ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team made its first six shots to jump out to a 15-2 lead over FDU-Florham on Wednesday evening en route to a dominant 61-26 victory over the Devils at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville. The victory enabled LVC to clinch a spot in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship.
 
The Flying Dutchmen (17-5, 8-3 MAC Freedom) needed just 20 seconds to score the first points of the game after winning the opener tip as Alexa Holcomb hit Brielle Reidinger in the post for a layup. The Devils (8-14, 1-10 MAC Freedom) answered at the other end with a driving layup. Abbie Reed found Kailey Eckhart open in the corner for a three-pointer, and then Riley Hevleow connected with Eckhart from nearly the same spot to put LVC up 8-2. Hevelow then knocked down a three-pointer at the top of the key, forcing FDU to call the first timeout of the game. The Dutchmen continued the run as Holcomb found Reidinger open along the baseline and then got out in transition after another Devils miss jumper, as Eckhart scored under the rim to make it 15-2. The Dutchmen finally missed a shot on their next possession, but they continued their strong defensive play.
 
Megan Albrecht made a three-pointer on the left wing off a long pass from Reed to push the advantage to 16 with 4:31 left in the quarter. The Devils stopped the run with a layup on their next possession. Eckhart added a pair of layups after pulling down offensive rebounds to give the Dutchmen a 22-4 advantage with two minutes on the clock. The Devils scored their first points outside of the paint with a mid-range jumper on the right side. Albrecht connected on one of two free throws to put LVC up 23-6 after the first 10 minutes.
 
Stricek grabbed a pair of rebounds to begin the second quarter and then made a baseline jumper right inside the three-point line off a feed from Holcomb. The teams traded misses until FDU made a pair of free throws with just under seven minutes to play in the half. The Dutchmen responded right back as Reidinger found Hevelow streaking towards the hoop for a layup. Reidinger pushed the lead to 21 on a bucket underneath the rim off a nice pass from Reed. The Devils countered with a layup to make it 29-10 with five minutes to play in the quarter. LVC held the Devils scoreless over the final five minutes, and neither team scored over the next three minutes until Eckhart found Reed open at the top of the key for a three-pointer. Reed then knocked down another three-pointer on the left side off a pass from Reidinger in the final minute. The half ended with Holcomb knocking down a baseline jumper to make it 37-10.
 
FDU-Florham scored the first points of the second half with a put-back jumper after an offensive rebound on the first possession. LVC answered with back-to-back scores as Eckhart backed her way into a layup, and then Hevelow hit a pull-up jumper along the baseline. The Dutchmen slowed down the pace of the game, playing with a big lead and limiting possessions for the Devils, while also subbing out all of their starters. Albrecht made a free throw with 5:26 on the clock to give LVC a 30-point lead. The Devils scored their second of just three made field goals in the quarter. Holcomb drew a foul heading to the rim and made both of her shots at the line. Stricek added a layup after an Abrecht offensive rebound to push the lead to 46-14. Stricek and Erin Ford made a free throw each, and FDU knocked down a jumper to make it a 32-point game at the end of the third.
 
The Devils scored four of the first six points in the fourth with Stricek powering her way to the rim for a layup. LVC didn't score again until there were 4:35 left, and the Devils made three buckets in the paint to cut the deficit to 50-24. Ford ended LVC's longest scoreless drought of the night with a driving layup along the left side. Kayla Kirkpatrick knocked down a corner three-pointer off a pass from Ford and then added another three-pointer after a pass by Ava Peel. Peel gave the Dutchmen the largest lead of the night at 36 points with 2:24 left after making a pair of shots at the line. The Devils scored with a little over a minute left, and then Maddie Sellers made the second of two free throw attempts to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• LVC clinched a spot in the postseason for the fifth consecutive season.
• Eckhart scored 12 points in the first quarter and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes of action. The senior was 6-for-10 from the field and hit both of her three-point attempts.
• Hevelow finished with seven points while taking just seven shots. She grabbed two rebounds, dished out one assist, and recorded one steal.
• Stricek had seven points and six rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench. She was 3-for-4 on the floor and 1-for-3 at the line.
• Holcomb scored four points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out four assists.
• Reed had six points, four assists, and three rebounds while Reidinger recorded six points, three rebounds, two assists, and a block.
• Kirkpatrick knocked down a pair of three-pointers while Albrecht had five points and four rebounds.
• Ford scored three points, Peel had two, and Sellers recorded one point as LVC had 11 different scorers in the game.
• All 13 Dutchmen who played recorded at least one rebound.
• The Dutchmen finished the game shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 44.4 percent on three-pointers. They scored 20 points in the paint and had 12 points off 15 FDU turnovers.
• LVC held a 45-31 rebounding advantage. They pulled down nine rebounds on the offensive glass and scored 14 second-chance points.
• The 26 points allowed is the second-least number of points the Dutchmen have allowed this season.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will host Arcadia University on Senior Day Saturday in a game that will have serious seeding implications. LVC, Arcadia, and Stevens are all tied for second in the conference standings at 8-3. The Dutchmen and Knights will tip off at 1 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

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