Lycoming 80, Lebanon Valley 66

LVC Starters
Lehr, Evans, Bamberger, Scarff, Mealey

Lyco Starters
Mueller, Mader, McFadden, Painter, Talanca

How It Happened
WILLAMSPORT, Pa. – After a tight first half, Lycoming outscored Lebanon Valley 29-17 in the third quarter to pull away and defeat the Dutchmen 80-66 on Tuesday night in MAC Commonwealth women's basketball action. The Dutchmen, who already have a playoff spot locked up, moved to 14-10, 9-6 MAC Commonwealth, while the Warriors improved to 17-6, 11-4 MAC Commonwealth.

With Lyco ahead by three at 30-27 at the start of the third quarter, the Warriors began the period on a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 40-31 with 7:38 remaining. LVC hung tough, however, and went on an 11-7 spurt, capped by Becky Evans' 3-pointer, to cut into Lyco's lead and make it 47-42 score with 3:34 left in the third. Throughout the final 3:34 of the quarter, the Warriors went on a critical run, outscoring LVC 12-2 to take a 15-point advantage at 59-44 into the fourth quarter. The Dutchmen weren't able to make a comeback in the fourth, as Lycoming never relinquished its double-digit lead and went on to win 80-66.

In the early going, Lyco was ahead 6-3 until Morgan Mader made a triple to put the Warriors ahead 9-3. On the ensuing play, Morgan Bamberger responded with a trey of her own to bring the Dutchmen back to within three at 9-6 with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter. A minute later, Lyco was up 11-6, only to see the Dutchmen come flying back and make it 13-12 with 4:12 left in the first. The Warriors ended the first on a 7-4 spurt, but LVC was only down 21-16 after one period of action.

Lyco scored the second quarter's first five points to take a 26-16 advantage with 8:24 to go, but LVC came storming back with a big 8-0 run, capped by two free throws by Emily Mealey, to come to within four at 26-22 with 4:19 left. Later, with the Dutchmen down by just three at 28-25 with 32 seconds left in the half, Jen Kaufman knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game at 28-27. With 18 seconds left, Akilah McFadden made a layup to push Lyco's lead to 30-27 heading into halftime.

Inside the Numbers
 - Evans paced the offense with 17 points and the senior added four assists and a pair of steals.
 - Anne Lehr notched 14 points and a game-high seven assists to go along with seven rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes of action.
 - Caroline Scarff and Mealey scored seven points each.
 - For Lyco, McFadden registered 18 points and Shelby Mueller scored 16.
 - Mader recorded 15 points and Painter chipped in 11.
 - The Warriors held a slide edge in total rebounds at 40-38.
Inside the Numbers
 - LVC is locked into a playoff spot and will either be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in next week's MAC Commonwealth Tournament, depending on how things shake out on Saturday.

Who's Next?
LVC wraps up regular-season action on Saturday when the Dutchmen play host to No. 16 Messiah at 4 p.m.

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