Lehigh University
Navy
Mountain Hawks drop second league game
1/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Cold first half shooting on Tuesday night did not help the Mountain Hawks as Lehigh fell to Navy 54-44 at Alumni Hall, marking the first time since the 1994-95 season that Lehigh dropped its first two Patriot League games. The Mountain Hawks missed their first ten shots of the game en route to shooting 26.9 percent in the first half, while Navy was 42.3 percent from the field. Senior Adrienne Blount scored a season-high 18 points for the third time this season and grabbed nine rebounds – including the 500th of her career – to lead the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh (5-11, 0-2) did not connect for the first six minutes of the game, allowing Navy (6-9, 1-1) to go on a 12-0 run. Blount ended the Mountain Hawks’ drought with a basket at 12:42.
Lindi Conner’s basket a minute later sparked a 10-5 run for the Midshipmen. Maryland native Ryan Ingalls ended Navy’s run by sinking both of her free throw attempts with 8:24 remaining in the half to make the score 22-9 in favor of Navy.
The Mountain Hawks closed the gap to nine points off a jumper by freshman Wendy Szczerbiak and two successful free throw attempts by Blount.
Navy’s Carly Meyer and Betsy Burnett both sank buckets to make the score 26-15 in favor of the Mids at the 2:52 mark. However, Lehigh would narrow the gap once again, getting two points from sophomore Melissa Rich and Ingalls. With Kalen Kropa dribbling around half-court, freshman Alex Ross stole the ball away from Kropa for an easy lay-up with 52 seconds remaining. The Mids would go into halftime holding a 28-21 advantage over the Mountain Hawks.
Following two Kristen Dalton free throws to begin the second half, Navy went on an 11-4 run to make the score 39-27 with 12:57 remaining. Lehigh held the Mids scoreless for four and a half minutes and notched seven points to only trail the Mids by five points. However, that was the closest the Mountain Hawks got as Navy outscored Lehigh 13-8 in the closing 6:39.
Post players accounted for 16 of Lehigh’s 23 second half points with Blount and Szczerbiak totaling 12 and four points, respectively, in the second half. Szczerbiak scored a career high six, in 12 minutes off the bench.
Meyer recorded the game’s only double-double, scoring a team-high 16 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. Kate Hobbs also reached double-figures in rebounds for the Midshipmen, grabbing ten boards.
The Mountain Hawks return to action on Saturday afternoon, taking on Army in
Photos (c) 2006, Jeffrey A. Camarati
