ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team scored the first four points of the game and never looked back in a defensive 53-39 victory over Eastern University on Wednesday evening inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
The win enables the Dutchmen (8-8, 5-3 MAC Commonwealth) to end the first rotation of conference play in the top half of the standings. Kate Fitzpatrick had four of the first six points for the Dutchmen as they took a 6-4 lead to begin the game. A 7-0 run gave them a nine-point lead with 2:44 to go in the first quarter. Eastern ended the run with a jumper and LVC held a 15-8 advantage after the first 10 minutes. The Eagles cut the lead down to four points in the first couple minutes of the second quarter before a big run by the Dutchmen blew the game open. Fitzpatrick and Fernandez traded layups before Fitzpatrick knocked down a three with 7:07 on the clock to give LVC a 26-13 lead and force Eastern to call a timeout. The Eagles scored the next six points, but the Dutchmen responded with the final six points of the half to take a 13-point cushion into the break.
 
The Eagles used a strong start to the third quarter to trim the lead down to 35-30 with four minutes to go. Daelyn Stabler stepped in front of a pass and then found Jordan Zimmerman streaking for a fastbreak bucket. Stabler brought the lead back up to nine with a layup with just over two on the clock. Fitzpatrick then gave the Dutchmen a 41-30 lead after three quarters with a bucket. The Dutchmen were able to expand the lead up to 14 points five minutes into the final quarter on a pair of layups from Stabler. The defense did the rest of the work holding Eastern to just four made field goals in the final quarter.
 
 Inside the Box Score

• Fitzpatrick had a game-high 17 points and five rebounds. The guard has now scored at least 15 points in eight games this season.
• Fernandez had another strong game off the bench with 10 points, six rebounds, three big blocks, and two assists.
• Stabler just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.
• The Dutchmen defense held Eastern to just 17 made field goals and a 31.5 shooting percentage which is the second lowest an opponent has shot against LVC this season. The 39 points are the least amount of points the Dutchmen have allowed this year.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule on Saturday when they welcome Immaculata University to Sorrentino Gymnasium for a 1 p.m. tip.

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