The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team won its second straight game, and secured an important mid-season victory on Saturday, defeating Penn St. Abington, 60-56 at Horst Athletic Center. The win moves the Chargers to 5-11 overall this season and 3-4 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play, while the Nittany Lions fall to 7-8 overall and 5-2 in conference action.
 
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible opened both the first quarter and second quarter in the same fashion, as the Chargers opened up large early-quarter leads. In the opening quarter…Caitlin Hickey scored the first four points of the game, and baskets from Alaysha Iwais and Mikayla Via made it 8-0 just 2:36 into the game. The Chargers eventually led by nine midway through the quarter, but Penn St. Abington closed the quarter on an 8-2 run, and Lancaster Bible led just 17-15 after the first.
 
The Chargers scored the first eight points of the second quarter as well for a 10-point lead 1:34 into the frame, but Lancaster Bible scored just five more points the rest of the quarter, and led by a slim 28-26 margin at halftime.
 
Penn St. Abington began the third quarter well, and took its first lead of game, 33-32, just over three minutes into the frame. The Chargers recovered, and played well through the end of the third quarter, taking a seven-point lead on back-to-back baskets from Hickey and Iwais, before leading 46-41 after 30 minutes of play.
 
Neither team could get much started offensively in the fourth quarter, and after Penn St. Abington tied the game at 46-46, each team had trouble converting on the offensive end. The Chargers got a big 3-pointer from Tilton two minutes later, and Lancaster Bible eventually led, 51-47 after a basket from Christine Graves. The Nittany Lions trimmed their deficit to two, 53-51, with 1:10 to play, but Hickey hit a huge 3-pointer towards the end of the shot clock, and then knocked down two late free throws less than a minute later.
 
Penn St. Abington drew to within three with seven seconds to play, but Iwais made one of two free throws to ice the game.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 35 percent (21-of-60) from the field, including 6-of-17 from 3-point range…The Chargers were also 12-of-16 from the free throw line…The Nittany Lions shot 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the floor, but just 2-of-11 from 3-point range, and 10-of-21 from the free throw line…Penn St. Abington also held a 30-14 edge in points in the paint…Hickey led four players in double figures with 18 points, and also added eight rebounds…Mikayla Via had 12 points and seven boards, while Tilton had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists…Iwais was the fourth player in double-digits with 11 points, and she also had four assists and four rebounds…Jordyn Beers chipped in with four points, three assists, and two boards…Christine Graves played her first game since early January, and had four points…Barrow had a game-high 20 points for the Nittany Lions, who also had two other players in double figures.
 
The Coach Says: "I am super proud of our team today," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Katelyn Vanderhoff said. "We competed hard against a physical team, and the win wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect, but we found a way to do it. "
 
On the Team's Recent Play: "I am pleased of the way our team has responded recently to adversity, and the ladies just keep fighting," Vanderhoff said. "It was great to have Caitlin Hickey come up big for us with a couple of huge shots, and Lizzy Tilton did a fantastic job keeping Barrow off the scoresheet in the fourth quarter, after she was probably the game's best player for the first three quarters."
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 17-7 all-time against Penn St. Abington…The teams split the season series a year ago, as each team won on its home floor…The Chargers are now 3-4 at home this season…The 12 made free throws for the Chargers are the second-most in a game this season…Hickey's 18 points are the most since she had 20 against Keuka on Jan. 11…Via scored in double figures for the first time in her collegiate career.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible returns to the floor on Wednesday, as the Chargers host Penn College at 7:30 p.m…Wednesday will be Staff & Faculty Night, and all staff and faculty from Lancaster Bible are welcome to a pre-game reception in the mezzanine of the Horst Athletic Center where light refreshments and drinks will be served.