Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore guard Erin Walton scored a game-high 26 points, leading Elizabethtown College to a 68-60 win over Lebanon Valley in Commonwealth Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at the LVC Gymnasium.

Walton shot 11-for-24 for Elizabethtown (9-11, 5-5 CC), which trailed for only a 1:12 span late in the first half. Lebanon Valley (5-15, 1-9 CC) received a team-high 22 points from junior forward Monica Johnson.

LVC trailed by four (60-56) with 1:59 left after a Johnson put-back, and the Valley had a chance to make it a one-possession game with 1:27 on the clock. But Johnson missed a pair of free throws, and sophomore guard Claire Davis hit two foul shots nine seconds later to give E-town a six-point lead. LVC made it 62-57 after a free throw from freshman guard Amie Bickert, but a put-back from sophomore forward Audrey Hitz pushed the Blue Jays’ lead to seven (64-57) with 1:01 left.

Lebanon Valley turned it over on its next two possessions, and E-town converted 1-of-2 foul shots twice to put the game out of reach (66-57) with 23 ticks showing.

Senior forward Cristin Braun and Davis finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively, for E-town while junior guard Allie Butler notched 11 points for LVC. Freshman forward Megan Bish posted nine points and nine rebounds for the Valley while Bickert had eight points and eight boards.

A 9-2 E-town run early in the first half gave the Blue Jays a 14-7 lead, their largest advantage of the first half, after a Walton fast-break lay-up. It was 22-16 with 6:55 to go before Lebanon Valley scored nine straight points to assume a 25-22 lead with 4:21 left in the opening period. However, a Davis three-pointer 20 seconds later tied the game 25-25, and the Jays would never trail the rest of the way. E-town led 33-29 at the half.

After trailing by as much as eight early in the second half, LVC rallied to tie the game (45-45) with 10:01 remaining following a Johnson fast-break lay-up. Another Johnson bucket 30 seconds later made it 47-47, but the Blue Jays took the lead for good after scoring the next seven points, with Walton accounting for five.

Lebanon Valley picks up its schedule on Monday, when it hosts Eastern University at 7 p.m. in a non-conference outing.

[Photo - Junior forward Monica Johnson, who scored 22 points against Elizabethtown on Saturday]

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