CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team nearly overcame a 20-point third quarter deficit in a 54-44 defeat to top-seeded DeSales University on Wednesday evening in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Semifinals at Billera Hall in Center Valley.
 
The Dutchmen (18-8) battled tough the whole game and used a big fourth quarter to bring a 20-point deficit all the way down to six points with 1:46 to play before the Bulldogs (18-8) were able to close the game at the foul line. DeSales got out to another fast start against the Dutchmen, scoring the first six points over the first two minutes of the game. Brielle Reidinger made a layup for LVC's first points of the game. The Bulldogs were able to score with five minutes remaining in the quarter to take a 6-2 advantage. Riley Hevelow started a big run for the Dutchmen with a jumper in the middle of the paint. Reidinger blocked a shot and grabbed the rebound at the other end, and then Kailey Eckhart drove to the rim for two points. Hevelow gave LVC its first lead of the game as Reidinger found the senior open in the corner for a three-pointer. The Bulldogs answered with a three-pointer at the other end and then added a bucket to take a four-point lead. Hevelow made a pull-up jumper just outside the paint to cut the deficit to two after one quarter of play.
 
The second quarter scoring began with Eckhart knocking down a three-pointer on the left side off a pass from Abbie Reed to put LVC back ahead. The Bulldogs responded with the next three baskets over a span of three minutes to go up by five. Eckhart had a layup, and Reed scored on a baseline jumper to keep the deficit at three points midway through the quarter. DSU came out of the media timeout and didn't allow the Dutchmen to score for three minutes while using a 6-0 run to increase the advantage to nine at 27-18. Hevelow made a mid-range bucket, but the Bulldogs answered to take a nine-point advantage into the half.
 
DeSales scored the first four points of the second half before Alexa Holcomb found Hevelow in the paint for a bucket. The Bulldogs knocked down a three-pointer to start a 12-3 run that pushed the lead to 20 points at 45-25 with 3:14 left in the quarter. Adrianna Stricek knocked down the front end of two shots at the line, and Eckhart made a pair of free throws as LVC's three points during the run. Eckhart started the comeback effort with a big three-pointer off a pass from Reidinger. Reidinger was fouled going to the hoop and made one free throw attempt to cut the deficit to 16 points. Neither team was able to score over the final two minutes of the quarter as DSU held a 45-29 advantage.
 
Hevelow hit Reed, cutting to the rim for a layup to begin the scoring in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs had a traditional three-point play and a layup to push the lead back up to 19 with eight minutes left. Reed found Hevelow open for a three-pointer to begin a big run for the Dutchmen. LVC locked down defensively and didn't allow the Bulldogs to score for nearly the full final eight minutes. Eckhart hit a free throw and then knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 12-point game at 50-38 with five minutes to play. The senior got the deficit down to six as she made three-pointers from nearly the same spots with 3:33 left and 1:46 remaining to bring the score to 50-44. The Dutchmen got another defensive stop, but Eckhart missed a layup, and then Hevelow was unable to connect on a three-pointer in the final minute. The Bulldogs made four free throws in the final 20 seconds to hold on for the victory and advance to Saturday.
 
Inside the Box

• Eckhart made five three-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points. The senior scored 10 of her points in the fourth quarter to fuel the comeback effort. She finished with five rebounds on the defensive end. The forward ended her career with 826 points and 413 rebounds.
• Hevelow had 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists. She finished her excellent career with 1,228 total points and 443 rebounds. Hevelow scored 14 points in four of the last five games.
• Reidinger grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, blocked two shots, and scored three points. The forward ends her career with 1,064 points and 948 rebounds. She also dished out two assists and had one steal.
• Reed had four points, four rebounds, and two assists.
• The Dutchmen had a slim 33-32 rebounding advantage in the game. They scored six second-chance points off five offensive rebounds.

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