Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore forward Monica Johnson converted a lay-up with 35 seconds left and Lebanon Valley rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Elizabethtown 63-61 in Commonwealth Conference women’s basketball action Thursday evening at the LVC Gymnasium.
With the win, Lebanon Valley (15-7, 8-5 CC) clinched its fourth-straight berth in the Commonwealth Conference playoffs. Elizabethtown (9-13, 5-8 CC) was eliminated from contention for the Commonwealth playoffs.
LVC trailed by nine (58-49) with 5:42 remaining before mounting its comeback. Senior forward Tamika Rogers scored six straight points, and senior center Jennifer Northcott knocked down a jumper from the left elbow with 3:19 left to pull the Valley to within one (58-57).
Junior guard Megan Wolfe hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:23 left to put E-town up 61-59, but sophomore guard Allie Butler tied the game for the first time since midway through the first half when she dropped in a lay-up with 1:12 left. After LVC came up with a defensive stop, Johnson took an entry pass, drove hard down the right side of the lane and banked in the go-ahead bucket.
Elizabethtown had a chance to win it, but freshman guard Erin Walton missed a three-pointer from the right elbow with 15 seconds to go. Northcott pulled in the rebound, and LVC was able to run out the clock.
Rogers finished with a season- and game-high 19 points to lead LVC while senior guard Crystal Gibson tied a career-high with 10 assists, just one shy of the Lebanon Valley single-game record, before leaving the game with an injury with five minutes left. With her fourth assist, Gibson, Lebanon Valley’s career assists leader, reached the 500 mark for her career.
Walton paced E-town with 12 points.
Senior guard Erin Eaby added 14 points for Lebanon Valley, and is now 32 points shy of 1,000 for her career. Johnson had 10 points and six rebounds.
Wolfe and junior guard Dana Voit contributed 10 points apiece for the Blue Jays.
Lebanon Valley jumped out to an early 12-6 lead following an Eaby jumper with 15:04 on the clock before the Blue Jays got hot. Elizabethtown went on a 10-2 run and took its first lead of the night (16-14) when Claire Davis nailed a three-pointer with 11:01 remaining in the opening stanza. The Blue Jays then outscored LVC 20-7 over an 8:36 stretch to take a 13-point lead (36-23) with 2:05 left. The Valley closed the half on a 9-2 run to cut the gap to six (38-32) at the intermission.
Rogers led all players with 11 first-half points while Gibson had six assists at the break. Audrey Hitz paced E-town with nine first-half points in seven minutes off the bench.
In the second half, the Blue Jays’ lead reached double digits again (54-44) after Davis canned a three-pointer with 9:21 to go. A Walton lay-up with 7:47 left made it an 11-point game, and a Wolfe two-pointer gave E-town its 58-49 lead before Rogers ignited the Valley’s late rally.
Lebanon Valley held the Jays to 32.8% shooting, including 29.6% in the second half, and overcame 26 turnovers by out-rebounding E-town 41-33. LVC shot 47.3% for the game.
The Flying Dutchmen close out their regular season on Saturday, when they host Juniata at 3 p.m. on Senior Day.
[Photo - Senior guard Crystal Gibson, who tied a career-high with 10 assists and reached the career 500-assist plateau in Lebanon Valley's win over Elizabethtown on Thursday]
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