ALBION, Mich. — The No. 3 seeded Albion women's basketball team pulled past No. 6 seeded Kalamazoo, 68-59, at Kresge Gymnasium in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.

Facing off against the Hornets in the postseason for the first time since 2001, the Britons found themselves in control early — with a 14-4 advantage in the game's first five minutes.

They kept their lead the rest of the stanza, as it was 16-12 at the end of the quarter.

Albion regained a 10-point lead on three separate occasions in the second on a Payton Baker layup, Anna Honnen layup and Ava Guilford triple. They held a 32-25 lead at the half.

Kalamazoo opened the third on an 8-4 run to make it a one-possession game, 36-33, but the Britons proceeded on a 17-8 run to end the stanza with a 54-41 advantage. At one point in the run, Albion scored 11 consecutive points.

The Britons built their lead to as many as 17 points, 58-41, in the fourth. Despite the Hornets working their way to a single-digit deficit, 60-51, with three minutes left, Guilford answered right back with a three pointer on the ensuing possession to snuff out any Kalamazoo momentum for the rest of the game.

Meghan Trewhella, who broke the Albion single season scoring record in the Britons' overtime win two weeks ago at Kalamazoo, led the way with 19 points and four steals. Honnen notched 14 points, while Guilford (13) and Baker (12) posted double-digit scoring efforts. Baker also had a career-best seven assists.

The Britons have now won their first round MIAA Tournament game in each of the past four seasons. They will travel to No. 1 seed Trine and face No. 2 seed Hope in the MIAA Semifinals on Friday, February 27 for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.