Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Senior forward Stephanie Tighe (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) scored a team-high 17 points and the Lebanon Valley College women's basketball team clinched a berth in the MAC Commonwealth Conference playoffs with a 63-52 victory over Albright College on Senior Day Wednesday evening in Lynch Gymnasium.
Lebanon Valley (18-3, 9-2 Commonwealth) extended its season-long winning streak to seven and won for the seventh game in a row at home. LVC is now 9-1 this season in Lynch.
LVC needed to beat Albright and have Messiah defeat Widener on Wednesday to clinch a playoff spot. Although Messiah's 50-47 win helped assure the Valley of its second straight playoff berth, it also kept LVC two games behind the Falcons (11-0 CC) for first place in the Commonwealth.
Senior forward Anne Dougherty scored a game-high 23 points to lead Albright (2-18, 0-11 CC). Junior center Lauren Finnigan added 12 points.
Sophomore center Jennifer Northcott (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) netted 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds for LVC while sophomore forward Tamika Rogers (Baltimore, Md./Milford Academy) tied a career-high with 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Crystal Gibson (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) added six points and tied a game-high with five assists.
Albright shot 43.1% for the game but committed 25 turnovers. Lebanon Valley connected on 38.1% of its shots for the game.
LVC started all five of its seniors but fell behind 16-10 with 12:28 left in the opening half. The Valley stormed back with an 8-0 run with sophomore guard Erin Eaby (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) capping the surge with a fastbreak lay-up with 7:27 to go in the period.
Senior forward Anne Dougherty's lay-up put Albright ahead 22-20 with 5:47 left, but that would turn out to be the Lions' final lead of the night. Another 8-0 LVC run, capped by a lay-up from Rogers, gave the Valley a 28-22 lead with 3:31 to go in the half. Lebanon Valley led 32-27 at the break with Dougherty leading all scorers with 13 points.
Lebanon Valley outscored Albright 17-4 to start the second half, with Tighe and Northcott combining for 15 points over the stretch, to give the team a commanding 49-31 lead with 13:48 to go. LVC saw its lead reach as much as 20 midway through the half and the Valley's final 11-point margin was its smallest since early in the period.
LVC picks up its Commonwealth Conference schedule on Saturday when it visits Elizabethtown College at 4 p.m. in the nightcap of a men's and women's doubleheader.
[Photo - Senior forward Stephanie Tighe, who scored a team-high 17 points to help LVC clinch a spot in the Commonwealth playoffs]
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