BOSTON, Mass. – Cristina Fernandez scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half and came up with a game-ending steal to lead the Lebanon Valley Women's Basketball team to a thrilling 69-66 comeback victory over Hunter College on Sunday afternoon on the second day of the EC Tip-Off Classic at Emmanuel College in Boston.
 
The Dutchmen (2-1) got off to a slow start offensively as they shot just 27.3 percent in the first quarter while Hunter (1-2) shot 69.2 percent and made four threes to take a 22-14 lead. The Hawks won the opening tip and scored on the first possession. Fernandez found Riley Hevelow open for a three pointer on the left wing at the other end of the floor for LVC's first lead of the game. The teams traded scores and then Fernandez knocked down a three at the top of the key to give the Dutchmen an 8-6 advantage with 6:42 on the clock.
 
A minute later Jordan Zimmerman made a driving layup to give the team their largest lead of the game at 10-6. Hunter hit a trio of three pointers on three consecutive possessions to take a 15-12 lead with four minutes to go in the first quarter. They extended the lead to eight before Zimmerman stopped a scoreless drought with an elbow jumper. The Hawks scored on a driving layup to go up 22-14 after the first.
 
LVC and Hunter traded baskets to begin the second quarter until a three-pointer by Hevelow cut the lead down to three at 25-22. The Hawks responded with a layup and three-pointer on back-to-back trips down the court to push the lead back up to eight with four minutes to go in the half. Abbie Reed found Elise Balmer underneath for a layup and after a stop, Brielle Reidinger knocked down a jumper from just outside the paint to get the deficit down to four. The teams traded buckets in the paint on four straight possessions in the final two minutes to set the halftime score at 34-30 in favor of Hunter.
 
The Dutchmen came out of the halftime break and forced a turnover on the first possession. Hevelow found Zimmerman in the paint for a bucket at the other end to make it a one possession game. The Hawks scored at the other end and LVC got within one after Reidinger grabbed an offensive rebound and Reed found Hevelow open on the left wing for a three-pointer to make it 36-35. The Hawks countered with a 9-2 run over the next few minutes to push the advantage up to eight. Fernandez ended the run with a fastbreak layup while being fouled. She made the free throw to bring the advantage down to five with 4:30 left.
 
Neither team scored until the Hawks scored on two consecutive possessions in around the three-minute mark to go up by nine and force a timeout. LVC came out of the timeout and Kailey Eckhart knocked down a three on the right wing. The Hawks scored on the other end before LVC rounded out the scoring in the quarter with Fernandez making the front end of two free throw attempts and Reed finding Reidinger for a fastbreak layup with 16 seconds left to make it 51-46 heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
Reed began the fourth quarter scoring with a three on the right wing to make it a one-possession game for the first time since early in the second quarter. Hunter responded with a layup and then a steal and bucket to take a 55-49 lead. The teams traded made shots until Reidinger scored while being fouled with 7:14 on the clock. The forward knocked down her free throw to make I 59-56. After a layup by Hunter, Fernande hit a turnaround jump shot in the paint. Reed then stole the ball and found Fernandez open for a driving layup to make it a one-point game with 5:40 left.
 
The Hawks missed a jumper after a timeout and Fernandez pushed the ball up the court and scored on a pull up jumper just outside the paint to give LVC the lead for the first time since the first quarter. A minute later, Eckhart extended the lead to three with a layup. The Dutchmen forced a shot clock violation at the other end of the floor and Reed made a driving layup to make it 66-61 with 3:18 on the clock. Hunter was able to capitalize on a pair of turnovers to cut the lead to one with two buckets. Hevelow was fouled with 1:31 left while shooting and hit both free throws. The Dutchmen got the ball back with a little over a minute to go on a bad pass. Reed missed a jumper, and the Hawks grabbed the rebound.
 
 Hunter knocked down one of two free throws and then Fernandez grabbed her own rebound at the other end with 20 seconds left. Zimmerman went to the line 11 seconds left and made the front end of her two shots. Hunter called timeout after pulling down the rebound on the second shot to call up one last play. Fernandez did not let the Hawks get off a shot at the end as she stole the ball just before time expired.
 
Inside the Box

• The Dutchmen had four scorers in double figures and all five starters had at least five rebounds.
• Fernandez finished the game with 15 points and seven rebounds with three assists and three steals. Four of her rebounds were on the offensive glass.
• Hevelow had 16 points and six rebounds with two assists.
• Reidinger added 13 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. The forward shot 6-9 from the field.
• Zimmerman reached double digits for the fourth time in her career with 11 points and five rebounds. Four of her rebounds were offensive.
• Reed dished out eight assists, had six defensive rebounds, and scored seven points with four steals.
• LVC had a 40-34 rebounding advantage and scored 13 second-chance points.

Up Next
LVC will return to Pennsylvania before heading to New Jersey on Wednesday for a road contest at Centenary University. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Hackettstown against the Cyclones.

Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, X, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC Athletics.