LANCASTER, Pa. – The Delaware Valley women's basketball team never trailed by more than five through the first half of the game against Alvernia and struggled to close the gap in the second half ultimately dropping the contest 62-55.
 
The Aggies trailed by four early in the first quarter with Ciana Feliciano, Jayla Rivera and Haley Keenan sinking the buckets to cut the deficit to one three different times in the first seven minutes with Feliciano converting the free throw to even the score at seven apiece. DelVal tied the score twice more before giving up four consecutive points with under three minutes to play. Alexis Wright put up three points to cut the deficit to just one at the end of the frame, 15-14.
 
Scoring slowed in the second quarter with the teams putting up four points each in the first five minutes. The Golden Wolves answered with a three-pointer to expand their lead to five. Elizabeth Oresto sunk the jumper to bring the deficit to three, but Alvernia netted the final bucket of the frame for the 24-20 lead headed into the half.
 
The Aggies trailed the Golden Wolves by a single point in the third frame. An early 4-0 run expanded the deficit to eight, leaving DelVal to answer back with a 5-0 spurt to cut the deficit down to four, 28-24. Alvernia built its lead back up to seven, but DelVal was quick to use a 12-5 run over the ensuing four minutes to even the score, 38-38. The Golden Wolves ended the frame on a 5-0 run for the 43-38 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Alvernia edged out DelVal 19-17 in the final frame building up a lead of 10 in the first four minutes, 52-42. A 6-0 run highlighted by a 4-of-4 effort from the line from Keenan helped the Aggies cut the deficit in half, 53-48, with just under five minutes on the clock. Alvernia regained a nine-point edge, but Aubrey Ennis answered the call with the three-ball followed by a layup in the paint from Feliciano to keep the deficit to five, 60-55, with 1:13 remaining in play. The Golden Wolves scored the final basket of the game to for the 62-55 victory.
 
Keenan and Feliciano both ended the game in double-digit scoring netting 18 and 15 points apiece. Keenan also led the battle at the boards with nine rebounds and led in steals with six.
 
DelVal returns to action tomorrow at 3 p.m. to complete competition at the Terry Greene Tip-Off Tournament.