The Lancaster Bible women's basketball's quest to host the North Eastern Athletic Conference Final Four took a serious blow on Friday night as the Chargers lost to NEAC North Division leader SUNY Polytechnic, 61-47 in Utica, N.Y. The host of the NEAC Final Four is determined by the result of the regular season game played between the two division winners. Lancaster Bible and SUNY Polytechnic currently lead their respective divisions by 1 1/2 games with four games to play. After Friday's result, Lancaster Bible will now need Morrisville State to catch and pass SUNY Polytechnic in the North Division if the Chargers are to host the NEAC Final Four.

The Chargers struggled all night from the floor as they shot just 31.7 percent (20-of-63) from the floor and were 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. The other edge the Chargers normally enjoy, the rebounding advantage, was also absent on Friday as each team grabbed 41 rebounds. It marked just the third time in 21 games this season that the Chargers did not hold a positive rebounding edge.

Despite making just eight shots in the first half, Lancaster Bible trailed by just five, 26-21 at halftime, but it came at a cost as Shanice Smith, Aubrey Folger and Kirsten Webster all entered the break with three fouls. Though none of the players fouled out, SUNY Polytechnic withstood every Lancaster Bible charge in the second half and cruised to the 14-point victory.

Smith finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Folger had 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was Folger's 16th double-double of the season, while Smith had her 15th double-double of the year.

"I thought we played well for the first 10 minutes," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Rachel Steinbarger said. "After that, SUNY Poly turned up the intensity and we couldn't match it. Getting into foul trouble didn't help and we started to worry about what the refs were going to call and got taken out of the game even more."

Senior Meaghan Williams added eight points for the Chargers, while junior Katy Stover had four points and four assists.

Lancaster Bible (17-4, 14-2 NEAC) returns to the court on Saturday when the Chargers take on SUNY Cobleskill at 1 p.m.