Lebanon Valley 56, Widener 54

LVC Starters
Evans, Bamberger, Scarff, Kline, Mealey

Widener Starters
Gallagher, Ireland, Schenk, Hardy, Rimmer

How It Happened
CHESTER, Pa. – Anne Lehr's good jumper as time expired gave Lebanon Valley a thrilling 56-54 victory over Widener in the Dutchmen's MAC Commonwealth opener on Wednesday night. LVC improved to 4-2, 1-0 MAC Commonwealth, while the Pride fell to 3-2, 0-1 MAC Commonwealth.

With 30 seconds remaining in the first, Emily Mealey knocked down a jumper to give the Dutchmen a narrow 54-53 lead. On the ensuing play, Widener's Allison Gallagher was fouled with 17 seconds to go. She knocked down the first free throw, but missed the second, leaving the game tied at 54-54. After an LVC timeout, the Dutchmen drew up a play and Becky Evans brought the ball down the court and handed it off to Lehr, who drilled the jumper as time expired for the incredible 56-54 win.

In the early going, the Pride began the first quarter on an 11-4 run and the Dutchmen's offense was struggling to gain the momentum. Caroline Scarff hit a pair of free throws with 1:35 left in the first, and LVC was within five at 11-6 after one quarter of action.

In the second quarter, Widener opened up a 10-point advantage at 16-6, but a 13-8 run that spanned most of the quarter brought the Dutchmen back in it at 24-19. In the final minute of the quarter, the Pride went back up by seven, but Mealey connected on a layup as time expired in the second, and LVC was down by just five at 28-23 heading into halftime.

To start the third, the Dutchmen scored the quarter's first six points to take their first lead of the game at 29-28. From there, the back-and-forth period featured six lead changes, and LVC went into the fourth down by just one at 38-37. In the fourth quarter, the Dutchmen were able to open up a lead thanks to a pair of huge 3-pointers by Morgan Bamberger, as LVC led 49-45 with 4:21 to go. Later, with 2:20 remaining and the Dutchmen up 52-50, Devan Rimmer knocked down a trey to put Widener back up by one at 53-52 with 1:52 to go. That score held until Mealey's jumper with 30 seconds left, which was eventually followed by Lehr's buzzer-beater.

Inside the Numbers
 - Lehr finished with 10 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 line from the charity stripe.
 - Mealey recorded another double-double, going for 10 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
 - Scarff (12) and Evans (10) were also in double-digits in points.
 - Nikki Petri paced the Pride with 13 points, while Rimmer chipped in nine.
 - LVC outshot Widener from the floor at 40 to 33.9-percent.
 - The Dutchmen outrebounded the Pride 40-36.
 - LVC scored 14 points off turnovers and led in points in the paint at 26-22.

Who's Next?
The Dutchmen look to ride the momentum into their conference home-opener on Saturday against Alvernia at 1 p.m.

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