ASTON, Pa. – After trailing Neumann for nearly the entire first half, Lebanon Valley, sparked by strong second period efforts from Bridget Rothert and Peyton Carper, outplayed the hometown Knights in the final 20 minutes en route to a hard-fought 77-75 victory on Monday night.

The Knights pulled to within two points with 1:01 remaining in regulation but the Flying Dutchmen (7-2) defense turned away two Neumann (3-5) chances during the timeframe, including a block by Lauren Derby, one of three on the night, with 37 seconds left to play.  The home team had a chance to send the game to overtime but Lauren Schlesman couldn't convert a layup at the buzzer.

Rothert netted a team-high 24 points, 17 of which came after the break, including three field goals from beyond the arc.  Carper was huge in the second half, scoring 15 of her 17 in the final 14:27.  Lexie Lantz was the third Dutchmen to reach the double-digit scoring mark with ten.  Schlesman led all scorers with 29 points. 

LVC outrebounded Neumann 48-37 overall with Carper and Derby leading the way with seven apiece while Alyssa Cirucci pulled in six boards to go along with her team-high four assists.  Freshmen Alex Lehman and Kaitlyn Van Tash corralled five each. 

The evenly-matched affair saw both teams shoot an identical 40.3 percent from the floor.  The Knights shot 28 three-balls but only connected on eight of them.  The Dutchmen drained five from downtown.  LVC shot 88 percent from the free throw line (22-25) while Neumann managed just 68 percent from the charity stripe (13-19). 

The Knights took their largest lead of the game at nine on three separate occasions in the first half; the last of which came with 4:13 left in the opening period.   

From there, the Dutchmen used a 12-5 run capped by the first of Rothert's three-balls to draw to within two at halftime.   

Back-to-back three-pointers from Rothert to begin the second half gave Lebanon Valley a 42-40 advantage at the 18:16 mark. 

An Emily Lyons' field goal from beyond the arc gave Neumann a 56-54 lead with 10:55 left to play.  Carper netted the game's next five points and the Knights would never lead again.

The Blue and White grabbed their largest advantage of the night when Rothert's layup put them up 69-60 with 6:41 remaining.

An 8-2 run allowed the home team to cut its deficit to three with four minutes remaining and another Lyons' three-ball cut the LVC advantage to just two at the 2:44 mark.  Jumpers by Van Tash and Rothert gave the Dutchmen a four-point cushion with 1:10 left to play.  The Dutchmen held Neumann scoreless in the final minute and held on for their seventh win of the year.

All but one of Lebanon Valley's players scored against the Knights and the contribution from the Dutchmen bench was key, outscoring Neumann's reserves 26-6.  Carper, Van Tash, Lehman, and Rachel Kelly answered the call while Taylor Umbrell, the team's fifth starter, netted five and grabbed four boards.

Lebanon Valley returns to the friendly confines of Sorrentino Gymnasium for the squad's next outing against Catholic on Wednesday night, Dec. 17.