GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team had four scorers in double figures on Saturday in a big 76-50 victory at Arcadia University in the regular season finale. The win over the Knights clinched a berth into the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship where the Dutchmen will be the third seed.
 
LVC (15-10, 9-5 MAC Freedom) entered the game needing a win to assure themselves of a postseason berth for the third consecutive year and needed to win by at least 14 to be the third seed. Arcadia (21-4, 10-4 MAC Freedom) got off to a great start on their Senior Day by scoring the first four points. Cristina Fernandez got the Dutchmen on the board two minutes into the game with a layup. The junior hit a jumper on LVC's next time down the floor to tie the game and then gave LVC the lead with a three-pointer. Brielle Reidinger continued the run with a bucket to give LVC a 9-4 advantage with six minutes on the clock.
 
The Knights stopped the run with a basket before Fernandez went back to work scoring on back-to-back possessions. Arcadia used a 6-2 run to cut the lead down to three with a little under four minutes to go. The Dutchmen closed out the quarter with a 6-0 run on jumpers by Reidinger and Riley Hevelow and a buzzer-beating fastbreak layup by Fernandez to take a 21-12 lead.
 
Neither team scored for the first minute of the second quarter until Reidinger hit a jumper to put the lead into double digits for the first time. The teams traded scores as Kate Fitzpatrick hit back-to-back shots for LVC. Jordan Zimmerman and Kailey Eckhart increased the lead to 15 points on a basket in the paint and then a big three by Eckhart off an assist from Abbie Reed. Fernandez scored on a driving layup with just under three minutes left to make it 34-17. Arcadia ended their scoring drought with a layup on their next possession. Reidinger responded with another bucket before the Knights closed out the scoring in the half with a three-pointer. The Dutchmen had another shot at a buzzer-beater, but Reidinger's attempt in the paint was off the mark.
 
Hevelow opened the scoring in the second half with a coast-to-coast drive ending with a layup. LVC and Arcadia traded scores over the first five minutes of the quarter with the Dutchmen lead never getting as high as 18 or as low as 14. Fitzpatrick blocked a three-point attempt and then scored at the other end giving LVC a 46-28 advantage with 4:44 on the clock. The Knights scored the next four points before Fernandez found Hevelow down low for two points. Arcadia cut the lead down to 12 at 48-36 with two minutes to go before LVC used a 6-0 run. Reed started the run with a jumper and Hevelow scored in the paint following two Arcadia turnovers. The Knights scored a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 16 points heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
Fitzpatrick gave the Dutchmen a 20-point lead with a pair of free throws following a technical foul and then a driving layup. The Knights would get the deficit back down to 16 points at 58-42 with eight minutes to go. Zimmerman and then four straight points by Fitzpatrick pushed the lead back up to 20. Fitzpatrick scored LVC's final 10 points of the game while the Dutchmen defense held Arcadia to just a layup over the final five minutes to win.
 
Inside the Box

• LVC outscored the Knights in every quarter while scoring their second-most points in a game this season.
• Fitzpatrick scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. She was 8-11 from the field including 2-2 on threes and make six of her eight free throw attempts. The senior also pulled down five rebounds.
• Fernandez got the Dutchmen out to the first quarter lead and finished with 17 points and five assists. The guard played all 40 minutes and committed just two turnovers while recording a block and a steal.
• Reidinger posted her second double-double of the week with 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. The sophomore pulled down three offensive rebounds and dished out two assists.
• Hevelow was the fourth scorer in double figures with 14 points and eight rebounds.
• Zimmerman had six points on 3-4 shooting.
• The Dutchmen made a season-high 33 field goals and shot an outstanding 50.8 percent from the floor. LVC had a 43-34 rebounding advantage in the game.

Up Next
LVC will be back at Alumni Gymnasium in Glenside on Wednesday as the third seeded Dutchmen will take on the second-seeded Knights in the semifinals of the MAC Freedom Championships. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip. Top-seeded DeSales University will host fourth-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology at 6 p.m. in the other semifinal pairing. The winners play for the title next Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed.

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