ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Early shooting struggles led to another early deficit, and Eastern Women's Basketball's (6-16, 3-10 MACC) late rally came up short in a 72-63 loss to the Albright Lions at the NEST on Wednesday evening. The Eagles struggled to make shots in the opening half, knocking down just six of their 28 shots (21.4 percent), and the Lions took advantage, building an early lead they would relinquish.

After falling behind 10-3 in the first quarter, Eastern battled back to make it 13-10 on a bucket from Ashya Gaddy. However, a 5-0 run by the Lions (12-7, 8-7 MACC), including a triple at the first quarter buzzer, gave the visitors a 18-10 advantage.

At the 7:43 mark of the second quarter, senior guard Brynn Schmidt knocked down a three to make it a five-point game, but the Lions answered with a pair of free throws to increase their lead back to seven. The Eagles made it a five-point game again moments later on a layup from Taryn Woodson, but Albright used a 10-5 run over the remainder of the second quarter to take a 32-22 lead into the halftime break.

The Lions continued to build their advantage in the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 25-14 and leading by as many as 23 points. Eastern made a late surge over the final 6:03 of the contest, outscoring the Lions 22-9, including 10 points from Gaddy. However, the Eagles' early scoring woes proved too much to overcome, as the Lions went on to secure the nine-point victory.

Gaddy recorded another strong performance off the bench, leading the Eagles with 16 points on seven-of-12 shooting from the field, while Jaelyn Harris collected 15 points. In her first game back from injury, sophomore forward Mikayla Wright recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, the Eagles finished 24-of-68 from the field (35.3 percent), while collecting 44 rebounds, 10 assists, and four steals.

Eastern will be back in action on Saturday, traveling to Maryland to take on MAC Commonwealth rival Hood. Tip-off is set for 1:00 pm.