Lehigh University
Army
Hot shooting leads to Lehigh victory at Army
1/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
West Point, NY – Sophomore Dawn Gorynski scored a game-high 19 points, including four three pointers and junior Jessica DePalo added 18 as Lehigh moved to 5-0 in Patriot League play with a 75-68 victory over Army at Christl Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Mountain Hawks opened up a 20-point lead in the second half, but the Black Knights battled back and made it interesting. However, the Lehigh lead was just too much to overcome in the end. The Mountain Hawks are now 8-10 overall, while Army falls to 11-7 overall, and 3-2 in Patriot League action.
Gorynski was on fire in the first half, hitting all five of her shots, en route to 13 points, as the Mountain Hawks took a 48-30 lead into the locker room. Junior Mary Frances Hynoski played one of her best halves of the season with 11 points, on five of seven shooting and she added three assists, two rebounds and one steal. Lehigh shot a sizzling 65 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including 56 percent from beyond the arc. The Black Knights were held to 44 percent shooting and were led by Lindsay Brent with eight points on four of nine shooting. Head Coach Sue Troyan was ecstatic over the Mountain Hawks tenacious defense in the first half. “That was the best defense that we’ve played all season in that first half by far,” she said after the game. Lehigh came out just as strong in the second half, upping its lead to as many as 20 at one point at 50-30. Gorynski continued her torrid shooting, connecting on timely jumper after jumper. DePalo was once again a force on the interior, as she hit for 11 points in the second period and played suffocating defense. The Black Knights did cut the lead to four with just under one minute remaining in the ball game, but failure to rebound the basketball and the Mountain Hawks clutch free throw shooting lifted the brown and white to victory. Mary Frances Hynoski matched her career high with 13 points for Lehigh, while setting a new personal best with seven assists. Hynoski – who pulled down seven rebounds – came away with five caroms on the offensive end. Army was led by 19 points and nine rebounds from Katie Macfarlane, but the league’s preseason Player of the Year fouled out when Hynoski took a charge in the game’s final minutes. DePalo, who finished with 15 rebounds for her fifth double-double, senses that the Mountain Hawks are beginning to come together as a team. “We have so many weapons that it’s hard for teams to double down on me," she said following the win. "I can kick the ball out to open shooters – in today’s case that was Dawn – and she knocked down her shots.” DePalo adds, “We knew all along this season that we had the talent, it was just a matter of everyone sticking together.” Lehigh returns to action on Friday, January 30, when the Mountain Hawks welcome Holy Cross to Stabler Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 and the game can be heard live on WLVR radio and through the Lehigh website. Tickets can be purchased by calling (610) 7LU-GAME.
