Lehigh University
Duquesne
Lehigh drops season opener
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Bethlehem, PA - Junior Jessica DePalo tied her career high with 18 points and also grabbed ten rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Lehigh dropped its season opener to Atlantic-10 member Duquesne by a score of 61-52 on Friday evening from Stabler Arena. Lehigh (0-1) led for most of the game, but the Dukes (1-0) continually cut into the Mountain Hawks lead, chipping away a little at a time.
Lehigh came out firing from the outside, hitting 44 percent of its shots for the first half, as the Mountain Hawk lead stood at seven at halftime. DePalo hit three of six shots from the field for six first half points, and freshman Emily Geosits had an impressive first half of collegiate action, as she connected on four three-pointers en route to 12 first half tallies. For the Dukes, Taneekia Baker shot three for four and finished the half with seven points, as Lehigh went into the locker room with a 28-21 lead.
As the second half started the Mountain Hawk lead swelled to ten at 34-24, but the Dukes refused to go away, as they stuck with their game plan and slowly chipped away at the Lehigh lead. At the 10:38 mark, the momentum fully shifted when Candace Futrell hit a three pointer from deep and Duquesne grabbed the lead. The teams went head to head for the next several minutes, but in the end the Dukes depth wore down the Mountain Hawk attack.
Geosits finished with 16 points on the evening, and sophomore Lauren Reini added eight points and seven rebounds for Lehigh. Futrell led the Dukes, as she netted 15 points on the evening. For the game the Mountain Hawks shot 34 percent, after they had started out well. Lehigh connected on four three-pointers and hit 89 percent of its free throws. The Dukes were not much better as they were only able to hit 36 percent of their shots.
Lehigh will return to action on Monday when the Mountain Hawks travel to Poughkeepsie, NY, to take on Marist. Game time is set for 7:00.
