BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Lynchburg's Shannon Allan knocked down a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to give the Hornets a one-point lead and Bridgewater was unable to answer in the closing seconds as the visitors escaped Nininger Hall with a 79-78, Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon.

Allan's shot capped off a strong rally by the Hornets in the final three minutes that erased a five-point deficit.

Bridgewater senior Molly Shelley hit two free throws with 2:46 left in the game to put the Eagles on top 76-71. The teams traded empty possessions before Lynchburg's Charmaine Hairston banked in a 3-pointer to close the gap to two, 76-74, with 1:17 left in the game.

With the shot clock winding down on Bridgewater's next possession, Cassidy Burkholder drove to the bucket and converted a layup to put the Eagles on top 78-74 with 51 seconds remaining. The Hornets cut the margin back to two when Hairston made a runner 15-footer in traffic, making the score 78-76 with 38 seconds left on the clock.

Holly Morgan missed a short jumper on the Eagles next possession with Caleigh Patterson controlling the rebound for Lynchburg. The Hornets got the ball to Allan and she hit a long 3-pointer to put the Hornets up by a point, 79-78, with 11 seconds left.

Burkholder was fouled near midcourt with 6.7 seconds left, but the Eagles sophomore missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Eagles got another chance when the rebound was last touched by the Hornets and went out of bounds. Bridgewater's Heather Cantrell missed a contested jumper along the baseline and Lauren Penley secured the rebound to seal the victory for the Hornets.

The Hornets got off to a quick start to begin the game as a three-point play by Penley and a jumper by Katie Reeves gave the visitors a 5-0 lead.

Lynchburg (13-8, 10-2 in the ODAC) led by as many as eight points, 20-12, before the Eagles began to chip away at the deficit. Seven points by Holly Morgan during a 7-2 run pulled the Eagles to within three, 22-19, with 10:30 left in the half.

Penley and Bridgewater's Jessica Lam traded hoops before a layup by Molly Shelley cut the margin to one, 24-23, with 8:46 remaining.

The teams traded buckets until an 8-0 spurt gave the Hornets a nine-point lead. Penley scored from inside before Ann Dorris and Allan drained back-to-back threes to give Lynchburg a 36-27 lead.

Still trailing by nine, 38-29, the Eagles responded with seven unanswered points to trail by two. Morgan scored from inside, Cantrell made two free throws and Jessi Strom hit from beyond the arc to pull the Eagles to within 38-36 with 2:19 left in the half.

Allan hit another 3-pointer for the Hornets, but Cantrell worked the paint for the Eagles and her bucket made the score 41-38. Hairston then swished a long 3-pointer with three seconds left in the half to send the Hornets to the locker room with a 44-38 lead at the break.

Penley opened the second half with two buckets to put the Hornets on top by 10 points, but Cantrell scored from inside and Burkholder made two foul shots to cut the margin to six, 48-42.

Lynchburg maintained the upper hand until a 6-0 run gave Bridgewater its first lead of the game near the midway point of the second half. Trailing 58-54, Burkholder scored on a layup and Cantrell added a short jumper to pull the Eagles even. Cantrell then scored from in close to put the Eagles on top 60-58 with 10:31 left to play.

Dorris converted a three-point play to put the Hornets back on top, but the Eagles regained the lead 62-61 on a layup by Oshene Kelly. Hairston then scored five quick points for a 66-62 Hornets lead with 9:09 left.

A jumper by Shelley cut the margin to two before Hairston made 1-of-2 at the line for a 67-64 lead. Bridgewater then scored the next eight points to lead by five. A layup by Kelly sliced the deficit to one and a layup by Morgan put the Eagles back on top 68-67 with 7:00 still to play.

The Hornets turned the ball over on their next two possessions and each time Lam scored for the Eagles as the lead grew to five, 72-67, with 5:43 on the clock.

Lynchburg scored for the first time in almost three minutes when Allan hit a 15-footer to cut the Eagles lead to three, 72-69, with 5:20 remaining.

The teams exchanged empty trips to the offensive zone before another jumper by Allan made it a one-point game 72-71. Morgan then tallied for the Eagles and Shelley added her two foul shots to put the Eagles on top 76-71, setting the stage for Lynchburg's comeback.

Morgan had a strong game for the Eagles, finishing with 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Cantrell scored 16 points and Shelley added 12. Strom scored nine for the Eagles and Burkholder finished with eight points and a team-high six rebounds. Kelly and Lam also gave Bridgewater solid contributions off the bench with six points apiece.

Allan paced the Hornets with a game-high 25 points. Penley added 19 points and a game-high nine boards while Hairston finished with 18 points.

In the previous meeting in Lynchburg, the Hornets owned the boards against the Eagles. Saturday afternoon, Bridgewater battled the visitors to a near standstill on the glass as the Hornets held a slim 37-36 edge.

Both teams shot well from the floor as Lynchburg hit 32-of-65 shots for 49.2 percent while the Eagles were 30-of-66 for 45.5 percent. The Eagles also did a solid job of taking care of the basketball as they committed just 10 turnovers in the game.

Bridgewater, now 7-13 overall and 5-7 in the ODAC, returns to action Tuesday evening when the Eagles travel to play rival Eastern Mennonite. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.