The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team dropped its final non-conference game of the regular season on Wednesday night, as the Chargers lost to Salisbury, 72-56 in Salisbury, Md. The loss drops the Chargers to 6-3 overall this season, while the Seagulls improved to 6-11. 

How it Happened: Salisbury jumped out to an early 12-3 lead 5:30 into the contest, but back-to-back baskets from Shelby Gard and Jade Eshelman brought the Chargers back to within five late in the opening quarter. 

The Seagulls increased their lead to double-digits early in the second quarter, but Lancaster Bible got a 3-pointer from Adalyn Steiner and a jumper from Alaysha Iwais midway through the second frame to close the gap to 19-15. Two free throws from Sydney Heller a few minutes later trimmed the Chargers' deficit to three, 23-20, but Salisbury closed the final 2:30 of the half on a 10-1 run and led, 33-21 at the break.

The teams traded baskets over the first part of the third quarter before Gard's jumper with 4:55 left in the quarter cut the Lancaster Bible deficit to 41-33. The Seagulls extended the lead back to 14, but the Chargers fought back again, and trailed by just 10 after 30 minutes of play.

The teams again exchanged baskets early in the fourth quarter, but two free throws from Steiner trimmed the Chargers' deficit to 54-47 with 6:23 to play. That would be as close as Lancaster Bible got however, as an 8-0 run by Salisbury put the Chargers away for good. 

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the floor, including 25 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc...Salisbury shot 37.8 percent (28-of-74) from the field, including 30 percent (3-of-10) from 3-point range...Salisbury held a 49-35 advantage on the boards, including a 22-9 edge on the offensive glass...Eshelman led the Chargers with 13 points, while Iwais had 11 points, seven rebounds, and six assists...Steiner was the third and final Lancaster Bible player in double figures with 11 points...Jenna Dombach and Heller each had six points...Emily Dilger led all scorers with 21 points off the bench for the Seagulls.

The Coach Says: "We were outmatched tonight physically by Salisbury, which showed up in the rebounding margin, both overall and on the offensive glass," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Joy Tharrington said. "While our half-court defense was solid, we were unable to overcome their 27 second-chance points. Although we weren't able to get the result we wanted tonight, we take a lot of confidence from our overall performance in our non-conference schedule and look forward to conference play."

Information to Know: Lancaster Bible is now 0-3 all-time against Salisbury...The Seagulls defeated the Chargers, 68-55 last season in Lancaster...The Chargers are 4-3 away from home this season...Eshelman has double-digit points in all seven of the games she has appeared in this season.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible returns to United East Conference play on Saturday, as the Chargers host Penn St. Berks at 1 p.m.