Box Score
READING, Pa. – Sophomore guard Erin Eaby (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed a game-high six steals as the Lebanon Valley College women’s basketball team cruised past Albright College 85-51 in Commonwealth Conference action Wednesday evening in the Bollman Center.
Eaby shot 8-for-12 for the game and 2-for-3 from downtown.
LVC (9-2, 2-1 CC) came up with 17 steals and forced Albright (1-8, 0-3 CC) into 33 turnovers. The Valley shot 49.3 percent from the field and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from three-point range.
Sophomore guard Carrie Lathrop (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) scored a season-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Senior forward Stephanie Tighe (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) added 11 points on 7-of-8 free-throw shooting.
The Valley led 35-22 at the half before blowing the game open with a 13-2 run at the start of the second half. LVC held Albright to just one field goal in the opening 5:22 of the second stanza and just two field goals over the first 8:40.
Albright scored the game’s first basket but the Valley answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. LVC was the beneficiary of 19 first-half Albright turnovers.
The Lions closed the gap to 11-10 with 13:43 to go in the first half before Eaby sparked a 10-0 LVC run with a three-pointer from the left elbow.
Albright trailed by only six (26-20) with 3:28 remaining before Eaby started another Valley run with a remarkable series of plays. Eaby stripped the ball from an Albright defender before tight-roping the opposing baseline while regaining possession. She then dribbled out to the Lion three-point line and fired a 60-foot baseball pass to a wide-open Tighe at the other end of the floor for a lay-up. LVC would proceed to close the half on a 9-2 run.
Eaby finished an incredible first half with 12 points and six steals.
Sophomore center Jennifer Northcott (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) tore down a game-high eight rebounds while sophomore guard Crystal Gibson (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) handed out a game-high eight assists.
Lebanon Valley returns to Commonwealth Conference action on Saturday when the team travels to Widener University at 1 p.m. in the first game of a men’s and women’s doubleheader.
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