ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team is set to compete for a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that goes with it this week after qualifying for the postseason.
 
The Dutchmen qualified for the MAC Commonwealth Championships as the fourth seed with a 9-7 record during conference play this season. LVC will have to win three games this week starting on Monday evening when they host fifth-seeded Widener University at 6 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium. The winner will advance to face top-seeded Messiah University on Wednesday in the semifinals. Second-seeded Albright College will host third-seeded Alvernia University in the other semifinal. The winners will then play for the title on Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed.
 
Ticket prices have been set for each game by the MAC office at $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens, and $2 for students with valid ID and children. Children under six are free. No passes will be accepted, and everyone must purchase a ticket to attend each game.
 
The Dutchmen last played in the 4/5 game back in the 2018-19 season going on the road to defeat Arcadia University 67-61. This season, Lebanon Valley has gone 8-6 at home including a 68-60 victory over Widener a couple weeks ago on February 8. The Dutchmen swept the Pride this season after also earning a thrilling 61-59 win down in Chester on a Kate Fitzpatrick buzzer-beater. Widener qualified as the fifth seed with a 7-9 conference mark and is coming off a home win over York College of Pennsylvania on Saturday that denied the Spartans a spot in the Championships.
 
LVC is averaging 57.9 points a game while allowing 56.8 this year. They are second in the conference with a 38.1 shooting percentage and lead the conference in three-point shooting at 30.4 percent. Fitzpatrick is a candidate for Player of the Year after finishing second in the conference with 17.5 points per game. The junior has scored in double figures in 23 of the 24 games she has played and is second in the conference in three-point shooting at 35.2 percent. The junior guard adds 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Daelyn Stabler is having a great senior year and will be in consideration for a spot on the all-conference team after averaging 8.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She is seventh in rebounding in the conference and fifth in field goal percentage at 46.2 percent.
 
Riley Hevelow is having a great rookie season averaging 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds a game. Cristina Fernandez is averaging 6.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals in 22 games. Kailey Eckhart has emerged as a threat off the bench as of late and averages 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 24 games this season. She has hit four three-pointers in a game twice over the last three weeks of the regular season. Samya Santiague averages 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds while Allison Bimmer adds 1.5 points and 0.9 rebounds a game. Jordan Zimmerman has come off the bench to produce 4.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game for the Dutchmen while Elise Balmer has seen action in 23 games and adds 0.3 points and 0.9 rebounds per game.
 
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