Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley rode a strong defensive effort to a 58-42 win over #8/#10 Messiah on Wednesday evening, giving the Dutchmen sole possession of first place in the Commonwealth Conference.

 The win marked the first time in program history that the Dutchmen (15-1, 6-0 CC) have defeated a top-ten opponent and it snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Falcons (14-2, 5-1 CC), dating back to the 2001-02 season.

Junior Eryn Schultz scored a team-high 13 points, including four three-pointers to set the program record with 169 career three-pointers. Serenity Roos '00 previously held the record with 166 three-pointers in her career.

But it was another tough defensive outing by LVC that won the game as they held Messiah to a season-low 26.4 percent shooting, and leading scorers Julie Henninger and Dori Gyori to a combined 10 points.

“We came to work very hard and get this win, and we did work hard,” said head coach Todd Goclowski. “We clamped down on defense, and that was significant.”

Junior Suzie Noyes and freshman Liz Borgia reached double-digits in scoring with both tallying 11 points. The Dutchmen played a balanced game, with eight LVC players finding the scoresheet.

Freshman Sarah Colton tied her career-high with nine rebounds, including a team-high four offensive. Junior Andrea Hoover put back a team-high four free-throws and six assists.

“Our poise for such a young team was great,” said Goclowski. “It was Sarah's [Colton] best game of her young career, against Messiah's great posts too, and Liz Borgia sealed up a lot of action.”

Messiah was led by junior Michele Schleich with 12 points, and senior Julie Henninger posted nine.

The game began with both teams trading points until 13:59 of the first half when LVC took the lead for the remainder of the game. The Dutchmen posted their biggest lead of the first at 5:23 after a Suzie Noyes jumper.

LVC held an 11 point lead at halftime, and held Messiah to 19 points, a season low for the Falcons.

The Dutchmen began the second half strong with Eryn Schultz hitting a three-pointer with just under a minute gone to break the school record. LVC pulled away with 14:08 left to play, increasing the lead to 16 points. Messiah was held to under 50 points for the first time since December 2, 2006.

“It's a good win because it's a conference win,” said Goclowski. “We need to protect home court, but now we have to go out and improve our road performance.”

LVC begins a three-game road trip on Saturday with a 2 p.m. conference game against Albright.