The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team won for the fourth time in five games on Friday night, as the Chargers defeated Bryn Athyn, 63-53 at Horst Athletic Center. Lancaster Bible is now 5-5 this season, while the Lions dropped to 0-3.
 
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible opened the game on a 5-0 run, as Tenia Brown completed a three-point play, and Jordyn Beers converted a layup. The offense went cold after that however, and Bryn Athyn used a 6-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 6-5 lead. Lizzy Tilton's layup with 4:07 to play finally snapped the cold streak for the Chargers and gave them a 7-6 lead, but the Lions answered with another 6-0 run, and led 12-7 late in the quarter. Paige Towne converted a layup with 1:05 to play to trim the Chargers' deficit to 12-11, and they trailed by that same margin after 10 minutes of play.
 
Bryn Athyn opened the second frame on a 4-0 run, but Lancaster Bible scored six of the next eight points, and another layup from Towne cut the Chargers' deficit to 18-17. The teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter, but Lancaster Bible finally put a scoring run together in the final minutes, and took a 28-27 lead on a jumper from Brown with 1:59 remaining in the half. The Lions briefly retook the lead, but Lancaster Bible scored the final four points of the half, including a buzzer-beating layup from Adalyn Steiner, to lead 34-31 at the break.
 
Lancaster Bible got to the free throw line early in the third quarter, and Beers drained a pair of free throws with 6:47 left in the frame to give the Chargers a 38-33 lead. Two more free throws from Beers a minute later extended the lead to seven, and Tilton restored the seven-point advantage with 2:42 left with a 3-pointer. Bryn Athyn wouldn't go away however, and Lancaster Bible led by just five after 30 minutes of play.
 
The teams exchanged points in the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the Chargers slowly began to pull away, and another triple from Tilton gave Lancaster Bible a 58-48 edge with five minutes to play. The Lions made one final run and cut their deficit to five, but a 3-pointer from Faith Hammond, and another layup from Tilton secured the win for the Chargers.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 42.3 percent (22-of-52) from the field, including 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from 3-point range…The Chargers were 15-of-18 from the free throw line…The Lions shot 27.8 percent (15-of-54) from the floor, and 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from beyond the arc…Bryn Athyn was 16-of-20 from the charity stripe…The Chargers held a 33-28 edge in rebounds, and outscored the Lions, 22-16 in the paint…Tilton led all scorers with 22 points, and also added eight rebounds and four assists…Steiner had nine points and six boards, while Dombach had eight points and four assists…Brown finished with seven points, three boards, and three assists…Beers added six points and seven rebounds…Clayshonia Cogmon had 12 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lions.
 
The Coach Says: "Our goal was to push the ball in transition with poise tonight, and I think more often than not, we did a good job with that," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Joy Tharrington said. "I thought we weathered the storm early, and embraced the challenge, competed and then won the game."
 
On Lizzy Tilton's big night: "Lizzy did a great job tonight leading us, and I thought she pushed well through frustration, and hit some timely shots for us," Tharrington said.
 
On the team's four-game week: "We told them we are treating like the 400-meter race, and tonight we turned the corner, and we want to sprint through the finish line on Saturday night," Tharrington said.
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 10-1 all-time against Bryn Athyn…The Chargers are 2-3 at home this season…Lancaster Bible is 3-0 against Bryn Athyn this season…The 42.3 percent shooting percentage was a season-best for the Chargers, and the fourth straight game the team has shot 40 percent or better…The 83.3 percent mark from the free throw line was also a season-best…The 18 assists for Lancaster Bible tied a season-high.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible will conclude its 2021 season on Saturday evening, as the Chargers host Bryn Athyn at 5 p.m…The game can be seen on the Chargers Sports Network.