The Lancaster Bible College Women's Basketball team hosted Penn St. Harrisburg on Thursday night in a reschedule from January 6, earning a statement win over their local rival 48-46 in a dogfight that came down to the final play. The Chargers improve to 7-9 overall and 4-4 in the United East, while the Lions move to 11-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference.

How it Happened:
The Chargers forced an opening turnover and turned it into points with a layup from sophomore Rachel Nolt, then two minutes later went up 4-0 on a layup from sophomore Natalie Wenger. Both baskets were assisted by sophomore Isabella Eufemia, who also made a trip to the free throw line and hit both to put the Chargers up 8-2 about halfway through the quarter. The Lions tied the game at 8-8, but LBC closed the quarter with a 3-pointer from freshman Natane White to lead 15-13 after 10 minutes.

Eufemia got to the line twice early in the second, going 3-4 to extend the lead back to five for LBC. Senior Serene Calderon got her first points to go on a driving layup, but the Lions brought it back to a two-point game with three minutes left in the half. The Lions closed the half on a 6-0 run to take the lead 28-26 headed into halftime.

The third quarter was a defensive battle with only 14 total points scored in the period. The Chargers scored the first four points of the half on free throws from Calderon and a pull-up jumper by Nolt, but Harrisburg knotted the game back up at 30 apiece. Nolt hit another jumper late in the quarter, but two points from the line for the Lions sent the game into the final period tied at 34-34.

The Chargers started the final period with momentum with a stop and a big three from White to put LBC up three, but the Lions responded right away with their second made three of the game to tie it back up. Another three from the Lions gave them the lead, but Calderon responded on the next possession with a big three to tie the game at 40-40. White found Wenger in the paint for a layup and Calderon had another good drive, but Harrisburg went shot-for-shot and made it a tie game at 44-all with 1:20 remaining. After a shake-up on the court and two missed free throws from the Lions, Calderon stepped up with an and-one drive to the basket to light up the crowd and complete the three-point play to put LBC up three with 16 seconds to go. After several timeouts from both coaches, Harrisburg pulled within one on a drive to the basket, then Wenger hit a free throw to put LBC back up two. On the final play of the game, the Lions missed a layup at the buzzer to seal the home win for the Chargers and bring them back to .500 in conference play.

By the Numbers:
- The Chargers shot 31-percent from the floor, 20-percent from 3-point range, and 82-percent from the free throw line
- The Lions shot 33-percent from the floor, 27-percent from three, and 58-percent on free throws
- Serene Calderon led the Chargers with 12 points, nine rebounds, and a season-high six steals
- Rachel Nolt added 12 points, seven rebounds, and three steals
- Natane White finished with six points on 2-3 from 3-point range
- The Lions were led by Jordan Carpenter, posting a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds

Information to Know:
The Chargers snap a three-game losing streak to Harrisburg for their first win over the Lions since January 2023, marking head coach Kel Brown's first win over Harrisburg. This was also the Chargers' first home win of the 2025 calendar year. Tonight, the Chargers scored less than 50 points in a victory for the first time since the 2020-21 season in a 49-39 win over Bryn Athyn. The Chargers' 48 points were tied for the third-lowest ever as a NCAA Division III program in a victory. Serene Calderon now has 987 career points, moving her into the top-15 on the Chargers' all-time scoring list for career points and 13 points short of 1,000 for her career. Rachel Nolt reached 350 career rebounds in tonight's game and junior Keilani Araniva passed 250 career rebounds. Isabella Eufemia reached 200 career points with seven in tonight's game. Fifth year student Jenna Dombach made her 400th career field goal tonight and now has 1,125 career points, good for 9th all-time in women's basketball program history.

Up Next:
The Chargers finish out their week with a trip down to St. Mary's City, Md. for a United East battle with St. Mary's (Md.) on Saturday, January 18 at 1:00 p.m.