Box Score Women's Basketball
#24 Lebanon Valley College 61, Widener University 59

CHESTER, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team hit their free throws down the stretch and held on to top Widener on Saturday afternoon in Chester, 61-59.

Following a first half that featured a number of lead changes in a back-and-forth affair, the Valley (6-1, 2-0 CC) finally made a move at the 12:11 mark in the second and the score tied at 41 apiece.

Free throws from junior Kiely Chaklos and sophomore Bridget Rothert, coupled with buckets from freshman Lexie Lantz and sophomore Taylor Umbrell were the makings of an 8-0 run that gave the Dutchmen the largest lead of the game at 49-41 with 8:19 to play.

From there, the Valley massaged their lead until the Pride stormed back with a 5-0 run of their own at the 2:07 mark to cut the LVC lead to one at 56-55. Then, the free throw game began as Rothert and Chaklos each hit a pair of foul shots in the final minute and Chaklos secured the final rebound for the 61-59 victory.

Chaklos was the only Lebanon Valley player in double figures in scoring as the Dutchmen were balanced in their attack. Accompanying 11 from the junior, classmate Peyton Carper and Umbrell posted nine points apiece, while Rothert and sophomore Alyssa Cirucci each added eight points. Widener's Jen Egee led all scorers with 27 points on the afternoon.

Widener held a small edge in rebounding, 37-36, and outshot the Valley from the field going 20-for-50 (40%), compared to 17-for-54 (31.5%) from the Dutchmen. Lantz led LVC on the glass with eight boards, while Chaklos and senior Caitlin Bach ripped down six rebounds, respectively. Bach saw 22 minutes of action off the bench for the Valley, returning from injury.

With the win, LVC remains undefeated in Commonwealth Conference play at 2-0 and moves to 6-1 overall on the year.

The Valley travels to Winchester, Va. on Dec. 16 to take on Shenandoah at 6 p.m. and returns to conference play on Dec. 18, when it hosts Arcadia at 1 p.m. in its final game of 2013.