Lebanon Valley 76, Simpson College 75

LVC Starters
Lehr, Evans, Bamberger, Scarff, Mealey

Simpson Starters
Johnson, Hazard, Taylor, Simmons, Morrow

How It Happened
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Lebanon Valley erased a 13-point deficit in the first half and edged Simpson College by a 76-75 margin on Wednesday morning in non-conference women's basketball action at day one of the Daytona Beach Shootout. The Dutchmen improved to 8-4, while the Storm fell to 7-4.

Down by six at 63-57 at the start of the fourth quarter, LVC stayed with Simpson, which is located in Indianola, Iowa, and never let the Storm pull away. With 4:24 remaining, Janey Botkins hit a huge 3-pointer to put Simpson ahead 68-61, and later an Ellen Gallagher free throw put the Storm ahead at 71-63 with 3:14 left in the fourth. The Dutchmen responded in a big way with a 6-0 spurt that spanned two minutes and brought LVC to within two at 71-69 with 1:12 remaining. After Claire Johnson made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, Veronica Venezia connected on a jumper with 44 seconds left to bring LVC back to within one at 72-71 with 44 ticks left on the clock. After a Simpson turnover, Caroline Scarff made a layup, giving LVC a 73-72 advantage with 37 seconds to go. Down the stretch, the Dutchmen went 3-for-4 from the stripe and despite a made 3-pointer by the Storm as time expired, LVC held on for the thrilling, come-from-behind victory.

It was an exciting, high-scoring first quarter as Emily Mealey made a layup with 5:36 remaining to knot the game at 13-13. The score remaining close, but Simpson held a narrow 26-23 lead after one period of play.  In the second, the Storm opened up what seemed to be a comfortable advantage when Jenna Taylor's layup put Simpson up 38-26 and later, the Storm jumped out to their biggest lead of the contest with 2:03 left in the second when they were up 47-34. In the closing minutes of the half, the Dutchmen went on a 4-0 run and were down by just nine points at 47-38 heading into halftime.

An 8-5 spurt to begin the third brought LVC to within six at 52-46 with 7:40 to go, and the Dutchmen kept the game close throughout the third quarter until they went ahead for good in the fourth to complete the comeback.

Inside the Numbers
 - Venezia paced the Dutchmen with a career-high 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting and the freshman added five boards.
 - Anne Lehr added 18 points for LVC while adding five assists and a pair of steals.
 - Becky Evans finished with six points and added a game-high nine assists.
 - Morgan Bamberger went 4-for-7 from beyond the arc and accumulated 13 points.
 - Scarf chipped in eight points and was in double digits in rebounds at 11.
 - Morrow led the Storm with 14 points, while Gallagher ended with 11.
 - The Dutchmen held the edge in overall shooting percentage at 45.5-percent to 40.3-percent.
 - LVC also had the advantage in rebounds at 40-39.

Who's Next?
The Daytona Beach Shootout concludes tomorrow at 10 a.m. when LVC battles Drew University.

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