DALLAS, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Women's Basketball team outscored host Misericordia University 20-7 in the first quarter to defeat the Cougars 64-39 on Wednesday evening at the Anderson Sports Center in Dallas.
 
LVC (9-5, 2-1 MAC Freedom) missed a pair of three pointers on its first two offensive possession while forcing a pair of turnovers on defense. The Cougars scored first on a mid-range jumper and the Dutchmen answered right back as Cristina Fernandez hit Kailey Eckhart on the left wing for a three-point bucket. Jordan Zimmerman scored the next four points of the game while grabbing a defensive rebound and picking up a steal. The lead extended to 9-2 as Eckhart knocked down a jumper from just outside the paint. Misericordia stopped the run with a three, but LVC came right back as Brielle Reidinger scored her first three points of the game on a layup and foul shot. The Dutchmen kept the pressure up on defense holding the Cougars off the scoreboard for a full four-minute stretch as they increased the lead. Redinger hit a jumper from the left wing and a layup before Elise Balmer and Fernandez scored inside to make it 20-5. The Cougars finished the scoring in the first quarter with a layup.
 
Scoring was at a premium for the first four minutes of the second quarter as neither team made a field goal and the only two points were a pair of Misericordia free throws. Abbie Reed ended the scoreless stretch with a bucket after a Zimmerman steal and then Reidinger scored another basket underneath to push the lead to 15 points. Reed then found Zimmerman open for a jumper at the free throw line with just under three minutes to go before the Dutchmen got out in transition scoring on a fastbreak layup from Reidinger off a defensive rebound and assist by Fernandez and a steal and bucket from Zimmerman. Misericordia made its only field goal of the quarter with just over a minute left with a three-pointer. Fernandez pushed the lead to 20 with a driving layup and Eckhart ended the half with a steal.
 
The Cougars opened the second half strong with the first four points and a 11-4 run over the first three minutes to cut the lead to 36-23. After another 90 seconds of scoreless basketball, the Cougars cut the lead to 11 with a jumper forcing the Dutchmen to call a timeout. The Dutchmen came out of the timeout and went to work in the paint as Reidinger, and Fernandez scored on a pair of layups. Reidinger then recorded a steal and Fernandez drove to the hoop for a fastbreak bucket to push the lead to 42-25 with 3:23 on the clock. The Cougars answered with the next four points before Reidinger scored twice in the final minutes down low off assists from Fernandez and Eckhart to give LVC a 46-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
The teams traded buckets over the first two minutes of the final quarter with Eckhart and Zimmerman scoring in the paint. Reidinger knocked down a pair of free throws and then Balmer scored down low to get the Dutchmen back up by 20 with 6:37 to go in the game. Zimmerman hit a pair of free throws and Reed knocked down a three on the left wing to extend the lead to 59-34 midway through the quarter. Fernandez gave the Dutchmen the largest lead of the game at 27 points with a layup before Misericordia ended its scoreless drought with a putback basket. The Dutchmen ended the game at the free throw line as Eckhart made two of four shots over the final two minutes. Misericordia scored with 15 second left to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• The Dutchmen scored 20 points in the first quarter for just the third time this year after scoring 19 in each of the past two games.
• LVC held the Cougars to just 12 points in the first half. It is the lowest point total the Dutchmen have allowed in the first half this season and the fourth time they have allowed 15 or less points in the opening 20 minutes of action.
• Reidinger led the way with a season-high 21 points on 9-12 shooting while making all three free throw attempts. The junior grabbed seven rebounds, including five on the offensive boards, and dished out three assists.
• Zimmerman shot 50 percent from the floor to finish with a career-high 14 points and four rebounds. The senior also dished out four assists and had three steals.
• Fernandez had another great all-around game scoring 10 points, grabbing four rebounds, dishing out five assists, blocking one shot, and recording one steal.
• Eckhart was the fourth Dutchmen in double figures scoring with 10 points and three rebounds with three steals.
• Reed added five points and a team-high seven rebounds while Balmer scored four points.
• LVC scored 42 points in the paint and did a great job protecting the ball with a season-low seven turnovers. The Dutchmen scored 17 points off 20 Misericordia turnovers.
• The Dutchmen held a 33-30 rebounding advantage and shot 48.2 percent from the field. It is the sixth time this season LVC has shot over 45 percent from the floor.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will face defending conference champion DeSales University on Saturday at Sorrentino Gymnasium on Hot Dog Frank Day. Tip-off against the Bulldogs s scheduled for 1 p.m. in Annville.

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