The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team won for the second time in three games on Friday night, as the Chargers used a big second half to defeat Bryn Athyn, 49-39 in Bryn Athyn, Pa. The victory sends the Chargers to 2-4 this season, while the Lions dropped to 0-1.
 
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible took a quick 5-0 lead on Friday night, as a jumper from Tenia Brown and a 3-pointer from Lizzy Tilton gave the Chargers a five-point lead 50 seconds into the contest. Bryn Athyn got on the board 1:30 later, but the game grinded to a halt offensively afterwards, and neither team scored again until Tilton's jumper with 4:56 to play in the quarter gave the Chargers a 7-2 lead. A bucket from Faith Hammond later in the quarter increased Lancaster Bible's lead to 9-5, and the visitors led, 9-7 after 10 minutes of play.
 
Bryn Athyn opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run, and took a 15-9 lead, as the Chargers didn't score until the 4:33 mark when Hope Hodges knocked down a triple. The teams exchanged baskets late in the quarter, and Adalyn Steiner trimmed the Chargers' deficit to three, 21-18, at the break.
 
Lancaster Bible began the third quarter like it began the first, with a 5-0 run, and grabbed a 23-21 lead. The Chargers held the Lions without a field goal for over four minutes, but Bryn Athyn scored four of the next five points, and led 25-24 midway through the third quarter. Adalyn Stiner stepped up for the Chargers with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Lancaster Bible a 30-25 lead, and though the Chargers would trail again briefly later in the quarter, a bucket from Tilton, and a free throw from Paige Towne gave Lancaster Bible a 33-31 lead after three quarters.
 
Another 5-0 run to begin the quarter helped Lancaster Bible to a 38-31 lead early in the fourth, and Faith Hammond drained a 3-pointer with 6:16 to play give the Chargers a 41-33 lead. Towne's jumper gave the Chargers a 10-point lead a short time later, and Lancaster Bible hit free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 34 percent (17-of-50) from the floor, including 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from 3-point range…Bryn Athyn shot 20.5 percent (15-of-73) from the field, and just 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from beyond the arc…Bryn Athyn held a 55-50 rebounding edge, including a 24-10 advantage on the offensive glass…Steiner led the Chargers with 13 points, and also had six rebounds…Tilton finished with 11 points, six assists, and five rebounds…Jenna Dombach had seven points, eight boards, three assists, two blocks, and two steals…Jordyn Beers had 10 rebounds, while Towne had five points and 10 boards…Hammond finished with five points, while Hodges had three, and Brown had four…Clayshonia Cogmon had 11 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Lions.
 
The Coach Says: "One of the challenges coming out of our game with St. Mary's (Md.) earlier this week was how will we respond when we play another close game, after we let that one slip away," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Joy Tharrington said. "We got to play another close one tonight, and I thought we did a good job handling ourselves and staying composed. That being said, we still need to improve rebounding the ball, and not committing so many turnovers."
 
On the team's play in the second half: "We needed to maintain our intensity, and control what we could control, and I thought we did a better job of that in the second half than the first half," Tharrington said.
 
On the team continuing to build: "It's exciting to see your kids play with confidence, and make plays during important parts of the game," Tharrington said. "There are still things to improve, but as we progress through this season, we are beginning to execute better and stay composed. I liked that we were able to overcome early foul trouble tonight, and kept grinding."
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 8-1 all-time against Bryn Athyn…Friday marked the first game between the teams since Feb. 17, 2018 when the Chargers defeated Bryn Athyn, 69-43 in Lancaster, Pa…Friday was the second time this season the Chargers have had 50 or more rebounds in a game, as Lancaster Bible pulled down 52 rebounds against St. Mary's on Feb. 6…Lancaster Bible's 41.2 percent mark from 3-point range on Friday was a season high…Friday was the first time since Jan. 17, 2015 the Chargers have won a game without scoring 50 points.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible and Bryn Athyn will meet again on Saturday night at the same time and same place, as the Chargers and Lions tip-off at 8 p.m.