Tuesday, December 7
Jersey City, N.J.
7:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
83
at
62
St. Peter's
Strong second half run powers Lehigh to fourth straight win
12/8/2010 1:54:00 AM | Women's Basketball
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Leading by six points at halftime, Lehigh began the second half on a 34-12 run to break away from Saint Peter's as the Mountain Hawks evened their season record with an 83-62 win over the Peahens Tuesday at Yanitelli Center. Senior Courtney Dentler scored a career-high 21 points as the Mountain Hawks shot 59 percent from the field in the second half and 49 percent for the game.
Lehigh has now won its last four games to move to 5-5 on the season. Jynae Judson poured in a game-high 34 points for Saint Peter's which falls to 0-7 with the setback. All 15 healthy Mountain Hawks saw action with a total of four Lehigh players establishing new career-highs for scoring.
“It's a good win,” said Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan. “It was good to play a lot of players and go deep into our bench. This is a challenging time of the year academically for our kids, but I was pleased with our effort and focus. We could have played a little better defensively but we put a nice game together and got a lot of production from our bench.”
The winless Peahens managed to keep the game close in a back-and-forth first half that featured six ties and nine lead changes. Lehigh scored the final five points of the half on a layup by senior Erica Prosser, a free throw by senior Kristen Dalton and a jumper by Prosser that beat the buzzer as the Mountain Hawks took a 36-30 lead into the locker room.
Lehigh shot 37.5 percent from the field in the first half, but made the most of its opportunities from the foul line as the Mountain Hawks shot 14-for-18 from the free throw line. Dentler led the way with 15 points while junior Emily Gratch added five points and four rebounds.
Troyan offered her thoughts on Dentler's career scoring night, “She played well, especially in the first half when we were struggling offensively to get anything going. She was a stable force who gave us buckets inside and got to the free throw line. She did a nice job for us.”
Saint Peter's shot 43 percent in the first half but turned the ball over 13 times. Judson scored 17 points in the first half to lead the Peahens.
A layup from junior Kalela Blake with 7:07 to play gave Lehigh its largest lead of the night at 72-42, which allowed Troyan to get extensive playing time for many of the Mountain Hawks reserves. Blake joined Dentler in setting a new career-high for points with six, shooting 1-for-1 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Freshman Hilary Weaver also established a career-high with ten points, while classmate Marisa Repasch scored her first career point with a free throw in the final minute.
“In our early stretch of games our competition was challenging and we weren't able to go as deep as we would have liked in our bench,” Troyan explained. “It was good to get some of our inexperienced kids some experience to get their confidence going. They will play important roles for us when league play rolls around.”
Gratch also reached double figures with 13, while junior Alexa Williams scored a season high nine points. Lehigh held a 34-28 advantage in rebounding, with Gratch, Williams and sophomore Becky Guman leading the way with five apiece.
Saint Peter's shot 39 percent from the field and turned the ball over 21 times. Judson was 14-of-19 from the field with a pair of three pointers and 4-for-4 from the line for her 34 points. Lauren Morris added 11 for the Peahens.
“We're right about where we thought we'd be,” Troyan said about her team's record through ten games. “We're trying to get on a roll. The next two games are important as we look to go into Christmas break with some confidence. Hopefully we can get on a nice run before Patriot League play starts.”
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Thursday when visit NJIT. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from Newark, N.J. The game can be heard on WLVR-FM as well as online at Lehighsports.com.
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