Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. - Sophomore guard Crystal Gibson (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) and senior forward Stephanie Tighe (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) scored a team-high 17 points apiece as LVC won the Franklin & Marshall Tip-Off Tournament with an 80-78 victory in the tournament championship game over the host Diplomats Sunday afternoon in the Mayser Center.

Lebanon Valley improved to 2-0 with the win while F&M fell to 1-1.

Junior center Amy Abernathy scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for the Diplomats.

Tighe, who also scored 17 points in the team’s first-round win against Delaware Valley, was named as the tournament Most Valuable Player. In addition, sophomore guard Erin Eaby (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Eaby posted 21 points and seven steals – both career highs – against Delaware Valley. She added eight points and four rebounds against Franklin & Marshall.

Eaby’s free throw with 17.7 seconds left gave the Valley an 80-75 lead. Franklin & Marshall’s Courtney Tierney hit a three-pointer with 2.7 remaining but LVC ran out the clock on the ensuing inbounds pass to come away with the win.

LVC led by as much as seven (58-51) midway through the second half before F&M began to chip away. The Diplomats tied the game at 62 with 6:52 remaining and the game would see-saw back and forth with two ties and four lead changes over the next 1:30. However, sophomore center Jennifer Northcott (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) would give the Valley the lead for good after converting a conventional three-point play with 5:22 left as LVC went ahead 69-67.

A lay-up from Tighe with 4:08 to go gave LVC a five-point lead (73-68) but the Diplomats refused to go away. Abernathy brought F&M to within one twice and her put-back with 1:43 to go cut the gap to 75-74. But the Valley responded with a pair of baskets that restored the team’s five-point edge. Eaby knocked down a jumper from the right elbow with 1:36 left and sophomore forward Tamika Rogers (Baltimore, Md./Milford Academy) hit a driving lay-up with 44.5 seconds left to give the team a 79-74 advantage.

Lebanon Valley held on down the stretch despite missing three of its last four free throws. Gibson missed a pair with 33.5 seconds left and Eaby made 1-of-2 with 17.7 seconds remaining before Tierney’s last-second three.

In the first half, LVC jumped to an 8-2 lead over the opening 1:41 with Gibson scoring four early points. The Diplomats came back with seven unanswered points to go ahead 9-8 before LVC used a 14-4 surge to open up its biggest lead of the game at 22-13. F&M clawed back, though, and trailed just 40-38 at the half. There were four ties and three lead changes over the final 7:24 of the opening stanza.

Gibson’s 17 points marked a career-high, as she surpassed her previous best of 11 points scored in last year’s regular season finale against Messiah. She shot 5-for-8 from the field and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Rogers (13), Northcott (13) and sophomore guard Carrie Lathrop (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) (10) also reached double figures in scoring for Lebanon Valley. Tighe had a team-high nine rebounds and tied for a team-high four assists with Gibson and Eaby. Northcott tied a game-high with four steals.

LVC shot 42.9 percent (33-of-77) from the field but was 0-for-4 from three-point land. F&M hit 48.3 percent (29-of-60) of its shots from the field and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from beyond the arc.

Lebanon Valley forced 31 turnovers and induced its opponents into 67 turnovers for the tournament.

The Valley returns to action on Tuesday when it visits Dickinson College in a non-league contest starting at 7 p.m.