Lehigh University
Navy
Ford's jumper gives Lehigh the win
9/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Annapolis, MD – Junior Anne Tierney scored 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to record her third consecutive and eighth double-double of the season as Lehigh outlasted Navy 52-51 on Wednesday evening at Alumni Hall. Junior Billi Ford’s jumper with 1:18 to go in the game proved to be the game winner as Lehigh improved to 6-10 overall and 2-1 in the Patriot League. Navy fell to 8-8 and 0-3 in the league with the loss. "This is a great road win for our team," said head coach Sue Troyan. "With Navy coming off two losses we knew it would be a tough game especially down here, but we fought hard and came away with a win." It was all Lehigh in the first half as Navy struggled to guard the Mountain Hawks in the low post and shot just 24% from the field. Lehigh opened the game with a 17-4 run and led by as much as 14 with 2:36 left to go in the half. Tierney scored at will down low recording 11 first half points and pulling down five rebounds. The second half was a different story however as Lehigh shot just 30% from the field as compared to Navy’s 42%. Navy slowly crept back into the game cutting the lead to two with 7:49 to go on a Maile Shimoda lay-up before eventually taking the lead with 6:27 left, on a free throw by Bryanna Herring. The Mountain Hawks went scoreless for 6:02 as Navy made its comeback. Lehigh did not quit however and never trailed by more than three. A three pointer by Tierney with 4:19 to go gave Lehigh a 50-49 lead. The Midshipmen took the lead 51-50 before Ford drained the game winner from just inside the arc with 1:18 to go. Tierney finished 7-of-12 from the floor with her team high 19 points and recorded three assists on the evening. Junior Cat Nicholson finished with 11 points canning 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Nicholson added three rebounds and three assists. Ford finished with ten points, one rebound, and one assists in the win. "I thought we did an excellent job of coming out with energy from the outset," added Troyan. "With Navy not shooting well I knew it was important for us to capitalize in the first half knowing we’d have to weather a storm in the second half. I thought we did a good job of handling their pressure in the second half." Herring led all scorers with 21 points shooting 8-of-16 from the floor. She pulled down seven rebounds and blocked four shots in the losing effort. Catherine Dunn added ten points and four rebounds and Adrienne Roseti scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds. Lehigh returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Holy Cross in the first game of a Patriot League doubleheader. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 at Stabler Arena.
