Box Score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Junior guard Allie Butler scored 17 of her game- and career-high 26 points in the second half, leading the Lebanon Valley College women’s basketball team to an 81-72 victory over Elizabethtown College in Commonwealth Conference action Saturday afternoon at Thompson Gymnasium.
The win gave Lebanon Valley (4-8, 1-3 CC) its first Commonwealth Conference victory of the season, and it was the team’s eighth win in its last nine meetings with E-town. It was also LVC’s fifth straight win at Elizabethtown.
Lebanon Valley never trailed, although E-town did erase a 15-point first-half deficit.
The Blue Jays (5-7, 1-3 CC) trailed just 74-70 after senior guard Megan Voit buried a three-pointer from deep in the right wing with 49 seconds left. But LVC iced the game at the foul line, where it went 5-for-6 in the final minute and 6-for-8 in the final 1:08.
Butler, who also had game-highs of six assists and five steals, shot 75.0% (9-for-12) for the game, tying a single-game school record for field-goal percentage. She was 2-for-3 from behind the arc and 6-for-8 at the foul line.
Freshman forward Megan Bish added 20 points to go with a game- and season-high 13 rebounds for LVC while junior forward Monica Johnson recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds despite sitting four minutes of the second half with foul trouble. Freshman guard Amie Bickert scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds.
Senior guard Erin Walton led Elizabethtown with 23 points.
Lebanon Valley came out hot in the early going, and a 12-0 run put the visitors on top 19-5 with 12:34 left in the opening half. Then with 9:46 on the clock, Butler knocked down a jumper from the left elbow to give LVC its largest lead (23-8) of the night. Elizabethtown rallied, however, and a 5-0 spurt cut the gap to 10 and was the start of a 14-3 run that pulled the Blue Jays to within four (26-22) with 4:25 left. E-town held Lebanon Valley scoreless for a 4:39 stretch during its run.
LVC came back with an 8-2 surge, and Butler pushed the team’s lead back to double digits (34-24) when she came up with a steal at the E-town three-point line and coasted in for a lay-up with 1:33 to go. The Valley took a 35-26 lead into the locker room.
Elizabethtown climbed back into it midway through the second half. The Blue Jays used a 9-1 run to make it a one-point game (46-45) with 14:25 left when Voit nailed her second straight three-pointer, and they had a chance to take the lead at the foul line on two occasions. But the Jays missed three straight free throws before freshman guard Megan Quinn hit the second of two foul shots with 13:23 remaining to tie the game at 46. But that’s when LVC went on a 6-1 run, and a Johnson put-back put LVC up 52-47 with 11:09 to go.
Lebanon Valley pushed its lead to eight with 6:59 left following a driving lay-up from Bickert, and Elizabethtown could only get as close as four the rest of the way.
Voit finished with 19 points for E-town while senior forward Cristin Braun had 15 points.
Lebanon Valley shot 46.8% for the game and out-rebounded the Jays 45-34.
LVC picks up its scheduled on Tuesday, when it hosts Albright College at 7 p.m. in another Commonwealth Conference tilt.
[Photo - Junior guard Allie Butler, who had 26 points, six assists, and six steals against Elizabethtown on Saturday]
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