Lancaster Bible juniors Aubrey Folger and Katy Stover combined for 56 points as the Chargers hammered Penn College, 81-59 in Williamsport, Pa. on Tuesday night. The victory improves Lancaster Bible to 19-4 overall and 16-2 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play. The Chargers hold a 1 1/2 game lead in the NEAC South Division over Penn St. Abington. The Chargers have just two games remaining, while the Nittany Lions have three. 

Folger and Stover each owned a half on Tuesday night as Stover had 20 points during the opening 20 minutes, while Folger had 18 in the second half. Stover's 20 points in the first half came on 8-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. The Chargers opened the game on a 10-2 run over the first 3:01 as the run was capped by a layup from Meaghan Williams. The host Wildcats answered with a 9-0 run of their own to earn their first and only lead of the game at 11-10. From there it was all Chargers as Lancaster Bible responded with their own 9-0 run to take a 19-11 lead and eventually used an 18-6 scoring run over the final 5:35 of the half to take a 45-27 advantage into halftime.

Penn College never got close in the second half as the Chargers led by as many as 30 before eventually winning by 22. Folger's 18 second half points came on 8-of-9 shooting and two free throws as she had half of Lancaster Bible's points in the second half. 

"I thought we came out a little flat, but Katy took charge of the game and got us going," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Rachel Steinbarger said. "I thought Katy played one of her best games of the season. She did a tremendous job defensively and the shot the ball well. She was very competitive tonight and we are going to need that as we head into playoff time."

Tuesday marked the second time in Folger's career that she cracked the 30-point mark. The other came last season when she scored 31 points in a Lancaster Bible victory over St. Elizabeth on January 25, 2014. In addition to her offense, Folger added eight rebounds, five steals, four assists and two steals.

"Aubrey had a great second half," Steinbarger said. "We needed her to have a half like that and she came through again."

Lancaster Bible shot 52.4 percent (33-of-63) from the field as the team shot over 50 percent for the third time this season. It was the first time the Chargers cracked the 50 percent mark since their January 19 victory over Cazenovia when Lancaster Bible shot 51.9 percent. In addition to Folger and Stover's 56 points, Kirsten Webster added 12 points and four assists.

The Chargers will now turn their attention to the final weekend of the season as they host Gallaudet on Friday and Wilson on Saturday. Depending on the outcome of Penn St. Abington's game on Wednesday, the Chargers could clinch the NEAC South Division on Friday with a win over the Bison. Regardless of when Lancaster Bible clinches the division, Steinbarger said the Chargers are very aware of the intensity the rest of the games, regular season and playoffs, will bring.

"We have a big game on Friday and the rest of the games going forward are going to be important for us," Steinbarger said. "I think we are playing well though and we will enjoy the final weekend of the regular season." 

Friday night's game is scheduled to tip-off at 5 p.m.

Notes:
-Stover's 26 points give her 974 for her career and she is just 26 points away from becoming the ninth player in program history to top the 1,000-point mark.

-Folger's 30 points meanwhile give her 1,423 points for her career and she is just 94 points from breaking the program record for points in a career. Lauren Heliger (2009-13) currently holds the record with 1,516 points scored.