Box Score

CHESTER, Pa. – Senior forward Stephanie Tighe (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) scored the game-winning basket with time winding down and the Lebanon Valley College women’s basketball team survived a scare at Widener, defeating the Pioneers 56-54 in Commonwealth Conference action Saturday afternoon.

With the score tied at 54, Tighe rebounded a missed shot by sophomore center Jennifer Northcott (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and converted on the put-back. Northcott secured the victory after rebounding a miss by Widener’s Celeste Baumgardner just before the buzzer.

Tighe scored seven of the Valley’s final 10 points in the closing 4:53 of the game. She finished with a team-high 15 points. Sophomore guard Erin Eaby (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) scored all 11 of her points in the first half while Northcott pitched in with eight points along with a game and season-high 17 rebounds. Sophomore guard Carrie Lathrop (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) tossed in 11 points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting.

LVC out-rebounded Widner (7-5, 2-2 CC) 46-33.

Nicole Stanley led the Pioneers with a game-high 16 points.

After three ties and one lead change over the opening 3:54 of the game, Eaby gave LVC the lead for the remainder of the half, knocking down a three-pointer with 14:20 left to give the Valley a 9-6 edge. An Eaby three-pointer with 4:04 to go in the opening stanza gave LVC its biggest lead of the game (25-16) and capped a 10-2 spurt. Widener closed the first half with a 10-4 run to close the gap to 29-26 at the half.

LVC held Widener scoreless over the first 3:20 of the second half and a three-pointer from freshman guard Min-Leigh Myers (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) put the Valley in front 34-26. The Pioneers put together a rally midway through the half, however, and shut out LVC for over four minutes. Widener assembled a 10-2 run during the stretch and took the lead (39-38) on a three-pointer from Nikki Carder with 8:55 remaining.

Lebanon Valley reclaimed the lead when Lathrop connected on a pair of three-pointers to put LVC on top 44-40 with 7:35 remaining. But Pioneers would not go away and tied the game twice down the stretch. A Stanley three-pointer made it 47-47 with 2:24 to go and Carden hit three free throws with 43 seconds left to tie the affair at 52 before Tighe’s heroics.

Lebanon Valley returns to Commonwealth Conference action when the team hosts Elizabethtown College on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the first game of a men’s and women’s doubleheader.

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