HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team finished off a tough three-games in five days stretch by defeating host Juniata College 53-43 on Wednesday at Memorial Gymnasium in Huntingdon. The Dutchmen held the Eagles to 22 points through the first three quarters while building a 19-point lead.
 
Juniata won the opening tip and scored on the first possession of the game for their only lead. The Dutchmen brought the ball down the court and Cristina Fernandez knocked down a three from the left wing off an assist by Kate Fitzpatrick. Fernandez stole the ball and Riley Hevelow putback an offensive rebound to give LVC a 5-2 advantage. The Eagles scored with a bucket in the paint before LVC used a 9-0 run to build a 14-4 lead with 2:39 to play in the quarter. Brielle Reidinger started the run with a putback jumper in the paint off her own miss. Hevelow knocked down a three on the right side, Kailey Eckhart hit a pair of free throws, and then Reidinger had another offensive rebound and putback. The Eagles stopped the run with a three-pointer as the Dutchmen led 14-7 after one.
 
The Eagles scored on the opening possession of the second quarter before LVC pushed the lead to 22-9. Abbie Reed knocked down a jumper, Fitzpatrick stole the ball and then found Fernandez streaking up the court for a fastbreak layup, Hevelow scored a bucket, and then Fitzpatrick hit a baseline jumper with just under six minutes to play. Both teams went cold from the field over the next five minutes as the only points came at the line until Juniata scored on a layup with 1:12 left to make it 23-13. Reed scored on a fastbreak off a defensive rebound to send LVC into the half with a 25-13 lead.
 
Fernandez started the second half off with a bucket on the first possession and Juniata responded with a basket at the other end. The Dutchmen received back-to-back layups from Fernandez and Fitzpatrick to go up by 16. The teams traded scores until layups by Fernandez and Hevelow gave the Dutchmen a 37-20 advantage with 2:46 to go in the quarter. Fitzpatrick knocked down a step back jumper with 2:02 remaining for the largest lead of the game. The Eagles scored with 35 seconds left to cut it to 39=22 heading into the fourth.
 
Juniata started the fourth on a 9-2 run over the first three minutes to cut the lead down to 10 points at 42-32. Samya Santiague stepped into the passing lane at halfcourt and cruised her way for an easy layup with 6:04 on the clock to end the run. The Eagles brought it back to 10 before Fitzpatrick knocked down a three. Juniata scored the next four points to get the lead down to single digits but that was as close as they would get as Santiague scored on another layup and then Fitzpatrick hit a jumper to give LVC a 51-38 lead with a little over a minute left.
 
Inside the Box

• Fitzpatrick scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half. The guard also had five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block.
• Fernandez was all over the court with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal.
• Hevelow was the third Dutchmen in double figures scoring with 11 points on 5-8 shooting.
• Reidinger pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds including seven on the offensive end. She scored five points and had two assists.
• Santiague finished with five points and eight rebounds.
• The Dutchmen won the first meeting since 2007 between the former conference rivals.

Up Next
LVC will return to Annville where they will host Centenary University on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.

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