Lebanon Valley 53, Lycoming 49

LVC Starters
Cirucci, Rothert, Lantz, Carper, Umbrell

Lycoming Starters
Manges, Mueller, Ziminski, Derr, Calella

How It Happened
Lebanon Valley took a huge step towards securing a playoff berth thanks to a hard-fought 53-49 road win over Lycoming on Saturday afternoon.

Bridget Rothert and Alyssa Cirucci combined to score the game's final four points, all of which came from the charity stripe, breaking a tie in crunch time and sealing a much-needed victory for the Flying Dutchmen (16-7, 7-7 CC).

Maureen Fleming's layup put the visitors ahead by five with 3:35 left to play but a 7-2 run by Lycoming (15-9, 7-8 CC) over the next 2:24 knotted the score at 49-49.

LVC led for nearly the duration of the second half, trailing for just 1:10 at 41-40 following a Shelby Mueller layup with 8:36 left to play.

The game was played with all the urgency of a postseason matchup as neither squad led by more than seven points at any time. After a slow start that saw just two points scored in the first four minutes, LVC claimed a 10-3 advantage when Rothert knocked down a jumper at the 13:52 mark.

The Flying Dutchmen didn't trail until Chelsea Henderson converted a layup to put Lycoming out in front 21-20 with 5:34 remaining in the first half. The teams played even for the rest of the half and the score was tied at 30-30 at intermission.

Notables
- Lebanon Valley is playing its best basketball of the year when it matters most, having won five of the team's last six games.
- Alyssa Cirucci netted a team-high 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting (55.6 percent) from the field and swiped a game-high three steals. Her point total was also a season-best.
- Bridget Rothert recorded her third double-double of the year with ten points and ten rebounds.
- Lycoming's Olivia Manges also had a double-double, recording game-highs of 13 points and 13 boards.
- Peyton Carper flirted with double-double territory, netting eight points and pulling-in seven rebounds.
- Lexie Lantz (10 points) reached the double-digit scoring mark for the third-straight game. She also added seven rebounds.
- Taylor Umbrell went the distance for Lebanon Valley, playing all 40 minutes and scoring four points and collecting nine boards.
- The evenly-matched contest saw both teams shoot an identical 66.7 percent from the free throw line; LVC was 14-for-25 while Lyco went 10-for-15. The Dutchmen converted seven field goals in the second half and the Warriors made just six in the final 20 minutes.

Stat of the Game
14-2 – The advantage the Dutchmen held in points scored off turnovers; even more impressive considering Lebanon Valley committed 17 TOs compared to the Warriors' 15.

Playoff Positioning
The victory gave LVC a half-game lead over Lyco in the race for the Commonwealth Conference's fifth and final postseason tournament spot.

Next Up
The Dutchmen travel to Alvernia for their penultimate regular season contest on Tuesday night.