WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Brielle Reidinger had one of her best games of the year with a game-high 18 points and game-high 17 rebounds to lead the Lebanon Valley women's basketball team to an important 62-43 road victory at King's College on Wednesday evening inside McGrane Gymnasium.
 
The Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) victory clinches a winning season and inches the team towards a postseason berth. The Dutchmen (14-10, 8-5 MAC Freedom) are tied for third in the conference standings with Stevens Institute of Technology and are one game ahead of Delaware Valley University in fifth place with one game left on Saturday.
 
The Monarchs got off to a strong start on their home court with a pair of layups by Lauren Casey on their first two offensive possessions to take a 4-0 lead a minute in. Samya Santiague knocked down a three off an assist by Reidinger to bring the Dutchmen within one. The Dutchmen got a stop on defensive and then Reidinger put back a Kate Fitzpatrick missed jumper to give LVC their first lead of the game.
 
King's scored at the other end before the Dutchmen scored on three straight possessions to go up 11-5. Reidinger played a big role with two buckets, an assist and two defensive rebounds. The sophomore gave the Dutchmen a seven-point lead with another layup forcing the Monarchs to call a timeout with 3:34 to go in the quarter. The Monarchs ended the run with a layup off an offensive rebound before Riley Hevelow knocked down a three at the other end. Reidinger scored on another offensive put back with just under two minutes left before King's ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 18-12.
 
Neither team was able to score for the first two minutes of the second quarter until Jordan Zimmerman knocked down a transition three off an assist by Cristina Fernandez. The Monarchs scored the next four points to cut the lead down to five points before a pair of buckets by Zimmerman and Reidinger put LVC up 25-16 midway through the quarter. The teams traded scores until a Fitzpatrick jumper with 2:42 to go in the half gave the Dutchmen a 31-22 advantage. King's held the Dutchmen scoreless the rest of the half and scored twice including a buzzer-beater by Brenna Costello to go into the halftime break with LVC leading by five.
 
Fitzpatrick ended the scoring drought with the backend of two free throws to start the scoring in the second half. She then answered a Monarch three with a three-pointer of her own and then scored on a jumper to give the Dutchmen a 37-31 lead three minutes into the quarter. Zimmerman knocked down a three and then Hevelow scored on a pull up jumper to give the Dutchmen a nine-point advantage and force the Monarchs to call another timeout with four and a half minutes to go in the quarter. King's used a steal and layup to cut it to seven before Hevelow and Fitzpatrick hit back-to-back shots to put the Dutchmen up 47-35. King's hit a pair of free throws before LVC closed out the scoring in the quarter with a three-pointer from Fitzpatrick off an Elise Balmer assist.
Defense was at a premium in the fourth quarter as neither team able to score until Reidinger knocked down a jumper 2:30 in. The sophomore increased the lead to 17 points on a put back before King's scored the next four points to cut the lead down to 13 with 4:10 remaining. The lead quickly blossomed back up to 17 as Fernandez and Zimmerman scored back-to-back layups. King's scored their final points of the game on a layup with 2:35 left before Fitzpatrick hit a jumper and Fernandez hit two free throws in the final minute to wrap up the scoring.
 
Inside the Box

• Reidinger had a season-high 18 points on 9-15 shooting. The sophomore pulled down 17 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass to record her fourth double-double of the year.
• Fitzpatrick hit a trio of three pointers and had 16 points with three rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
• Zimmerman had a season-high 10 points on 4-7 shooting including 2-3 from downtown.
• Fernandez filled the stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal.
• Hevelow scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds with three assists.
• The Dutchmen dished out 17 assists while committing a season-low six turnovers.

Up Next
LVC will close out the regular season on Saturday at Arcadia University in what could be a possible MAC Freedom semifinal matchup. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Glenside. A win by the Dutchmen would clinch a spot in the MAC Freedom Championship. The Knights have clinched the number two seed after defeating FDU-Florham on Wednesday. Stevens travels to face FDU-Florham on Saturday while Delaware Valley travels to regular season champion DeSales University.

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