WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team held off a second-half rally to pick up a 73-66 victory at King's College on Wednesday evening in the first Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom game of the season at McGrane Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre.
 
The Dutchmen (10-2, 1-0 MAC Freedom) scored first as Alexa Holcomb found Kailey Eckhart open in the paint for a layup on the team's first offensive possession. LVC missed their next six shots, and King's (7-5, 0-1 MAC Freedom) scored eight points on four layups to take an 8-2 lead three minutes into the game. Erika Badner ended the scoreless drought as she swished a three-pointer on the right side. The Monarchs answered with a bucket before Brielle Reidinger scored a pair of baskets to cut the deficit to one with four minutes to play in the quarter. Neither team scored again until Reidinger knocked down a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left to give the Dutchmen an 11-10 lead after the first 10 minutes.
 
The Dutchmen began the second quarter with the ball, and after grabbing three offensive rebounds, Reidinger connected with Eckhart underneath the hoop for a layup. King's evened the score with a traditional three-point play. Eckhart gave the Dutchmen a 17-14 lead with a pair of layups. The Monarchs hit one of two free throws before Megan Albrecht found Riley Hevelow open for her first points of the game. King's countered with a layup, then Hevelow and Eckhart knocked down jumpers to give LVC a 23-17 advantage with just under three minutes to play in the quarter. The seniors increased the lead to 10 as Hevelow and Eckhart added layups. The Monarchs stopped the run with a layup before Badner knocked down another three-pointer, this time on the right wing. Eckhart gave the Dutchmen a 33-20 lead at the half, scoring a traditional three-point play as time expired in the quarter.
 
King's came out strong to begin the second half and quickly cut the deficit to five with eight points in the first three minutes while holding the Dutchmen scoreless. Reidinger scored on a driving layup while being fouled, but could not convert the shot at the line. The Monarchs made it a one-possession game on a made jumper and three-pointer in transition. The Dutchmen called a timeout to kill the momentum, and they were successful with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes. Holcomb scored on a layup while being fouled and made the shot at the line. Reidinger scored on back-to-back layups to push the lead up to nine points. The Monarchs countered with the next four points before the teams traded free throws, with Eckhart knocking down a pair. Hevelow had a driving layup and pull-up jumper on the right side to give the Dutchmen a 48-41 lead. The Monarchs knocked down a three-pointer with a minute left. Hevelow found Reidinger open underneath the hoop, and then King's ended the scoring in the quarter with a layup to cut the advantage to 50-46.
 
Eckhart began the fourth quarter with a layup off a pass from Reidinger. The Monarchs scored the next four points to make it a two-point game. Badner knocked down her third three-pointer of the game off a pass from Holcomb. King's answered with a pair of buckets to get within one at 55-54. Adrianna Stricek scored underneath the rim, Hevelow knocked down a corner three-pointer, and Stricek scored on a traditional three-point play after powering her way to the rim to put LVC up by nine with 3:24 to go. Holcomb hit Reidinger down low for a layup to give the Dutchmen a 65-54 lead. The Monarchs fought back using an 8-2 run over the next two minutes to get within five at 67-62. They were forced to foul, and Hevelow knocked down a pair of free throws. The guard scored LVC's final eight points of the game as the Dutchmen held on for a 73-66 victory.
 
Inside the Box

• Hevelow scored 21 points to lead the scoring for the Dutchmen. She has scored 20+ points in three of the past five games. The senior had a great all-around game with six rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block.
• Eckhart scored 19 points and pulled down four rebounds. The senior added three steals, two blocks, and an assist to her stat line.
• Reidinger finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four blocks. She pulled down five rebounds on the offensive glass.
• Badner knocked down a trio of three-pointers for nine points. She also had five rebounds and three assists in her first start.
• Holcomb was a force on the boards with nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end. The guard also had five assists and three points.
• Stricek scored five points with two rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. Albrecht was a +18 on the floor in 21 minutes of action with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
• The Dutchmen used a big second quarter where they outscored King's 22-10 to win their ninth consecutive game. LVC has won its last seven conference regular-season games dating back to last winter.
• LVC shot 48.3 percent from the floor, the second-best they have shot in a game this season. They dished out an outstanding season-high 20 assists on 28 made field goals.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will be back inside Sorrentino Gymnasium on Saturday for the second conference game of the year against Misericordia University. Tipoff against the Cougars is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Annville.

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