Box Score
W. Basketball at Messiah Gallery
Women's Basketball
Lebanon Valley 46, Messiah 43
GRANTHAM, Pa. - #19 Lebanon Valley captured its third-consecutive Commonwealth Conference Championship in a thrilling 46-43 win at ##13 Messiah Saturday.
"Phenomenal effort," head coach Todd Goclowski said. "101 wins for a class and three conference championships. You can't do much more than that, although I think we'll have some other goals after tonight. We'll see what lies ahead for the group."
The Dutchmen (24-3) came into the game with a pair of regular-season losses to the Falcons (23-4) but took retribution in front of a capacity crowd at Brubaker Gymnasium. The win earns LVC admission into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, at a site to be determined. The field will be announced live on ncaa.com at 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Caitlin Bach and tournament MVP
Tierney Hiltz led LVC with 13 points each, and Bach earned another double-double with 13 rebounds. Just five players scored for LVC, which shot 30 percent collectively on the game.
Kiely Chaklos scored nine,
Renee Fritz scored six, and
Liz Borgia scored five in the win.
"We made some adjustments on the defensive end and reiterated the fact that we wanted to play a little more calm," Goclowski said. "I thought we were a little amped in the first half."
Hiltz had a great tournament offensively, posting 29 total points with nine assists. Conference MVP Dori Gyori led the Falcons with 13 points. Nicky Hess and Chelseas Danel were close behind with nine points each.
In a game where points were certainly at a premium, LVC headed to halftime down 16-12 and did not take its first lead until a pair of free throws gave the Dutchmen a 43-41 lead with 1:26 to play in the second half. At 46 points, LVC was held to its lowest point total of the season.
Hiltz, Bach, and Chaklos each scored nine points after the break to force the win. This is the second time that LVC beat Messiah for a championship, following their first title in 2010-11.
