ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Forty minutes was not enough to decide a victor between the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team and nationally-ranked No. 17 Lebanon Valley Wednesday evening at Thompson Gymnasium. The back-and-forth affair needed overtime, and the Dutchmen were able to outlast the Blue Jays, 64-61, to send E-town to its first loss of the season.

From the get-go, Elizabethtown (9-1, 4-1 CC) and the three-time defending Commonwealth Conference champions could not get away from one another. There were nine lead changes, with neither squad leading by more than three points at any time in the first half.

Ellen Bair scored the first basket of the game for the Dutchmen (11-1, 5-0 CC) to make it 2-0 in the first minute of play. They would not lead by any more than that, as the Jays were in front for most of the half.

In what became the theme of the game, when one side scored, the other answered. Kiely Chaklos' jumper pushed LVC back in front 7-6, but Kendra Beittel (team-high 18 points) responded on the other end with one of her game-high four three-pointers to put E-town up 9-7. Chaklos and Peyton Carper hit back-to-back layups to regain the lead, but Rachel Forjan answered those with a layup and jumper of her own to make it 13-11 in favor of the hosts.

As the teams continued trading bucket for bucket, the Blue Jays pulled back in front with less than a minute to go in the first half. Krissy Pennell, who added some spark off the bench, nailed a trey with 40 seconds left to put EC up three, 30-27. Moments earlier, she found Emily Young down low on a play started by Taylor Kreider's steal. Then, after an LVC layup, the Eastern York grad hit a layup of her own and then stole the ball off a defensive rebound by Lexie Lantz and dished to Young for another easy score.

Despite being out-rebounded 24-13, Elizabethtown led by a point at the break, 30-29.

In the second half, the game remained a one-possession tilt for the first 17 minutes. When it seemed destined for overtime, Lebanon Valley used a 5-0 run to jump ahead by five with less than three minutes to go.

The Dutchmen's Taylor Umbrell came up with a huge shot as the shot clock was winding down. She hit a three-pointer from the corner to make it 53-50, and then Chaklos hit a pair of free throws, pushing their advantage to 55-50 with 1:30 left.

Out of an Elizabethtown timeout, Taylor Alwine found Beittel, who drilled a timely three-pointer to cut the LVC lead to two. Following a turnover on Lebanon Valley's ensuing possession, Pennell drove the lane and hit the floater to knot things up at 55-55 with 28 seconds remaining.

Elizabethtown had an opportunity for a game-winning shot in the final seconds, but was unsuccessful, forcing overtime.

Lebanon Valley led 62-59 after Caitlin Bach's jumper was good with 55 seconds left in the OT period, but E-town was back within a point when Alyssa Aichele found Forjan on the fastbreak for an easy bucket.

Chaklos was fouled with seven seconds left and went on to hit both foul shots. E-town's last second attempt no good.

Elizabethtown struggled on the glass, as Lebanon Valley out-rebounded the Jays 52-26 for the game, which turned into 25 second-chance points for the visitors, compared to just five for EC.

The women's basketball team will look to get back on the winning track when they host Albright on Saturday, January 11, at 1 p.m.