Box Score
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Lycoming College women’s basketball team outshot the No. 24 Lebanon Valley squad, 36.5 percent to 30 percent from the field, but Lebanon Valley used 25 free throws to sneak out of Lamade Gym with a 57-47 Commonwealth Conference win on Wednesday night, Jan. 11.
“We met our goal, which was to hold them under 58 points,” Lycoming head coach
Christen Ditzler said. “I really felt we could muster 59, especially because the last two games, we’ve been shooting the ball well. We’ve been coming around, but we had too many empty possessions (Wednesday). You have to take care of the ball against a top-25 team.”
Lycoming (7-6 overall, 2-1 Commonwealth) used good defensive pressure to start out the game neck-and-neck with the Dutchmen (12-2 overall, 3-0 Commonwealth), as it took a 9-8 lead after a jumper by freshman
Ali Derr (New Columbia, Pa./Milton Area) with 11:19 left in the first half. However, an 8-0 run by the Dutchmen over the next four minutes helped them take control.
Lycoming got the lead down to three at 16-13 with 5:59 left after a layup by sophomore
Julia Antonelli (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford), but Lebanon Valley scored the last five points of the half to take a 21-13 lead.
After an early second-half bucket by the Dutchmen, the Warriors scored seven straight, with freshman
Janelle Ziminski (Drums, Pa./Hazleton Area) hitting a fastbreak bucket off a steal by Antonelli, but the Dutchmen answered with four straight points. A 3-pointer by Eryn Schultz got Lebanon Valley’s lead to eight with 14:53 left and the Warriors couldn’t get closer than that the rest of the way.
Ziminski led the Warriors with nine points and both Antonelli and junior
Rachael Scheller (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) added eight points. Antonelli posted eight rebounds, three assists and two steals and Scheller added three assists and three steals. Senior
Erin Connaghan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) added five rebounds, five points and a career-high tying five assists.
Gia Russo led the Dutchmen with 11 points, hitting all six of free throws, and both Liz Borgia and Kiely Chaklos added 10 points. Tierney Hiltz led the Dutchmen with five assists and six steals and Caitlin Bach posted 10 rebounds.
The Warriors held the Dutchmen to just 18 points in the paint while making them struggle from the floor, shooting just 30 (15-of-50) percent. However, the Dutchmen held a 40-31 rebounding advantage, leading to 15 second-chance points.
The Warriors will get back on the court on Saturday, Jan. 14, when they head to Arcadia for a 1 p.m. to start a doubleheader, with both men’s teams starting at 3 p.m.
