Albion def. Mt. St. Joseph, 80-53

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Albion Britons started slow but finished strong to capture an 80-53 victory over the Mount St. Joseph Lions in the first semifinal game of the 2005 Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic, hosted by Wittenberg University.

With the win, the Britons improved to 7-3 on the season and moved into the championship game against the host Tigers, a 73-48 winner in the second game of the day against Manchester. The Tigers and Britons will square off at 6 p.m. Friday, while Mount St. Joseph, which dropped to 2-8, will go against Manchester in the 1 p.m. consolation game.

Albion never trailed in the game, but for the first 10 minutes it was fairly close. A 10-2 run midway through the half expanded the Britons' lead from four points to 12 and by the end of the first half the rout was on as Albion took a 41-26 advantage into the locker room. Albion scored the first nine points of the second half as well, and the lead never dipped below 20 points for the final 17 minutes.

Albion put four players in double figures offensively, led by an 18-point, 10-rebound performance from Katie Elder, who played just 18 minutes due to foul trouble. Lia Cronenwett was outstanding in Elder's stead, however, pouring in 16 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes of action. Backing that up was the play of guards Jaime Fornetti and Megan Garvey, both of whom finished with 11 points. The Britons shot 52 percent from the field, although they were not sharp at the free throw line, making just 9-of-18.

Mount St. Joseph, which was outrebounded by a whopping 53-24 margin, got 19 points in a losing effort from Christina Marsh. Krystal Clark added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds while playing all 40 minutes, and Maria Eichhold was the Lions' lone presence in the paint, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds.