Women's Basketball Drops NEAC First Round Tilt

LANCASTER, Pa. – In a rematch of last season's North Eastern Athletic Conference championship game, the host Chargers of Lancaster Bible College avenged last year's loss by posting a 70-39 victory over the Wells College women's basketball team Tuesday evening at the Horst Athletic Center. 

Wells, who entered Tuesday's NEAC First Round game as the reigning conference champions, sees their fifth season as a varsity program come to a close with a 9-15 overall record after tallying an 8-10 record against league opponents during the regular season. Lancaster Bible improves to a conference-best 22-4 record (18-2 NEAC) and will advance to this weekend's Final Four at SUNY Poly. 

Junior Holli Erkson (Cooperstown, N.Y.) scored a team-leading 16 points for the Express, shooting 7-for-13 from the floor. Junior Jasmine Thomas (Las Vegas, Nev.) ranked second with eight points while junior Lindsay Achzet (Johnstown, N.Y.) and senior Kaitlynne Knapp (Port Byron, N.Y.) each hauled in a team-leading five rebounds. 

The Express trailed by a 41-20 margin at halftime. In the opening 20 minutes of play, Wells shot 9-for-23 (39.1%) from the floor but ended up committing 13 turnovers. Additionally, the host Chargers held a commanding 24-to-9 advantage in rebounding as Lancaster Bible's Aubrey Folger had 11 of those rebounds herself, along with eight points. 

Wells did not possess the lead in the contest, knotting the score at two following a jumper by Knapp. Lancaster Bible went on to score the game's next five points and ultimately built up an 11-5 lead. A floater by Thomas cut into the score at 11-7, but another 5-0 run by the Chargers opened up an 18-7 lead. 

Back-to-back foul shots by Kirsten Webster created a game-high 39-16 lead for Lancaster Bible, but Wells was able to score four points in the final 1:19 to create a 41-20 halftime lead. Erkson's nine points led the team as she shot 4-for-7 from the floor. 

The Chargers continued their offensive onslaught, posting nine-straight points to open the second half to create a 50-20 lead with 16:31 remaining in regulation time, forcing a Wells timeout. Lancaster Bible would hold the Express scoreless from 11:42 to 5:31 in the second half, going on to post a decisive 70-39 victory over the Express to improve to 6-1 all-time against Wells. 

Lancaster Bible boasted four players in double-digit scoring as Shanice Smith posted 17 rebounds and 15 points while Folger finished with 18 rebounds and 12 points. Katy Stover posted 15 points while Webster rounded out the double-digit numbers with 14 points. Smith also posted six assists while Webster recorded a game-high four assists. 

Tonight's contest marked the final career game for three of Wells' senior student-athletes, including Cassie Smythe (Eden, N.Y.), Jessilyn Artaho-Aki (Kapa'a, Hawaii) and Knapp.