No.16 Dutchmen Spoil Knights Season Finale

Box Score
GLENSIDE, Pa.: With the Commonwealth Conference tournament's number one seed in the bag for No.16 Lebanon Valley, the visiting Dutchmen spoiled Arcadia University's season finale this afternoon, an 83-49 setback for the Knights on a day they honored their two graduating seniors, Ashley Gripper and Christine Taylor.

Lebanon Valley (22-3) finishes the regular season after going 13-1 in Commonwealth play and move on to the post-season to defend their 2011 Commonwealth Championship. While the Knights (3-21) close out the season with a winless record in league play (0-14), the team has been recognized by their league opponents as having made vast improvements following their 1-13 record in the league from just a season ago.

Today's first half began with three turnovers apeice for each team, ending with LVC's Teirney Hiltz grabbing one of her game high 6 steals at 18:31 sending it off to Caitlin Murphy to put the visitors on the board first. LVC went up 6-0 before first year Victoria Roukas brought her Knights back with 5 unanswered points. Roukas knocked down a short jumper then converted on the and-one in a 40 second span with the Knights behind one, 6-5 at 15:56. But on the next play Hiltz drained one from beyond the arc to send the Dutchmen off on a 15-5 run over the next five minutes as the visitors grabbed a 21-10 advantage.

The Knights stayed within striking distance using buckets from juniors Jackie Law and Angie Adams to close the gap to a 23-14 LVC lead with 8:10 remaining in the half. The No. 16 team in the country put their foot on the gas while Arcadia fell silent from the field over the next five minutes. The visitors went on another spurt, this time an 11-0 run, increasing their lead to 34-14 with 3:55 to go and got their final five points in the half from Caitlin Murphy for a commanding 41-19 lead for the Dutchmen.

LVC held the Knights to 29% shooting from the floor in the opening half while shooting 41% themselves. The Dutchmen turned 16 Arcadia turnovers into 17 points, eventually finishing the game with 38 points from the Knight's game high 26 turnovers.

Arcadia struggled to find a way to contain their 22-point deficit to begin the second half. Four Knight turnovers and continued offensive production from the visitors held them back from making a run of their own. Despite two three pointers from sophomore Victoria Mazzeo five miutes apart, the Dutchmen went onto to a 62-19 lead with 11:34 remaining in the game and stayed in front by 30 or more points to walk away with a 83-49 win.

Mazzeo finished 3 for 4 from beyond the arc (12 points, 4 rebounds). The Knights were led by Roukas' 14 points, while Law finished as Arcadia's top rebounder with 8 (4 points, 1 block, 1 steal). Playing in their collegiate finale, senior Christine Taylor finished with 9 points, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots, while classmate Ashley Gripper brought down 5 rebounds and dished out 2 assists.

Eleven of thirteen players seeing the court scored for the visitors, with Kiely Chaklos scoring a game high 18 points (9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals) for the Dutchmen. Hiltz finished with 12 and Renee Fritz added 10 points for LVC.

Arcadia's two seniors closed out their collegiate career this afternoon at the Kuch Center.

Senior Ashley Gripper returned to the court this season after missing all but two games her junior year, the result of a season-ending knee injury. Gripper first joined the team her second semester freshman year after studying in England as part of Arcadia's First Year Study Abroad Experience program. She closes her career on the hardwood with 135 points, 127 rebounds, 51 steals and 63 assists, having made 38 starts in 57 appearances for the Scarlet & Grey. She is a three-time member of the Middle Atlantic Conference Academic Honor Roll. Gripper performed missionary work in Keyna, SOUTH AFRICA during the summer of 2011 and will receive her undergraduate degree in Sociology in May.

A junior-year transfer from Ursinus College, senior Christine Taylor played three seasons of collegiate basketball, her first season as a sophomore for the Bears. With two seasons spent as a Knight's starter, Taylor caps her career having scored 166 of her 574 points from three-point land as the Knight's go-to player from long-range. Taylor also owns 217 rebounds, 47 steals and 82 assists over her three-year career. She finishes the regular season as the Commonwealth's 4th best scorer (12.1 ppg). Recognized as a two-time Middle Atlantic Conference Academic Honor Roll member and member of the 2011 MAC Sportsmanship Team, Taylor will receive her undergraduate degree in Psychology in May.

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