Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Tournament MVP Alicia Sanders dropped in the game-winning lay-up with 1.1 seconds left, lifting Shenandoah University to a 48-46 victory over Lebanon Valley in the championship game of the fourth annual Rinso Marquette Tournament Sunday afternoon at the LVC Gymnasium.

Lebanon Valley (1-1) called a timeout after the shot, but had to inbound the ball under its own basket, and Jenna Gambino’s baseball pass was picked off at the buzzer.

Shenandoah (2-0) trailed by as much as 12 before a late rally. The Hornets used a stifling defensive effort to get back into the game, holding LVC scoreless over the final 8:16.

Sanders scored a game-high 17 points after tying the LVC Gymnasium record with 33 points in her team’s 81-77 win over Pitt-Greensburg on Saturday.

Senior forward Monica Johnson paced the Dutchmen with 12 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots, and five assists.

Johnson, Gambino, Alexis Hargbol of Shenandoah, Sara Wastler of Hood, and Nicole Reiser of Pitt-Greensburg were named to the all-tournament team.

Pitt-Greensburg defeated Hood 60-47 in the consolation game.

Lebanon Valley led 46-40 with 8:17 left after a Johnson jumper, but that’s when both teams fell into a lull offensively. Neither team scored over the next 3:54 before Stephanie Harrold knocked down a pair of free throws with 4:23 remaining. Whitney Samples hit a jumper with 2:27 to go, making it 46-44, before a Harrold jumper tied it at 46 with 1:56 left.

After a LVC shot-clock violation, Johnson blocked a shot and came down with the rebound with 52 seconds to go. But Johnson missed a driving lay-up with 31 ticks showing, and Jessica Young pulled down the rebound for the Hornets, who called timeout with 24 seconds left. Shenandoah then held for the last shot before Sanders drove down the left side of the lane, stopped, and flipped in an acrobatic shot to give her team only its third lead of the game and its first since it was 3-2 five minutes in.

Lebanon Valley led 13-10 with 7:24 left in the first half before a 6-0 run gave the Dutchmen a nine-point lead with 5:04 on the clock. Back-to-back three-pointers from junior guard Donna Geiger and senior guard Allie Butler gave LVC its biggest lead of the game (27-15) with 1:25 left in the opening period. Sanders canned a trey 57 seconds before halftime to make it 27-18 at the intermission.

Shenandoah used a 6-0 run, capped by consecutive lay-ups from Cassie Womack, early in the second half to pull to within five (29-24) with 17:31 left. The Hornets continued to chip away and cut the deficit to three on two occasions, the last coming after a Harbol jumper with 13:12 to go made 37-34.

A conventional three-point play from junior forward Cassandra Martinez and a long Gambino jumper pushed the Dutchmen’s advantage back up to eight (42-34) with 11:07 remaining before back-to-back treys from Sanders and Dee Fisher made it a two-point game (42-40) with 8:49 on the clock. Martinez and Johnson then made one bucket apiece to finish LVC’s scoring for the day.

Butler finished with 10 points and four assists while Geiger had seven points and four assists. Martinez also had seven points for the Valley while Harrold had six points, six rebounds, and five steals for Shenandoah.

The Hornets shot just 30.0% from the field but had 17 offensive rebounds, forced 27 LVC turnovers, and took 21 more field goal attempts than the Dutchmen.

Lebanon Valley returns to action on Tuesday, when it hosts McDaniel College at 7:30 p.m. in a non-conference outing.

[Photo - Senior forward Monica Johnson, who along with Jenna Gambino was named to the Rinso Marquette All-Tournament Team]

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