The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team fell on the road in a critical United East matchup with Penn College by a score of 50-47 on Wednesday night. The Chargers drop to 12-9 overall and 7-6 in conference play, while the Wildcats improve to 9-13 overall and 8-5 in United East action.

How it Happened: Penn College ran out to an early 6-0 lead as the Chargers couldn't find the basket for the first four minutes. Adalyn Steiner got LBC on the board with a midrange jumper to make the score 6-2. The Wildcats responded with a 3-pointer and a free throw to extend the lead to eight points, then freshman Irene Were made a layup with one second on the shot clock to cut the deficit to six. Sydney Heller then got out in transition to hit a layup to cut the lead to 10-6. Penn hit another 3-pointer before the end of the first, with LBC trailing 14-6 after 10 minutes.
 
Both teams began the second quarter struggling on offense before Heller got to the line and sank a pair of free throws. Jenna Dombach then found Mikayla Via off an in-bounds pass to cut the lead to four points. The Wildcats connected on a pair of baskets, then Alaysha Iwais found Heller for a corner 3-pointer to make the score 18-13. The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes with the deficit staying at seven points. Iwais drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six, then Rachel Teats hit a three of her own to put the Chargers down by nine at halftime, 29-20.
 
The Chargers came out of the locker room strong, opening the third quarter on an 8-0 run with 3-pointers from Steiner and Iwais to pull within one. Penn College then extended the lead back to six points before Iwais knocked down a jumper to make the score 34-30. Heller then connected on a long two and Via made a layup to tie the game at 34 apiece. The Chargers outscored Penn College 14-5 in the third quarter to keep the score tied with 10 minutes left to play.
 
The teams kept it close early in the fourth, exchanging baskets including a layup from Heller to tie it at 42 all. Were later connected on layups on back-to-back possessions to keep the score knotted at 47, then the Wildcats' Lexi Troup hit a 3-pointer to put Penn College up by three. There was lots of tension down the stretch, with lots of fouls to stop the clock and get Penn College to the line. Troup missed a pair of free throws and LBC called timeout, but the Chargers could not capitalize in the final seconds, falling 50-47.

From the Coach: "I am so proud of our fight tonight and resiliency to battle back to make it a possession ball game down the stretch.  Unfortunately we were unable to execute and have to quickly learn how to do so at this point in this season. 

We will continue to get better and make adjustments as we head into the most crucial three- game stretch of our season." - Head Coach Joy Tharrington

By the Numbers

• The Chargers shot 33.3% (19-57) from the field and 18.5% (5-27) on 3-pointers, going 4-6 on free throws.
• The Wildcats shot 34.5% (19-55) for the game and 33.3% (5-15) from 3-point range, shooting 63.6% (7-11) from the free throw line.
• Lancaster Bible had won the rebounding game 36-28 and had 22 bench points, while Penn College had more second chance points (11-10) and points in the paint (22-20).
• Sydney Heller led the Chargers with a game-high 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
• Alaysha Iwais and Irene Were each added eight points.
• The Wildcats were led by Aubrey Stetts who had 14 points and four assists.

 
Information to Know: This was just the Chargers' second loss all-time to Penn College, as they lead 14-2 in the all-time series. Lancaster Bible defeated the Wildcats at home in their first matchup this season by a score of 51-41 on December 3. Senior Mikayla Via reached 350 career points with six in tonight's game. The Chargers currently sit one game back of Penn College for fourth place in the United East with just three games to play.

Up Next: The women's basketball team will return home to the Horst Athletic Center for a matchup with the Seahawks of St. Mary's (Md.) on Saturday, February 11^th at 1:00 p.m.