SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Women's Basketball team used a strong start and had four scorers in double figures to defeat Marywood University 78-43 on Saturday afternoon at Insalaco Arena in Scranton.
 
The Dutchmen (4-2) rebounded nicely from a tough defeat on Tuesday with their highest-scoring game of the year. Cristina Fernandez began the scoring as she grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a wide-open layup on the team's second offensive possession of the game. The Pacers (5-2) scored at the other end before LVC went on a 21-0 scoring run to open a big lead. Jordan Zimmerman started the run with a three-pointer from the left corner. Abbie Reed then stole the ball and finished the fastbreak with a layup off a nice pass from Fernandez. Riley Hevelow forced the Pacers to take their second timeout in a minute-span after knocking down a three-pointer to make it 16-2 with 4:28 on the clock.
 
The run continued out of the timeout as Kailey Eckhart scored the next seven points on a three-pointer and two buckets in the paint. Marywood ended the scoring drought on the other end of the floor with a layup with 2:42 left in the quarter. Fernandez and Elise Balmer scored layups to put the Dutchmen up 27-6 heading into the second quarter.
 
Marywood started off the scoring in the second quarter with a pair of three-pointers while Brielle Reidinger hit two free throws to make it a 17-point game. The Pacers were able to cut the lead down to 14 before Reidinger found Hevelow cutting to the hoop and then scored her own layup to make it 35-17 in favor of LVC. The Pacers knocked down their fourth three-pointer of the quarter with 1:39 to play to cut the advantage to 37-22. Reidinger was fouled on the next possession and made the backend of her two free throws for the final point of the half.
 
Marywood scored on the first possession of the second half and were able to hold the Dutchmen without a point until Zimmerman scored in transition 90 seconds into the quarter. A couple of possessions later, Zimmerman knocked down a three off a feed from Reed to push the lead to 19 at 45-26. Neither team scored again until Fernandez found Eckhart in the paint on back-to-back trips for a pair of layups to give the Dutchmen a 49-26 advantage with three minutes to play in the quarter. After the teams traded buckets, Reed grabbed a defensive rebound and found Hevelow streaking up the court for a fastbreak layup. Marywood closed out the scoring in the quarter with a made free throw to cut the lead to 53-29 with 10 minutes to go.
 
The teams traded blows to begin the fourth as Reidinger scored down low and then Marywood answered. Hevelow hit a three and then the Pacers hit a three at the other end. After a couple of turnovers, Zimmerman stole the ball, passed it to Fernandez who found Hevelow open for another fastbreak layup. A couple of possessions later Hevelow put the Dutchmen up by 31 with a three-pointer from the right corner. The scoring run continued as Eckhart scored on back-to-back buckets underneath and after a Hevelow layup, Eckhart knocked down her second three of the game to push the lead to 40 with four minutes remaining.
 
The Pacers scored to stop the run and then LVC took advantage of another offensive rebound by Elise Balmer with a jumper from Rachel Witkoski at the top of the key. Marywood scored a layup and a three over the final three minutes while holding the Dutchmen scoreless to set the final score at 78-43.
 
Inside the Box

• Eckhart led all scorers with a career-high 20 points. She was 9-11 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc. The junior continued her strong play against the Pacers surpassing her previous career-high of 19 points which also happened in Insalaco Arena two years ago.
• Hevelow was one of two Dutchmen with a double-double as the guard finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The junior was 8-12 from the field and a perfect 3-3 on three-pointers.
• Reidinger recorded her third double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 boards. She also had two assists and two blocks.
• Fernandez had a strong game with 10 points, a career-high nine assists, four rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. Three of her four rebounds came on the offensive glass.
• Zimmerman finished with eight points, four rebounds, and three assists.
• Reed had seven rebounds and five assists with three steals and two points while Balmer added three offensive rebounds, three assists, and two points.
• LVC made a season-high 32 field goals and shot 48.5 percent for a season-high 78 points. The seven made three-pointers are also a season-high.
• The Dutchmen were excellent on the boards with a 48-28 rebounding advantage including 13 on the offensive glass.
• The team also had season-highs with 25 assists.

Up Next
LVC will continue a three-game road stand on Wednesday with a short trip south to York College of Pennsylvania. Tip-off against the Spartans is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Wolf Gym.

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