PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Women's Basketball team battled valiantly in a 71-30 defeat at Division I Drexel University on Sunday afternoon at the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia.
 
The Dutchmen (6-4) battled tough against the defending Colonial Athletic Association champions, but the Dragons (4-6) shot an outstanding 46.2 from the floor while holding LVC to a 26.5 shooting percentage. The hosts used their size advantage to score 44 points in the paint. Drexel got off to a great start scoring on four of the first five possessions to take an 8-0 lead. Riley Hevelow got the Dutchmen on the board as Cristina Fernandez found the junior cutting across the middle for a short jumper in the paint. Brielle Reidinger cut the lead in half with a pair of free throws and then scored on a layup out of the first media timeout to get LVC within two. Drexel used a 10-0 run over the final four minutes of the quarter to take an 18-6 advantage.
 
Neither team was able to score over the final two minutes of the second quarter until Kailey Eckhart knocked down a three from the wing. The Dragons used a stifling defensive effort to keep the Dutchmen scoreless over the next four minutes and scored nine points with most of the damage coming in the paint to go up 27-9. Hevelow stopped the run with a pull up jumper. Jordan Zimmerman and Fernandez had buckets in the paint to keep the deficit at 16 points before the Dragons ended the half with a three-pointer to go up 34-15.
 
The Dutchmen started with the ball in the second half and Hevelow knocked down a three off a pass from Fernandez on the first possession. Drexel countered with four layups and three defensive rebounds to increase the lead to 42-18. Reidinger scored in the paint and Abbie Reed hit a pull up jumper to make it 45-22 midway through the quarter. The Dragons scored the next nine points over a two-minute stretch before Reidinger scored on another layup. The Dragons held the Dutchmen off the scoreboard for the final three minutes of the quarter and scored five points in the final 66 seconds to take a 59-24 lead into the fourth.
 
Drexel began the scoring in the fourth quarter with a bucket a little over a minute in. Reidinger and Hevelow hit jumpers in the paint to cut it to 61-28. After a pair of made free throws, Hevelow scored again as Reidinger led her with a nice backdoor pass for an easy layup. LVC was held off the scoreboard the final six m9nutes of the quarter as the Dutchmen were off the mark with seven shots. The Dragons worked the shot clock at the other end and scored on four possessions to set the final.
 
Inside the Box

• Reidinger was just shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. The forward had three rebounds on the offensive glass and dished out three assists.
• Hevelow scored a team-high 11 points and pulled down four rebounds. She has scored in double figures in nine of the team's 10 games this season.
• Reed grabbed five rebounds scored two points while Eckhart had three points and two rebounds.
• Fernandez finished with three rebounds, two points, three steals, and two assists.
• Zimmerman added two points and two rebounds.

Up Next
LVC will close out non-conference play next Saturday January 4 as the Dutchmen hosts Juniata College at 3 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.

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