ANNVILLE, Pa. – All five Lebanon Valley starters scored at least eight points as the Dutchmen women's basketball team ran past visiting York College of Pennsylvania by a score of 64-59 on Wednesday evening at the Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
LVC (4-2) won its third consecutive game while improving to 2-0 at home with a big win over its former conference rival in York (2-4). The Spartans scored the first points of the game after the Dutchmen missed a pair of threes on their first two offensive possessions. Kailey Eckhart found Riley Hatzfeld cutting to the rim to even the score. Riley Hevelow then gave the Dutchmen the lead as she knocked down a pull-up jumper along the baseline. York answered at the other end before LVC used an 8-0 run to retake the lead. Hatzfeld began the run with a step-back jumper near the top of the key. Brielle Reidinger put back an offensive rebound off a missed three-pointer, and then Abbie Reed scored on a pull-up jumper along the baseline. Reidinger ended the run with a turnaround jumper in the paint. York responded with the next 11 points to take a 15-12 advantage. Hevelow stopped the run with a layup and free throw to even the score after the first 10 minutes of play.
 
The beginning of the second quarter was a defensive battle over the first three minutes as neither team was able to score. Megan Albrecht scored the first points of the quarter as Eckhart found her on a nice backdoor cut to the hoop for an easy layup. The Spartans countered with a bucket at the other end before Eckhart knocked down a pair of free throws on back-to-back trips down the floor to give LVC a 21-17 lead. The Spartans hit a three-pointer and then took the lead with a layup. York used a 6-3 run to take a four-point advantage with a little over three minutes to go in the half. Hevelow came up with a steal and passed the ball ahead to Reed for a fastbreak layup that cut the deficit to two. Two possessions later, Hevelow tied the game at 30 with a short jumper in the paint. Reed then gave the Dutchmen a halftime lead as she knocked down both shots at the line after being fouled on a fastbreak.
 
The Dutchmen broke the game open with another huge third quarter where they outscored the Spartans 22-11. It took the Dutchmen a few minutes to get going in the half as they led 34-33 after a York foul shot with 7:33 on the clock. Eckhart started the run with a layup and then a three-pointer in the corner. Albrecht put back an offensive rebound to push the advantage to eight. York briefly stopped the run with a bucket before Echkart scored on back-to-back buckets underneath. The Dutchmen used strong free-throw shooting to extend the advantage to 12 at 49-37 with two minutes left in the quarter. The Spartans knocked down a pair of shots at the line, and then Hatzfeld found Hevelow open on the left wing for a three-pointer. Reidinger gave the squad their biggest lead of the game with a layup to make it 54-39. York scored with five seconds left to cut the deficit to 13 heading into the fourth.
 
The Spartans started the final quarter strong, outscoring the Dutchmen 9-3 over the first 3:20. Hevelow found Hatzfeld open at the top of the key for a three-pointer during the run. The Dutchmen called a timeout and locked down on defense out of the timeout as they held the Spartans off the scoreboard for the next three minutes. Unfortunately, they were only able to score on a Hatzfeld corner pull-up jumper during the stretch. The Spartans were able to get the lead down to five points with two minutes to play following a pair of made free throws. Reidinger ended all hopes of a comeback as she scored on a putback of her own miss while being fouled and made the shot at the line to push the advantage back to eight with 32 seconds left. York knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• LVC saw balanced scoring with four players in double figures, nobody scoring above 14 points, and all five starters having at least eight.
• Eckhart led the way with her third career double-double. The senior scored a season-high 14 points and pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds. She has scored in double figures all six games this year. Eckhart added to her impressive stat line with four assists, three blocks, and two steals.
• Hevelow and Hatzfeld finished with 13 points each. Hevelow dished out four assists and recorded one steal, while Hatzfeld dished out two assists.
• Reidinger only played 24 minutes due to early foul trouble, but made the most of her minutes with 11 points and nine rebounds. The forward was a force on the offensive glass with six rebounds.
• Reed had a strong game with eight points, five rebounds, two blocks, and three steals.
• Albrecht added five points and four rebounds off the bench.
• The Dutchmen shot 40% from the field and made 17 of their 20 shots at the line for a season-high 85%.
• The defense recorded a season-high 11 steals and blocked five shots.
• LVC has scored at least 60 points in all four wins this season, including 64 in the past two games.
• The win over York was LVC's first since a 49-47 win in York during the 2022-23 season. It was the first win over the Spartans in Sorrentino Gymnasium since 2019.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will look to keep their winning streak rolling on Saturday as they host Centenary University inside Sorrentino Gymnasium. Tip-off against the Cyclones is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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