ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Women's Basketball team had four scorers in double figures in the conference opener as visiting Stevens Institute of Technology used a strong second half to defeat the Dutchmen 72-60 on Wednesday evening at Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
LVC (7-5, 0-1 MAC Freedom) got off to a very good start against the Ducks (7-5, 1-0 MAC Freedom) as Abbie Reed knocked down a three pointer on the first possession of the game. The sophomore scored on a layup off a great pass from Riley Hevelow and then had a steal and pass up the floor to Hevelow for a fastbreak layup to give LVC a 7-0 lead a little over three minutes into the game. The Ducks got on the board with a pair of made free throws before the Dutchmen used another 7-0 run to take a 14-2 lead and force Stevens to call a timeout.
 
Cristina Fernandez started the run with a jumper. She then blocked a shot at the other end and Hevelow knocked down a three. Fernandez ended the run with a layup off another great pass from Hevelow. Stevens scored the next five points to cut the lead to seven before Elise Balmer hit two free throws. The teams traded scores over the final two minutes of the quarter and LVC took a 19-12 lead into the second.
 
Hevelow began the second quarter with a layup off a pass from Fernandez. After a Stevens free throw, Kailey Eckhart and Brielle Reidinger had back-to-back buckets underneath to push the advantage back up to 12 points at 25-13. The Ducks cut the lead down to nine with five minutes left in the half. Reed scored on a driving layup and the Ducks answered right back at the other end. Hevelow then hit a jumper before Stevens scored on back-to-back possession to cut the lead to 29-22. Fernandez and Hevelow sandwiched a Stevens bucket before two made free throws by the Ducks put the lead at 33-26 heading into halftime.
 
The Dutchmen struggled to make shots in the third quarter as they missed their first six shots of the quarter. Stevens got the lead down to two with a made three and a bucket in the paint before Jordan Zimmerman found Hevelow open for a three. The lead was still at five points when the Ducks were able to score on consecutive trips down the floor to cut it to 38-37. Fernandez made a pair of free throws to put the Dutchmen back up by three. Stevens used four consecutive made free throws to take its first lead of the game at 41-40 with 1:42 left in the period. LVC responded right back as Eckhart scored on a layup. The junior then hit a jumper to put the Dutchmen up by three before Stevens scored a three-point play to even the score heading into the final quarter.
 
Stevens scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter as LVC missed five shots on five offensive possessions over the first three minutes. Fernandez got the Dutchmen on the board by making the back end of two shots at the line. Eckhart had a three-point play following a steal to get the deficit to 54-48 with four minutes remaining. Another made free throw by Eckhart got the advantage to five before Stevens used a 5-0 run in a span of 30 seconds to go up by 10 with three minutes left. LVC fought hard to cut into the lead more but each bucket was answered by Stevens including the Ducks making nine out of 10 free throws in the final 1:13.
 
Inside the Box

• Hevelow led the Dutchmen with 16 points for her ninth game of scoring at least 15 this season. The guard also had three assists and two rebounds.
• Fernandez poured in 14 points and stuffed the stat sheet with five steals, four rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. Her steals and blocks totals matched her season-highs.
• Eckhart was just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. The junior pulled down three boards on the offensive glass.
• Reed finished with a career-high 11 points and seven rebounds. The sophomore also had one assist, one block, and one steal.
• Reidinger pulled down nine rebounds while Zimmerman had three and two steals.
• The Dutchmen finished the game shooting 33.3 percent from the floor after shooting nearly 50 percent (14-29) in the first half. LVC had five blocked shots and tied the season-high with 10 steals.

Up Next
LVC will look to rebound on Saturday with a trip to Doylestown where they will face Delaware Valley University. Tip-off inside James Work Gymnasium is scheduled for 1 p.m. against the Aggies.

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