ANNVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore
Haley Sipple (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) led the Lycoming College women's basketball team with 20 points as the team completed a furious fourth-quarter comeback to beat MAC Commonwealth foe Lebanon Valley, 77-68, in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 20, at Sorrentino Gymnasium.
The Warriors finish their season with a 14-11 overall record and a 9-7 MAC Commonwealth record while the Flying Dutchmen finish their season 16-9 overall with a 10-6 conference record. The Warriors enter the MAC Commonwealth Championship with the fifth-seed while the Flying Dutchmen earned the fourth-seed, as the two teams will face off again on Monday, Feb. 22, at Sorrentino Gymnasium, in a first round tournament game.
Sipple shot 7-of-9 from the field, including one 3-pointer, to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. Junior
Nicole Calella (Sandyston, N.J./Kittatinny Regional) and sophomore
Shelby Mueller (Collegeville, Pa./Spring-Ford) both scored 14 as Calella hit 5-of-11 from the floor with three rebounds and three assists while Mueller shot 5-of-8 with blocked two shots. Seniors
Chelsea Henderson (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) and
Olivia Manges (York, Pa./West York) finished with 11 points each, as Henderson made her first career 3-pointer and came away with four steals while Manges connected on 3-of-4 from long range to go along with four rebounds.
Calella's three assists moved her past Adrienne Wydra (1999-00) for the fifth most in a single season (129) in program history and moved her past Rachael Scheller (2009-13) for fourth most in the career record book. Henderson's four steals give her 152 for her career, making her the ninth player in school history with 150 in a career. Manges' three 3-pointers made her just the third player in school history to can 50 in a season.
The Warriors saved one of their strongest quarters of the season for their final 10 minutes of the regular season as they began the fourth with a gradual 11-7 run over the course of the first 7:30. Trailing by just three points, Henderson hit a jumper followed by a free throw on the next possession to tie the game at 68. Henderson's missed free throw was rebounded by Sipple and the ball ended up in the hands of freshman
Jenn Grove (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area), who hit a layup to give the Warriors their first lead of the game with 1:45 remaining. Manges, Calella, Sipple and Grove all hit free throws while keeping the Flying Dutchmen scoreless for the rest of the game as the Warriors with the last 12 points.
The Flying Dutchmen began the game red-hot, jumping out to an early 8-1 lead and then extended the lead to 14-3 after getting 3-pointers from seniors Taylor Umbrell and Peyton Carper. The Warriors got back into the game late in the quarter thanks to Calella and Sipple, outscoring the Flying Dutchmen 14-9 the rest of the quarter. Both teams battled hard in the second with the Flying Dutchmen holding a 17-16 scoring advantage in the quarter to take a 40-34 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was very evenly matched as both teams exchanged short scoring runs for a bulk of the quarter but, again, the Flying Dutchmen held a one-point advantage in the quarter to take a 61-54 lead into the final frame.
As a team, the Warriors shot 25-of-44 (.568), the first time all season that the Warriors shot better than 50-percent from the field, including 5-for-7 from long range and made the team added 22 free throws. The Warriors only committed 13 turnovers in the game, while forcing the Flying Dutchmen into 17.
Kiely Chaklos led the Flying Dutchmen with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with five assists and two steals. Umbrell notched 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from long range with three rebounds and four assists.
