DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – Lebanon Valley senior Kailey Eckhart scored a career-high 32 points while classmate Brielle Reidinger recorded a double-double for the women's basketball squad in a heartbreaking 74-72 overtime defeat at Delaware Valley University on Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale at James Work Gymnasium in Doylestown.
 
LVC (18-7, 9-5 MAC Freedom) scored the first points of the game a little over a minute in as Erika Badner stole the ball and Reidinger found Megan Albrecht in the paint for a layup. The Aggies (10-15, 5-9 MAC Freedom) tied the game up at the other end with a layup. DVU held the Dutchmen scoreless for the next four minutes and added five more unanswered points to go up 7-2. Eckhart ended the drought as she knocked down a three-pointer on the right wing off a pass from Reidinger. LVC made it a one-point game when Reidinger made the backend of two shots at the line. The Aggies pushed the lead back up to three before Adrianna Stricek scored in the paint with three minutes to play. LVC locked down on defense, and the Aggies did not score the rest of the quarter. Eckhart was fouled at the buzzer and made both shots at the line to give the Dutchmen a 10-9 lead.
 
The Dutchmen forced turnovers on Delaware Valley's first two possessions of the second quarter and capitalized as Eckhart and Reidinger made layups to push the advantage to five. The Aggies scored their first point with 7:34 to go in the half on a made free throw. Reidinger made a jumper on the wing, Eckhart knocked down a three-pointer on the left side, Erin Ford scored down low, and then Alexa Holcomb drove her way to the hoop for two points to push LVC's lead to 23-10. DVU scored on a layup to cut the deficit to 23-12 at the media timeout with 4:22 to play. Eckhart made a second-chance bucket in the paint before the Aggies made two shots at the line. Stricek converted a traditional three-point play that gave LVC a 28-14 advantage. The Aggies scored the final three points of the half in the final minute to cut the deficit to 11 at the break.
 
The second half began with Reidinger making a layup while being fouled. The senior hit the shot at the line to push the advantage up to 14. The hosts responded with a three-pointer at the other end of the floor. Albrecht and Eckhart had layups to sandwich three made free throws by the Aggies to take a 35-23 lead with 7:30 to play in the quarter. Badner came up with a steal, and then Eckhart was fouled and made both her shots at the line. Ford made a free throw to push the lead to 15 before the teams traded layups with Eckhart driving to the rim. DVU used a 5-0 run to get the deficit down to 10 points at 40-30 with four minutes left in the quarter. Reidinger made a traditional three-point play, and Eckhart drove to the hoop for two to give LVC a 45-31 lead. Eckhart pushed the advantage to a game-high 16 points with another layup with just under two to play. The final five points of the quarter were scored at the free throw line as the Aggies made four shots while Stricek made one.
 
Delaware Valley scored the first four points of the fourth quarter on a pair of layups. Eckhart made a second-chance bucket under the rim before a three-pointer by DVU brought the lead to single digits at 50-42 with a little under eight minutes on the clock. Albrecht made a pair of shots at the line to get the advantage back up to 10. The Aggies responded with a 7-0 run over a span of three minutes to make it a three-point game. Holcomb stopped the run with a corner jumper, and then Badner knocked down a mid-range shot on the left wing to give LVC a 56-51 advantage with 3:34 left.
 
An Aggie three-pointer made it a one-possession game with two minutes remaining. Redinger drew a foul and made one of two shots at the line to push the advantage to three. DVU made a pair of layups in the final minute to take the lead at 58-57. Eckhart countered with a layup to put LVC back in front. The Aggies answered right back with a quick score. Eckhart was fouled with five seconds to play and made her first shot to tie the game at 60. She missed her second shot, and DVU grabbed the rebound to send the game into overtime.
 
Eckhart scored the first point of the extra session with a free throw. Stricek pushed the advantage to three with a layup before the Aggies made a three-pointer. Eckhart hit a shot at the line, and DVU made two free throws to take a 65-64 advantage. Reidinger made a three-pointer at the top of the key, and Eckhart knocked down a free throw to put LVC up 68-65 with 2:52 on the clock. The lead was still three points when the Aggies made a three-pointer to tie the game with two minutes to play. DVU forced a pair of turnovers and made free throws to take a 74-70 lead in the final minute. Ford scored at the buzzer to cut the deficit down to two.
 
Inside the Box

• Eckhart finished with a career-high 32 points and five rebounds. 10 of her points came at the free throw line, and the senior made 10 field goals on 17 attempts.
• Reidinger posted her eighth double-double of the year with 15 points and 17 rebounds. She was 5-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-8 at the line. 15 of her rebounds were at the defensive end.
• Stricek had eight points and six rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.
• Albrecht added six points and four rebounds while Ford tied her career-high of five points.
• Badner had three steals, three rebounds, and two points, while Holcomb grabbed six rebounds and dished out two assists.
• The Dutchmen scored 38 points in the paint and had 18 second-chance points.
• LVC had a 42-32 rebounding advantage.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will be the fourth seed in next week's Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship and will face top-seeded DeSales University on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. inside Billera Hall. Third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology will travel to second-seeded Arcadia University in the other semifinal matchup. Both games are rematches of last year's semifinal games.

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