Box Score
W. Basketball vs. Clarkson Gallery
Women's Basketball
#10 Lebanon Valley 76, Clarkson 41
ANNVILLE, Pa. - A balanced offense carried the momentum of a huge first half as #10 Lebanon Valley cruised in its season opener, 76-41, over Clarkson in the Rinso Marquette Tournament.
The Dutchmen (1-0) will play at 3 p.m. Sunday in the final, looking to defend their championship against FDU-Florham, who beat Marywood in the opening round Saturday night to advance. LVC entered the season ranked #10 in the d3hoops.com preseason poll.
Renee Fritz and
Caitlin Bach led the Dutchmen with 12 points apiece as they blew out to a massive lead, holding the Golden Knights (0-2) without a field goal for a 13:24 in the middle of the first half to lead 41-14 at the break.
Kiely Chaklos scored nine in 17 minutes of work.
LVC's defense was impressive, holding Clarkson to 18.2% shooting in the first half on the way to a game total 29.2%. The Dutchmen were a solid 45.1% from the floor but did a good deal of damage at the line, shooting 26-for-32 (81.3%) overall. Ashley Loggins scored 17 points to lead the Golden Knights, who will play in the 1 p.m. consolation game Sunday.
Among the storylines for the Valley was the return of former Commonwealth Conference Rookie of the Year
Lauren Ruhl, who scored seven points in her first action in 21 months since suffering an ACL injury against Messiah in 2011. The junior sharpshooter nailed a three-pointer and had a long two while dishing out two assists.
The freshman class also impressed, with
Kerri Stolle starting the game and
Peyton Carper (9 pts),
Taylor Umbrell (6 pts),
Alyssa Cirucci (3 pts), and
Cara Breslin (1 pt) all contributing off the bench. In all, 12 Dutchmen played 10 or more minutes.
FDU-Florham (1-0) beat Marywood (0-1) 63-45 in the late game Saturday night to advance to the championship game against LVC. It was a wild game for both teams, as they combined for 67 turnovers.
