ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team had three scorers in double figures as a second-half rally fell just short in a tough 50-47 defeat to York College of Pennsylvania on Monday evening at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
The Dutchmen (3-4) scored the first five points of the game as Cristina Fernandez hit a jumper and then Kate Fitzpatrick knocked down a three in the first two minutes of action. The Spartans (4-3) got on the board with a three-pointer and then Kailey Eckhart put back an offensive rebound with 6:48 on the clock. York scored the final seven points of the quarter to take a 10-7 lead after one. Both teams struggled to score over the final five minutes as York scored on a layup with just under five minutes to go to tie the game and then took the lead on a three-pointer with just over three minutes to play.
 
The run continued into the second quarter as the Spartans scored the first five points to take an eight-point lead. LVC ended their scoring drought with just over six minutes to play as Riley Hevelow knocked down a jumper. York slowly increased the lead to 13 points with 2:17 to play in the half on a three-pointer. Fitzpatrick cut the deficit to 10 as she knocked down a step-back three-pointer on the right wing with seven seconds left.
 
The Dutchmen came out of the locker room hot as Hevelow hit a three and then Fernandez scored to cut the lead to 25-20 in the first 70 seconds of the quarter and forced York to call a timeout. After a pair of made free throws by the Spartans, Fitzpatrick made back-to-back buckets to bring the Dutchmen within three points at 27-24 with seven minutes to go. The Spartans responded with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to bring the lead back up to nine. Hevelow stopped the run with a pull-up jumper. The teams traded baskets and then Samya Santiague scored to make it a five-point game at 35-30 with two minutes on the clock. York outscored the Dutchmen 4-2 over the final two minutes to take a 39-32 lead into the final quarter.
 
LVC started the scoring in. the fourth quarter as Eckhart hit a driving layup. The Spartans made the front end of two free throws and then Hevelow hit another pull-up jumper to cut the lead to four. York countered with a 5-0 run to bring the advantage back up to nine with 4:47 left. The Dutchmen scored on their next three possessions to bring it back to a three-point game with 3:20 on the clock. Fitzpatrick, Santiague, and Eckhart scored during the run for the Dutchmen. Eckhart made it a one-point game at 45-44 with 1:48 left as she putback an offensive rebound. The Spartans responded with a three-pointer with 48 seconds left and then Fitzpatrick connected on a deep three to bring it back to a one-point game with 16 seconds left. The Dutchmen were forced to foul, and York made both free throw attempts. LVC had an opportunity to tie the game at the buzzer but a three-point shot by Hevelow was blocked as the Spartans hung on for the win.
 
Inside the Box

• After shooting 22 percent in the first half, LVC came on strong to shoot 44.1 percent in the second half. The Dutchmen outscored the Spartans 32-25 in the second half
• Fitzpatrick scored 15 points for her fifth game of the year in double figures. The senior guard made six shots including three from beyond the arch.
• Hevelow had 14 points and five rebounds. She scored 11 of her points in the second half.
• Eckhart finished with 10 points and seven rebounds with three assists and three steals. She was 5-7 from the floor and grabbed three offensive rebounds.
• Fernandez pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds. She also filled the stat sheet with four points, three steals, three assists, and two blocks.
• LVC held York to shooting 27.9 percent from the field. It is the second-lowest shooting percentage by an opponent this season.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will head out to Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. tip at Juniata College. It marks the first meeting between the former MAC Commonwealth rivals since 2007.

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