Box Score

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Lebanon Valley turned in a red-hot second half to pull away from Wilkes and win, 71-51, in the regular-season finale.

The Dutchmen (16-8) will now sit and hope for a Messiah win over Widener on Saturday, which would hand LVC its first home Commonwealth Conference playoff game in seven years. If Widener wins, then LVC would be the third seed and hit the road for the semifinals next Wednesday. The pairings will be announced late Saturday afternoon on GoDutchmen.com.

LVC shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the second half as it turned a tie game at halftime into a blowout victory. The Dutchmen racked up 17 steals off 30 Wilkes turnovers, scoring 31 points off giveaways.

Andrea Hoover led LVC with 14 points and nine assists, while Eryn Schultz scored 16 points, including four three-pointers. Schultz now has 60 three's for the season, putting her one behind the program season record of 61 held by Lora Zimmerman.

Suzie Noyes pitched in 13 points and five assists, and Caitlin Murphy added 10 points and five steals. Samantha Simcox led all scorers with 19 points and 10 rebounds for Wilkes.

Wilkes led virtually the entire first half until Chelsea Kehr's layup at the buzzer made it 28-28 at the break. An early 8-0 LVC run capped by Murphy's jumper five minutes in broke the game open in the second half, and the Dutchmen took a 10-point lead.

The Colonels brought the lead down to six, but the Dutchmen responded by piling on points, keyed by a 9-2 spurt that included a pair of Schultz three-pointers to go up 19 and put the game out of reach.