Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

Women's Basketball
Lebanon Valley College 64, Elizabethtown College 61 (OT)

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – In the definition of a tight contest where neither team led by more than three points for the first 38:29, the Lebanon Valley women's basketball team pulled out a 64-61 overtime victory over Elizabethtown on Wednesday evening.

With the win, the Dutchmen take over sole possession of first place in the Commonwealth Conference standings, sending the Blue Jays to their first loss of the season. LVC moves to 11-1 on the year and 5-0 in conference play. Additionally, head coach Todd Goclowski earns his 200th win in his career, moving to an overall mark of 200-63.

Junior Kiely Chaklos and seniors Lauren Ruhl and Caitlin Bach were the double-figure scorers for the Dutchmen with 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Elizabethtown's Kendra Beittel led all scorers with 18 points.

The game was back-and-forth all night long as it featured an unbelievable 22 lead changes and 20 ties. The Dutchmen dominated on the glass, doubling up the Blue Jays in the rebounding department, 52-26, but went just 23-for-64 from the field (35.9%) compared to 26-of-59 (44.1%) for Elizabethtown.

The game began as a defensive battle with both teams keeping their opponent from getting off quality looks from the field. Chaklos' jumper from the corner put the Valley on top, 7-6, at the 13-minute mark, but a three from Beittel on the ensuing possession pushed the Blue Jays in front, 9-7.

That lead changed multiple times throughout the half as both teams traded buckets. With just under seven minutes to play, senior Caitlin Bach took it into her own hands, creating a steal with a reach-in breakup on the defensive end and finishing in the lane on the other end.

An Elizabethtown bucket followed by two threes from either side pushed the score to 21-19 in the Blue Jays' favor until Lantz's put-back layup tied the game at 21 with 4:30 to play in the half. Lantz finished the half with six points as she kept the Dutchmen in the game to close out the half down one, 30-29.

Both teams came out firing in the second half as multiple three-pointers from Ruhl were answered on the other end with the game continuing to stay within just one possession for either team.

As hot as the two sides came out of the locker room is as cold as they both went midway through the half as we saw a stretch of 2:31 without a field goal from either side. A dribble-drive from Chaklos ended the drought to put the Valley up 46-45 at the 7:37 mark, but a pair of Elizabethtown free throws followed and the Blue Jays took the 47-46 lead with seven minutes to play.

With 2:19 remaining and the game tied at 50-50, sophomore Alyssa Cirucci brought the ball up the floor and got the Dutchmen in their offensive set. As the shot clock began to wind down, a kick-out pass found sophomore Taylor Umbrell in the left corner, who drained an open three to give the Valley their largest lead of the game to that point at 53-50.

Two free throws from Chaklos on the ensuing Dutchmen possession moved the game out of within a bucket for the first time in the game with 1:31 to play. Elizabethtown came right down the floor, though, as a three from Beittell and a dribble-drive from Krissy Pennell tied it up at 55-55.

With 15 seconds remaining on the clock, the Blue Jays had a chance to win it on the final possession. The Dutchmen had other ideas as they knocked the ball free on a drive and out of bounds, forcing a turnover with 1.1 seconds to play. Bach's desperation heave fell short and the game moved to an extra session.

In a microcosm of the game to that point, the overtime played out in a back-and-forth fashion before Bach's jumper at the 55-second mark pushed the Dutchmen in front by three, 62-59. An Elizabethtown layup cut the lead to one at 62-61, but Chaklos hit two free throws and a last-second shot from the Blue Jays rang off the rim to secure the 64-61 victory.

Next up for the Valley is a trip to Stevenson on Saturday at 3 p.m.