ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley women's basketball senior
Daelyn Stabler had a Senior Day to remember as she led the Dutchmen to a near upset of nationally-ranked Messiah University in a close 55-49 defeat inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.
The Dutchmen got off to a strong start behind a jumper in the paint by Stabler and then a
Kate Fitzpatrick three to take a 5-0 lead. The lead grew to six after Fitzpatrick knocked down another three. Messiah slowly cut into the lead bringing it to 10-8 with 3:51 to go in the quarter before layups by Stabler and Fitzpatrick brought the lead back up to six. The Falcons scored right before the buzzer to make it 14-10 after one quarter. The Dutchmen used an 8-2 run to start to second quarter to open up a 10-point lead behind a pair of threes from
Kailey Eckhart and Fitzpatrick. The Falcons closed the half on a 7-0 run to cut the LVC lead down to 26-25 at the break.
Messiah scored the first bucket of the second half and then the teams traded scores for the whole quarter. Neither team was able to go up by more than two in a third quarter that had five ties. The Falcons knocked down back-to-back threes to start the fourth and built the lead up to 49-39 with just under seven to play. The lead was still at 10 with two minutes to play before Eckhart knocked down a three and then Stabler hit a jumper to bring the Dutchmen within five at 51-46. Eckhart would hit another three to keep it a five-point game with 23 seconds left but that was as close as LVC would get.
Inside the Box Score
- Stabler finished with 14 points and five rebounds with three steals and two blocks.
- Eckhart also had 14 points and knocked down four three-pointers.
- Fitzpatrick had 13 points playing 31 minutes. She was 3-5 from beyond the arc in the game.
- The Dutchmen will be the fourth seed in this week's MAC Commonwealth Championships.
Up Next
LVC will host fifth-seeded Widener University on Monday at 6 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium in the first game of the MAC Commonwealth Championships. The winner will advance to face top-seeded Messiah on Wednesday in Grantham.
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