Women's Basketball

Lebanon Valley College 88, Delaware Valley 70
(First Round of Franklin & Marshall College Tip-Off Tournament)

LANCASTER (PA) -- The Delaware Valley College women's basketball team opened its 2002-03 season by dropping an 88-70 decision to nationally-ranked Lebanon Valley College in the first round of the Franklin & Marshall College Tip-Off Tournament.

The Aggies will now face Trinity College (Washington, D.C.) in Sunday's consolation game at 1:00 p.m. Delaware Valley is coming off a 16-12 season that saw the team reach the Freedom Conference Championship Game for the first time in school season.

Lebanon Valley, which was the Commonwealth Conference regular-season champion last year, is ranked 22nd in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll. The Flying Dutchmen shot just 30 percent from the field but they used their full-court pressure defense to force the Aggies into 20 first-half turnovers and 36 for the game.

Lebanon Valley led 52-34 at halftime and built the lead to as many as 24 in the second half. Erin Eaby paced the squad with 21 points and seven steals.

Delaware Valley was led by senior guard Amber Smolinsky, who scored a game-high 26 points. She moved into eighth place on the Aggie all-time scoring list and is now just 24 points away from becoming the seventh player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Smolinsky also recorded seven rebounds and four assists but turned the ball over 12 times.

Sophomore forward/center Bridget Golden scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds while junior center Sarah Tuffner added 13 points, a career-best 14 rebounds and four blocks.