ABINGTON, PA – In a United East Conference battle that featured five ties and 11 lead changes, it was visiting Lancaster Bible College that squeaked out a 69-64 victory over Penn State Abington.

The win improved the Charges to 8-9 overall and 5-3 in conference play while the Nittany Lions saw their marks drop to 5-10 and 4-3.

It was a back-and-forth battle all evening that saw no lead reach double figures. After Lancaster Bible jumped out to an early advantage, Cassie Tavormina drilled consecutive 3-pointers to give Penn State Abington a 15-8 lead. The Chargers responded with six straight for a one-point deficit after the first quarter.

The second quarter saw much of the same with the Nittany Lions holding a one-point lead at the break thanks to a Wynter Bess jumped just before the buzzer. In the third, Bess scored four points and Angela Sanders had three in a 7-0 spurt that put Penn State Abington from down two to five, 45-40. However, it was the Chargers turn for a run and they scored 10 of 12 for a 50-47 advantage going into the final 10 minutes.

Lancaster Bible scored the first five in the fourth for a 55-47 advantage. The Nittany Lions countered with a 9-1 run that culminated with a bomb by Bess and a 56-56 deadlock with 5:43 remaining. Lancaster Bible took the lead for good but could not get more than one-possession advantage until a 3-pointer by Alaysha Iwas made it 63-58 with 40 ticks to go. Penn State Abington didn't go away and pulled back to within a possession three different times, but the Chargers went 6-for-6 down the stretch from the foul line to pull out the win. They were 12-for-15 from the line in the fourth (the Nittany Lions were just 2-for-2) and they went there 23 times on the evening (17-for-23) while Penn State Abington was 8-for-10.

Bess finished the night with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sanders had another double-double with 19 points and 12 boards. Tavormina ended with 12 points and Camille Fleming had a double-double of her own with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Sydney Heller (12 points) and Jade Eshelman (11 points, 13 rebounds) paced Lancaster Bible.

Penn State Abington will be on the road for back-to-back United East match-ups at St. Mary's College of Maryland on Friday, January 28 and Gallaudet University on Saturday.