BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh women’s basketball head coach Sue Troyan announced the addition of three-student athletes to the program for the 2008-09 season on Tuesday. The Mountain Hawks bring in two freshmen, one from Ohio and one from Pennsylvania, and a sophomore transfer from national power Xavier.
Coming from Warren Howland High School in Warren, Ohio, is Alexa Williams. The talented scorer netted over 1,000 points over the course of her career and was a three-time All-County, All-District and All-Conference player. The 6’3” forward/center helped her team win two district championships as a sophomore and senior, and was a runner-up as a junior. Her sophomore and junior year she was an All-Ohio honorable mention and as a senior received an All-Ohio special mention. Her senior season she averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds per game, and was named the County Player of the Year, while guiding her team to the regional finals of the state tournament.
“Alexa is coming off an outstanding senior year where she played a large role in her team’s success throughout the regional tournament, helping her team advance to the regional finals,” said Troyan. “She is an extremely athletic and versatile post player who will bring many strong qualities on both ends of the floor to our program. She is a standout three sport athlete in high school where she has successfully competed in track and soccer.”
Emily Gratch comes to Lehigh after having one of the most accomplished basketball careers at The Hun School in Princeton, N.J. A Doylestown, Pa. native, the 6’1” forward scored 1,585 points in her career, which is ranked second all-time in both The Hun School history and the Mid-Atlantic Prep League history. She was a first team All-Area selection in all four of her years at The Hun, a three-time first team All-State Prep selection, a three-time first team All-League selection and was named the league player of the year in 2007 and 2008. She was a four-year starter and two-year captain on a team that consistently ranked in the top 20 in the state and was the prep “A” runner-up four straight years. Gratch was also named her team’s MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior, and as a senior was a McDonald’s All-American nominee. That year she averaged 17.2 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals per game, en route to being named the Trenton Times Player of the Year and Trentonian Player of the Year, both for the second consecutive year, as well as the Star-Ledger Player of the Year.
“Emily had another outstanding high school season as a senior leading her team to the state prep finals once again,” said Troyan. “Emily is a versatile forward who has the ability to step out and hit the perimeter jumper or play with her back to the basket. She is much more than a scorer, as she also defends, rebounds and passes the ball very well.”
Rounding out the class is Aly Byorick, a transfer from Xavier University. Byorick is a native of Nanticoke, Pa., where she attended Greater Nanticoke Area High School and left as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,271 points. As a senior, she averaged 22.5 points per game, and was rated as the No. 41 recruit in the class of 2007 by both Blue Star and Scout.com. She earned first team All-State honors as a junior and senior and was a three-time Street and Smith All-American honorable mention. The 6’0” guard also excelled off the court, where she was the Student-Council President and was named the Greater Nanticoke Student of the Year in 2007. As a freshman for Xavier, she played in 20 games, scoring 30 points and grabbing 30 rebounds, helping the Musketeers capture their second consecutive Atlantic-10 Tournament title and a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re very excited to have Aly as part of our program,” added Troyan. “She’s comes from a highly successful high school program and also brings the experience of competing at a top 25 collegiate program with her experience at Xavier. Although she will have to sit out this upcoming year due to NCAA transfer regulations, we believe Aly will have an immediate impact on our program in the practice arena. She is an outstanding student as well as basketball player, and will be a very good fit with our program and its values.”
These three players will join a Mountain Hawks’ team that lost just two seniors to graduation and earned a No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, while advancing to the semifinals of the tournament for the second straight year.
|
Name |
Pos. |
Hometown |
High School |
Major |
|
Alex Williams |
F/C |
Warren, Ohio |
Warren Howland |
Arts and Sciences |
|
Emily Gratch |
F |
Doylestown, Pa. |
The Hun School |
Business |
|
Aly Byorick |
G |
Nanticoke, Pa. |
Greater Nanticoke |
Business |
