Lehigh University
Army
Late bucket sinks Lehigh on road at Army
1/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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The 54-52 defeat gave Lehigh (13-5, 2-1) its first league loss of the season. Army improves to 2-1 in league play and 11-6 overall this season.
Erica Prosser did all she could to help the Brown and White on Sunday, scoring 22 points, adding seven assists, six rebounds and five steals in the loss. Alex Ross chipped in with 10 points and Tricia Smith tied Prosser for the team lead with six rebounds.
“(Prosser) had a nice all around game,” Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan said. “I thought she did well defensively against their point guard, and she hit some big shots for us as well.”
Lehigh appeared to be close to sealing the victory with one minute to play. Prosser broke down the defense and dished to an open Tricia Smith behind the three point line as the shot clock wound down. The senior guard buried the triple to give Lehigh a 52-47 lead with a minute left.
After Army answered with a layup on the other end, Kristen Dalton was at the line to try to ice the game. The free throw bounced off the rim and Army raced down the court, and McGuire sank her fourth 3-pointer of the game to tie the score. McGuire led all scorers with 24 points as she led Army back from the dead all game.
Lehigh tried to answer as Alex Ross fired a three on the other end for the win. As the ball rebounded out to Army, the Black Knights raced down for one last opportunity. Laura Baranek found Megan Evans under the basket for the easy layup to give Army the lead with 2.3 seconds on the clock. Prosser’s last second half-court heave flew wide and the Black Knights celebrated a huge home victory.
“I don’t think we executed well on either end down the stretch,” Troyan said. “But we should have never let it come down to that with a five point lead and five fouls to go with one minute left.”
The Mountain Hawks overcame a tough shooting start to open the first half. Lehigh shot just 3-for-8 in the first eight minutes of play, but went on to score on nine of its last 16 attempts to finish the first half shooting 50 percent from the field. Prosser led all Lehigh scorers with nine points at the half, while sinking the only Lehigh 3-pointer in the period (1-for-7).
The shooting efficiency was not matched in other areas on the floor though, as Lehigh and Army both turned the ball over at alarming rates in the first. The schools combined for 26 giveaways, with each team accounting for 13 apiece. Lehigh ended the game with 21 turnovers overall.
The Mountain Hawks made their best attempt at a run with nine minutes remaining. Lehigh scored seven unanswered points, capped off by a Prosser three that forced Army to take a timeout with 8:23 remaining in the half and Lehigh leading, 17-10. But the Black Knights answered with a 6-0 run of their own to pull back within one. Army continued to climb back and knotted the score at 22 when McGuire scored five points in a row.
After entering the break up 28-24, Lehigh went on a 9-2 run to start the second half, going up 37-26 less than three minutes into the period. But again, Army answered withi a 14-4 run to come back to within one point, 41-40.
McGuire gave Army its first lead since 13:10 remaining in the first half (8-6) when she hit a jumper with 7:33 to play in the game. Prosser put Lehigh back on top with another layup on the other end, and a Ross triple gave Lehigh a 48-44 lead with four minutes left in the game.
But the lead would not last as Army completed the comeback in the final minute of play. Despite the loss, Troyan said Lehigh can gain a lot from Sunday’s experience.
“We can learn from a lot of situations down the stretch today,” she said. “We have to be able to execute and put a game away when we have a five-point lead on the road.”
Lehigh returns to action on Wednesday night, when the Mountain Hawks host the Colgate Raiders at 7:05 p.m. in Stabler Arena.
Buzzer beaters: The Mountain Hawks lost for the first time when turning the ball over 20 times in a game Sunday (8-1)….Lehigh did not commit a foul in the second half until 4:51 remaining when Courtney Dentler reached in for the foul…Lehigh is just 1-4 in games played on Sunday this season.
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