Messiah 61, Lebanon Valley 52

LVC Starters
Cirucci, Chaklos, Carper, Troutman, Umbrell

Messiah Starters
Chavous, Seamon, Hoff, Fairbanks, Glackin

How It Happened
GRANTHAM, Pa. – Lebanon Valley was unable to come back against Messiah after being down by 14 points at halftime as the Falcons downed the Dutchmen 61-52 on Tuesday night in MAC Commonwealth women's basketball action. LVC's record now stands at 16-8, 10-5 MAC Commonwealth, while Messiah went to 17-7, 11-4 MAC Commonwealth.

The Falcons jumped out to an early 7-1 lead with 8:29 to go in the first, however a five-minute 9-4 run by LVC brought the Dutchmen to within three at 11-8 with 3:12 to go. With 30 seconds remaining, Hilary Yoh tied the game at 12-12, but two good free throws with seven seconds left by Messiah's Gillian Glackin put the Falcons ahead at 14-12 after one quarter of action.

In the first part of the second quarter, the game stayed at a back-and-forth pace as Messiah held a close 18-16 advantage with 6:59 remaining, however the Falcons put together a 15-3 spurt for the remainder of the quarter and took a 33-19 lead heading into halftime.

The halftime break proved to benefit LVC, as Messiah's momentum diminished and the Dutchmen began the third quarter on an impressive 10-0 run to come to within four at 33-29 with 6:55 left. Bridget Rothert was all over the court in LVC's spurt, scoring four of the 10 points and adding a block, steal, and a rebound. Four points, however, is as close as the Dutchmen would get because the Falcons countered with a 12-4 run to end the half, resulting in a 45-33 score after three quarters of action.

Messiah maintained its double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and held on for the 61-52 win.

Top Performers
Rothert scored a game-high 17 points, while adding six rebounds in 32 minutes of action.

Inside the Numbers
 - Yoh and Lexie Lantz each tallied eight points, while Peyton Carper and Kiely Chaklos added seven apiece.
- Rachel Kelly came off the bench and brought down a team-high seven rebounds.
 - For the Falcons, Glackin and Alecia Rohrer each tallied 13 points and Kaitlyn Hoff chipped in 10.
 - LVC outrebounded Messiah 39-35.
 - The Dutchmen bench, which has been tremendous all year, outscored their opponent's bench yet again, 33-24.

Updated Playoff Picture
The Dutchmen clinched a MAC Commonwealth playoff spot last week and currently sit tied for third with Stevenson with one conference game remaining.

Who's Next?
The Dutchmen play host to Lycoming in the regular season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m.