OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Kailey Eckhart recorded the first double-double of her career with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Lebanon Valley women's basketball team in a tough 67-59 overtime defeat at Stevenson University on Wednesday evening in Maryland.
 
LVC (5-7, 2-2 MAC Commonwealth) had a strong opening quarter starting with a 10-2 lead after four minutes of play. Kate Fitzpatrick led the offensive charge with six of the points. The Mustangs (4-8, 3-1 MAC Commonwealth) closed the gap to five points at 13-8 before the Dutchmen closed out the final 3:19 on a 6-2 run on back-to-back threes by Eckhart and Samya Santiague. Lebanon Valley locked down on defense in the second quarter and were able to increase their lead to 14 points going into halftime. Fitzpatrick scored four, Jordan Zimmerman added four points, and Cristina Fernandez beat the buzzer on a layup for the team's final points of the quarter.
 
The Dutchmen began the second half with a layup by Daelyn Stabler before Stevenson scored the next 10 points to cut the lead to 31-25 with six minutes left. LVC was able to build the lead back up to 11 following a Eckhart jumper with 1:10 to go. The teams traded free throws over the final minute with Lebanon Valley holding a 41-32 lead going into the final quarter. Riley Hevelow knocked down a three to start the fourth. The Mustangs used a 6-0 run to bring the lead down to six points with just over five minutes on the clock. Allison Bimmer found Zimmerman for a big trey to bring the lead back up to nine. The Dutchmen still led by nine with four minutes left. Stevenson scored the next eight points in just over a minute of time to cut the advantage down to one at 51-50. Fitzpatrick and Eckhart hit a pair of free throws each to put the dutchmen up five with 1:30 remaining. The Mustangs hit a jumper and then scored on a three-point play with 31 seconds left to tie the game up.
 
The teams traded scores to begin overtime and the game was tied at 59 with a little over two minutes to play. The Mustangs scored the final eight points of the game to pull out the victory.
 
 Inside the Box Score

• Eckhart had her second consecutive game with double digit points with 11 and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
• Fitzpatrick had a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds.
• Zimmmerman finished with a career-high 11 points and six rebounds.
• Hevelow grabbed eight rebounds and scored five points.
• The Dutchmen had a season-high 51 rebounds.

Up Next
LVC will play their first home game of 2023 on Saturday when they host Alvernia University at 3 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
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