Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – For the second time this season, the Lebanon Valley College women's basketball team broke its team record for field goal percentage, as the Valley cruised to an 87-54 Commonwealth Conference win over Widener University Saturday afternoon in Lynch Gymnasium.

Lebanon Valley (16-3, 8-2 CC), which won for the fifth game in a row and for the ninth time in its last 10 outings, shot 56.9% from the field to better the team's previous record of 53.4% set on Jan. 27 of this season in a 73-56 win at Alvernia College.

LVC also shot 58.3% (7-for-12) from three-point range but just 51.9% (14-of-27) from the foul line.

Sophomore guard Crystal Gibson (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) and senior forward Stephanie Tighe (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) led the Valley with a game-high 16 points apiece. Gibson, who shot 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-3 from downtown, also notched a season-high seven rebounds along with a game-high six assists. Tighe hit on 6-of-9 shots and 2-of-2 from three-point range to contribute towards LVC's torrid shooting.

Senior center Jennifer Northcott (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) added 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go with a game-high eight rebounds. Freshman forward Nicole Dixon (Randallstown, Md./Woodlawn) posted 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, five rebounds and a team-high three steals in 11 minutes off the bench.

Widener (12-8, 5-5 CC) was led by junior forward Nikki Carden, who scored a team-high 15 points.

LVC nearly doubled Widener in rebounds, out-boarding the Pioneers 45-25. The Valley held Widener to 35.1% shooting, including 21.4% (3-of-14) from three-point range.

Lebanon Valley never trailed after scoring the game's first seven points. LVC bolted to a 14-4 lead following a three-pointer from Tighe with 14:48 left before Carden sparked a Pioneer run. Carden dropped in six points during an 8-0 Widener surge to bring her team to within two (14-12) with 11:16 to go in the half. But LVC outscored the Pioneers 24-8 over the remainder of the period as the Valley's lead swelled to 38-20 by the half.

LVC picked up right where it left off in the second stanza, outscoring Widener 15-5 over the first 3:50 of the period to take an insurmountable 28-point lead (53-25). The Pioneers failed to stage any type of rally the rest of the way and the Valley's lead would balloon to as much as 41 late in the game.

Lebanon Valley, which currently holds the second spot in the Commonwealth standings, will take a break from conference action when it hosts Wilkes University at 7 p.m. on Monday.

[Photo - Freshman forward Nicole Dixon, who posted 11 points, five rebounds and three steals in 11 minutes against Widener]

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