The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball lost for the second consecutive time to open the 2019-20 season on Friday night, as the Chargers lost to Cougar Classic Tournament host Kean, 79-69 in Union, N.J. The loss sends Lancaster Bible to 0-2 this season, while the Cougars improved to 1-0.
 
How it Happened: Kean opened the game on an 8-2 run over the first two minutes of the contest, but a 6-0 Lancaster Bible run led by back-to-back buckets by Alaysha Iwais, followed by a basket from Jordyn Beers, tied the game at 8-8 with 7:09 to play in the opening quarter. The teams went back-and-forth the rest of the quarter, as each team had little trouble scoring, especially in the final three minutes. Hope Hodges and Beers scored on two straight possessions for the Chargers late in the quarter, and Lizzy Tilton's bucket with 19 seconds to play cut Lancaster Bible's deficit to one, 25-24 after 10 minutes of play.
 
A Caitlin Hickey layup moved the Chargers to within two, 30-28 with 6:27 left in the first half, but an 8-0 run from Kean over the next two minutes increased the home team's lead to 10. Lancaster Bible looked to be heading into halftime trailing by 11, but Tilton knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Chargers trailed just 46-38 at the break.
 
The third quarter was up-and-down for the Chargers, as they trailed by just four early in the quarter, but then fell behind by 16 with 3:49 remaining after a Kean 3-pointer made it 58-42. Lancaster Bible buckled down and cut the Cougars lead to nine, 60-51 with under a minute to play, and eventually trailed, 61-51 after 30 minutes.
 
Lancaster Bible trailed by 13 midway through the fourth quarter, but used a late run to cut the deficit to six, 75-69 with 1:46 remaining after a 3-pointer from Mikayla Via. The Chargers had two chances to shrink the deficit even more, but couldn't convert, and the Cougars hit free throws down the stretch, and won, 79-69.
 
Statistically Speaking: Lancaster Bible shot 39.1 percent (27-of-69) from the field, including 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from 3-point range…Kean shot 36.8 percent (28-of-76) from the floor, and 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from beyond the arc…Kean led in rebounds, 53-40…Tilton led the Chargers with 17 points, and added eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals…Hickey had 16 points and five rebounds…Iwais had eight points, four assists and two steals…Beers had six points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals…Mikayla Via added eight points, while Hope Hodges had eight points as well…Adalyn Steiner had six points and three boards for the Chargers as well.
 
News & Notes: Friday night marked the first-ever contest between Kean and Lancaster Bible…Friday was the second of six games away from Horst Athletic Center for the Chargers this semester…Tilton's 17 points on Friday were just two shy of her career high of 19 which she scored last season against Penn St. Berks…Tilton being the leading scorer snapped a string of 12 straight games that Caitlin Hickey or Courtney Goyak (2016-19) led the Chargers in scoring.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible will now face Wheaton (Mass.) in Saturday's consolation game at 12 p.m.