ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team put themselves in a great position to qualify for the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Championships with a 68-60 victory over visiting Widener University on Wednesday evening at Sorrentino Gymnasium. The win gives the Dutchmen a season sweep over the Pride and puts LVC on the brink of clinching a postseason berth.

Lebanon Valley (12-10, 8-5 MAC Commonwealth) started off the game with a pair of three-pointers by Kate Fitzpatrick and Riley Hevelow to take a 6-4 advantage. The lead blossomed to six on a Hevelow jumper and then a pair of free throws from Daelyn Stabler. The Pride (8-14, 5-8 MAC Commonwealth) cut it down to a one-point game but Stabler hit a pull-up jumper in the paint to give LVC a 12-9 lead with 2;21 left in the quarter. Both teams scored a bucket to finish up the scoring in the opening 10 minutes. Hevelow started the second with a jumper and two offensive possessions later Fitzpatrick found Jordan Zimmerman for a three to give LVC a 19-13 advantage. The teams traded scores until Fitzpatrick and Hevelow scored baskets in the final two minutes to give the Dutchmen a 31-22 halftime lead.

Widener came out of the break strong and scored the first six points of the third quarter. Allison Bimmer found Fitzpatrick open for a three to stop the run. Cristina Fernandez hit a three from the left wing and then Stabler hit two free throws to increase the lead to 40-30 around the midway mark of the quarter. The Pride were able to cut the deficit down to five before Kailey Eckhart hit a layup and then Hevelow scored three straight points to return the advantage to 10. Widener hit a three to make it a seven-point game going into the final quarter. The Dutchmen were able to bring the lead back to 10 on a three-pointer by Fitzpatrick with 6:44 on the clock. A jumper by Stabler and a beautiful backdoor cut with a great pass by Stabler to Fitzpatrick gave LVC their largest lead of the game at 62-48 with 3:15 left. Widener responded with an 8-0 run to come within six, but the Dutchmen were able to close the game out at the free-throw line to secure the victory.

 Inside the Box Score

• Hevelow scored a season-high 22 points and pulled down six rebounds. The guard was 8-14 from the field and 5-9 at the line.
• Fitzpatrick scored in double digits for the 20th time this season with 16 points. She added five rebounds and four assists.
• Stabler was the third double-digit scorer for the Dutchmen with 15 points and four rebounds. The senior also recorded two big blocks.
• Fernandez pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and had four assists.
• The Dutchmen dished out 16 assists on 25 made field goals while shooting 43.1 percent from the field. They did a great job controlling the ball with just eight turnovers.
• LVC is currently fourth in the conference standings at 8-5. They are a half-game back of Alvernia University for third and two games ahead of Stevenson University in fifth. York is 2.5 games back in sixth with three games remaining for LVC and two for the Spartans.

Up Next

Lebanon Valley will head to Reading on Saturday as they look to sweep another conference opponent with a big matchup with Alvernia. Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Jack McCloskey Court.

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