WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Gallaudet University women's basketball team lost a nail biter to Lancaster Bible College at the Field House on Thursday as the Bison rallied down 19 points with 10 minutes to play to tie the game, in the final minute, before eventually losing 54-49. This was the conference opener for the Bison who are in their second year in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC). This is the first year for the Chargers in the NEAC.

Gallaudet (1-4, 0-1 NEAC) trailed 27-16 at halftime and saw Lancaster Bible (1-2, 1-1 NEAC) increase its lead to 19 midway through the second half. The Chargers seemed to have control of the game as they kept a safe lead until sophomore guard Stephanie Weiss (Wellington, Fla.) sparked the Bison offense nailing a 3-point jumper fueling the Gallaudet comeback. Gallaudet went on to score the next 12 points as they chopped the lead to four, 46-42, with 5:08 left in the game. With two timely steals from sophomore guard Leslye Kang (Wayne, N.J.) and a number of big rebounds from Weiss (seven defensive rebounds in the game) the Bison were in prime position to take the lead. With 1:20 left in regulation, Weiss was able to tie the game at 49 with a big 3-point jumper but this was as close as Gallaudet would get to the lead. Down two, 51-49, with under a minute to play the Bison committed a costly team turnover as the shot clock expired on Gallaudet's next possession as 27 ticks remained on the scoreboard. The Chargers iced the game with by making their final five of six free-throw opportunities.

The Bison saw two players reach double digits in points as sophomore guard Britny Latham (Cleveland, Tenn.) led the team with 16 points and four assists. Freshman forward Elena Ciccarelli (Whitesboro, N.Y.) followed with 13 as she recorded her first collegiate double-double pulling down 10 rebounds for the Bison. Junior forward Amy Bachtel (Columbus, Ohio) set a career-high and led the team with 11 rebounds. Kang helped tighten the defense as she came off the bench picking up four steals and scoring two points.

It was a tale of two halves for Gallaudet as it more than doubled it's first half total in the second half. The first half saw a team who could not hit from long range (0-for-3) and only make 29.2 percent of its shots from the field. Only four Bison were able to get on the scoreboard in the first half despite attempts from other teammates. The Bison were turnover prone in the first half giving the ball away 13 times. Gallaudet came out in the second half raising their 3-point percentage to 36.4 percent. With a more focused, clean attack the Bison rattled off an outstanding 33 points in the second half.

Although Lancaster held a lead for most the game the two teams seemed to be evenly matched.  Both teams saw little activity from the bench as they both only received six points of production.  The Bison made the most of Lancaster's 27 turnovers with 22 of their points coming off turnovers opposed to Lancaster's 17. Gallaudet was outrebounded 45-35 but was able to score more points in the paint than Lancaster, 18-16.

Lancaster was led by junior guard Lauren Heliger's game-high 21 points to go with six steals and four rebounds. Junior Emily Lloyd recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.  Freshman Sarah Heilenman provided stability off the bench with nine rebounds and six points.

Gallaudet's next game comes this Saturday, Dec. 3, when they travel across town to take on Trinity (D.C.) University in a non-conference game at 2 p.m.