

"The main thing for the girls coming in is that they continue to feel comfortable with the plays and just hustle," Steinbarger said. "Hustle is something you can control and those four specifically need to focus on things they can control for the first couple of days."

On Saturday, Stover finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and five assists. She was 11-of-17 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Smith put together one of her finer games as she had 27 points and 23 rebounds. Establishing herself in the post early on, Smith completed a few three-point plays and finished 9-of-11 from the free throw line.

"Aubrey, Katy and Shanice played very well today and they are going to be the ones leading us this season," Steinbarger said. "Katy does those little things that help teams win and today was some of the best leadership I've seen from her. Aubrey just does things the right way. Her scoring her 1,000th point is a testament to how hard she works and how much she cares about the team. The other girls look to her more and more and she has become a very good leader."

Freshman Molly Arnold completed her first collegiate game with six points and seven rebounds, while Kirsten Webster had four points, four rebounds and five assists in her first game in almost a year. Sophomore Stephanie Blest, playing in her first collegiate basketball game, had two points and two rebounds as well for Lancaster Bible.

The 91 points scored by Lancaster Bible is the most for the Chargers since February 8, 2005 when they defeated Washington Bible, 92-28. 

Lancaster Bible is back in action on Thursday when they face Lancaster County neighbor Elizabethtown at 7 p.m. in Elizabethtown, Pa.