Back in the Commonwealth Conference championship game for the second year in a row, the Lebanon Valley College women's basketball team will try to do something it has never done before - win a CC title.

The Dutchmen, gifted a home game thanks to Widener's upset win over #13 Messiah, will host the Pride Saturday at 2 p.m. with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on the line. LVC will be out for redemption after a pair of two-point losses to Widener in the regular-season.


On the Radio and the Web
The game will be heard live in the lower Susquehanna Valley on WMSS 91.1 FM. John Wilsbach and Brian Keyser will handle the action. The game can be heard online at www.wmssfm.com. Live stats of the game will be available on GoDutchmen.com.

The Semifinals - How They Got Here
LVC beat Albright, 56-51, in a gutsy semifinal performance that saw LVC take the lead in the final minute and hold on. Lori Lidlow made the key play, getting fouled on her own put-back and converting the three-point play with 51 seconds left to go on top. LVC then held Albright scoreless for the final minute, and Andrea Hoover made a critical steal to help ice the game. Suzie Noyes led LVC with 16 points and six boards in just her third start of the year.

Meanwhile, in Grantham, fourth-seeded Widener pulled off the upset, 60-57, over top-seeded Messiah. The Pride, who had lost at Messiah by 24 just four days prior, were lifted by Beth Dessart Mager's go-ahead jumper with 1:20 left, part of her 19 points overall. Lindsey Isler made a foul shot with four seconds remaining to go up three, and Katie Kalb's three-point try at the buzzer missed to send Messiah crashing out.

The Season Series
For just the second time in the history of the rivalry, Widener swept the season series with a pair of nailbiting wins, 59-57 in Annville and 70-68 in Chester. In the first game on Jan. 28, Barbara Fleming poured in 22 points as Widener held off a late LVC rally to win; in the return game on Feb. 17, Widener came out on top in a game where neither team led by more than four for the last 11 minutes of the game. Five players scored in double figures for LVC, including Suzie Noyes' career 20-point, 15-rebound game, while Fleming again paced Widener with 16 points.

Milestone Watch
Against Albright, sophomore Eryn Schultz bagged her 62nd three-pointer of the season, breaking the single-season mark of 61 set by Lora Zimmerman in 2000-01. Meanwhile, senior Megan Bish, with 985 career points, needs 15 to become LVC's eighth 1,000-point scorer.

Scouting LVC
Suzie Noyes has buoyed LVC through the final two weeks of the season, averaging 15.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game over that span. Eryn Schultz has been equally hot, draining 14.0 points per game including 3.25 three-pointers per contest over the last four outings, and Andrea Hoover has been the offensive catalyst, dishing out 6.0 assists to go with 12 points per game. One key has been turnovers - LVC has given up the ball just 13.8 times per game over the last two weeks, compared to 18.5 times for opponents. Overall this season, the Dutchmen are a whopping +99 on turnovers.

Scouting Widener
The Pride are led by a trio of scorers, including Barbara Fleming, who leads the team with 13.0 ppg and 3.2 apg. Center Casey Pritz averaged 11.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game to go with 47 blocks, and Beth Dessart Mager, despite her relatively modest 10.3 ppg average, can have scoring outbursts, scoring 14 or more points three times over the last six games. The Pride have relied on rebounding, leading opponents by nearly six boards per game on average.

Noting the CC Playoffs
LVC is making its eighth appearance in the MAC or Commonwealth Conference playoffs and third in the championship game ... LVC has a 3-7 all-time playoff record ... This is LVC's second home championship game. The Dutchmen hosted in 2001-02, when they earned the #1 seed ... LVC also reached the final last year, losing at Messiah 54-47 ... This is the first time LVC and Widener have met in the postseason ... Widener won the CC championship in 2004 as a #4 seed, upsetting Messiah in the semis before beating Moravian ... The Pride also went to the NCAA tournament in 1982 ... LVC leads the all-time series between the two teams, 21-11, but six of Widener's wins have come since 2005.