Box Score
READING, Pa. - Freshman point guard Andrea Hoover drained a career-high 21 points to lead Lebanon Valley College to an emphatic 74-60 win over Albright College in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals Wednesday night at the Bollman Center.
The Flying Dutchmen (22-4) advance to the Commonwealth Conference championship game for only the second time ever and first since 2001-02. They will travel to #5 Messiah Saturday at a time to be announced.
The win over the Lions (20-6) will also be important toward any potential NCAA selection scenarios, as Albright was fourth in Wednesday's NCAA regional rankings.
"We came to play tonight," said a beaming Head Coach Todd Goclowski, who, in his second season, has turned the program around from a 7-17 finish last year to a conference championship game a season later. "It was a total team effort. We're really pleased for the opportunity to compete for a conference championship."
The win was LVC's first over Albright in their last four tries; the Lions swept the season series. Freshman Lori Lidlow added 14 points and Megan Bish scored 10 more. The Dutchmen were 24-of-31 at the line.
"We just went after it tonight," said Hoover. "We really worked on our defense. We knew we had to box out, rebounds, and play all-around better defense if we wanted to win this time."
The Dutchmen started sloppily, turning the ball over numerous times in the opening moments, and Albright made it 7-0 before LVC even took a shot. LVC, however, finally settled into a groove, and Bish's three-pointer followed by Jenna Gambino's driving layup tied the game at 9-9 at the 12:15 mark.
Albright pulled away again, but LVC reeled off an 11-0 run to take the lead for the first time, holding the Lions scoreless for 5:22. LVC maintained an edge for the rest of the half, taking a 32-29 lead into the break.
The Dutchmen started the second half strongly thanks to Gambino's layup and a three-point play by Hoover to give them a 37-29 advantage two minutes in.
LVC kept the lead up, staying ahead of the Lions until a surge midway through the half put the Dutchmen up 54-44. The two teams then traded buckets until Bish's 16-footer gave LVC a 12-point lead with just under six minutes to go.
The Dutchmen didn't let up, maintaining the lead with buckets from Hoover and Lidlow to keep a 63-53 edge with three minutes left. Bish made a pair of free throws with 2:52 remaining to make it a 12-point game and force an Albright timeout.
Lebanon Valley continued to pull away as Albright was forced to foul in the final minutes, as LVC held the Lions without a field goal for a six-minute stretch late in the half.
