Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lycoming College rallied from four points down in the final three minutes, then survived a late scare to hand the Lebanon Valley College women’s basketball team a 54-53 loss in a non-conference tilt Wednesday evening in the LVC Gymnasium.
The contest marked the 100th college basketball game played in the LVC Gymnasium, which opened for the start of the 2003-04 season.
The Warriors (3-4) led 54-53 with 2.5 seconds remaining after Lycoming missed the front end of a one-and-one and Lebanon Valley rebounded. On the inbounds play, senior forward Monica Johnson pulled in a pass from just inside halfcourt, went straight up for a lay-up, and was fouled. However, Johnson missed both free throws, and freshman forward Renee Freeden pulled down the rebound on the second shot as the Warriors ran off the rest of the clock.
Johnson posted her fifth double-double of the season with game-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Alicia Engler paced Lycoming with 16 points, 14 of which were scored in the opening half, when she made all four of her three-point attempts. She finished 4-for-7 from beyond the arc.
The Warriors led for nearly the entire second half before a late 11-2 run by LVC. Johnson scored seven points during the stretch, including the last five. She dropped in a lay-up with 3:19 left that gave LVC its first lead (48-47) since late in the first half. Then with 2:22 remaining, she converted a conventional three-point play on a put-back to make it 51-47.
Lycoming answered with seven unanswered points. Sophomore guard Andrea Cooper drained a three-pointer to make it 52-51 with 2:09 to go, and LVC was forced to foul Engler with 28 seconds left. Engler connected on both free throws before sophomore guard Amie Bickert canned a jumper from the right elbow with her foot on the three-point line, making it 54-53.
Lebanon Valley fouled Engler again with 12 seconds to go, but Engler missed her first free throw. Senior guard Allie Butler rebounded, setting up the final play.
Cooper added 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for Lycoming. Freshman forward Amanda Leid posted 10 points and seven boards while Engler contributed four assists.
Freshman guard Cassie Moore notched season-highs of 10 points and five rebounds for Lebanon Valley (2-5).
Lycoming got off to a strong start, opening up an early seven-point lead (13-6) following a Cooper three-pointer with 13:26 left in the opening half. A pair of Jessica Nabholz free throws gave the Warriors a 15-8 lead with 10:39 on the clock before the Valley used a 9-0 run over the next 4:20 to take their first lead of the night. Moore completed the run with a conventional three-point play, making it 17-15 in favor of LVC with 6:06 remaining.
There were three ties and three lead changes over the remainder of the period, and a Freeden put-back with 17 seconds left gave the Warriors a 29-25 halftime advantage.
Freeden knocked down a jumper 20 seconds into the second half, making it 31-25, and the Warriors also led by six (36-30) after a Michelle Wisla jumper with 15:26 remaining. But the Dutchmen came back with an 8-2 run, with junior forward Cassandra Martinez scoring six of her eight points during the stretch, to tie the game at 38 with 11:47 to go.
Lebanon Valley tied it again on a Johnson jumper that made it 40-40 with 8:58 on the clock, but Lycoming answered with a 5-0 spurt before LVC’s late 11-2 run.
The Dutchmen play their final game before Christmas break when they host College Misericordia on Saturday at 1 p.m. in another non-conference outing.
[Photo - Junior forward Cassandra Martinez, who scored eight points against Lycoming on Wednesday]
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