Lehigh University
Fairleigh Dickinson
Strong second half leads to second straight win for Lehigh
1/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Hackensack, NJ – Lehigh got the new year off to a good start as it won its second straight game, rallying from a 13-point second half deficit to defeat Fairleigh Dickinson 65-58. Jess DePalo scored a game-high 17 points and was joined in double figures by sophomores Dawn Gorynski (11) and Jenny Callan (10). Callan also added a game-high seven rebounds, six of those coming on the offensive end. “Out of everybody, [Jenny] came in and she was probably the biggest spark for us,” Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan said following the win. “She was really tough on the boards and played really hard, and, I think, she got the whole team going.” Lehigh outscored FDU 42-28 in the second half and a big reason was the Mountain Hawks shooting as Lehigh connected on 15-of-21 from the field (71%). For the game Lehigh shot 49%, the team’s best effort since shooting 52% against Colgate in 2002. Freshman Sara Ellis came off of the bench to also provide a lift with timely shooting and aggressive defense, as she finished with eight points on the afternoon. Lehigh got off to a tough start as the Mountain Hawks received a technical foul for not reporting their starters in time, so right away, Lehigh fell behind 2-0, but the team would battle back and eventually closed the gap to seven at halftime, 30-23. Fairleigh Dickinson opened up a lead of as many as 11 points, but Callan came off of the bench to spark the Lehigh offense with eight points and four rebounds to keep the Mountain Hawks in the game. Natallia Marchanka netted a game high 13 points in the first 20 minutes, as she connected on four of nine shots, including three three-pointers. However, Lehigh controlled the glass for much of the afternoon, and did a solid job of boxing out. For the game, the Mountain Hawks out-rebounded the Knights by a 41-24 margin. Lehigh returns to action on Tuesday when the Mountain Hawks travel to Philadelphia to take on Penn from the legendary Palestra. Tip-off is set for 7:00 and all the action can be heard live on 91.3 WLVR and also on Lehigh’s website.
