Friday, November 25
Easton, Pa.
6:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
73
vs
75
Monmouth
Lehigh falls short vs. Monmouth, 75-73
11/26/2011 1:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. - The Lehigh women's basketball team had the ball with nine seconds left with a chance to tie or take the lead, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to pull through as they fell 75-73 Friday in Easton, Pa. as part of the Thanksgiving Challenge. Lehigh was led by four players in double figures including 13 from junior Kelly Peterson and a career-high 13 from sophomore Hilary Weaver. Seniors Alexa Williams and Aly Byorick added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Photo 1 of 16
Women's Basketball vs. Monmouth
Down 75-73, freshman Katie O'Reilly missed a shot in the lane and was forced to foul after Monmouth grabbed the rebound. But Lehigh had life after Gabby Singer missed the front end of the one-and-one.
The Mountain Hawks had the ball with nine seconds left, down two. Peterson came off a screen and had an open look at three, but it rimmed out as the buzzer sounded.
“She had a great look at the basket,” said Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan. “That's more than you can ask for, a three to win it. We have a lot of confidence in her taking that shot. Monmouth is a good team; it was nice to see the offense turn on and make some shots. I was really proud of how our kids competed.”
Lehigh shot 33 percent from the field including 42 percent from three-point range as the Mountain Hawks were 8-for-19 from behind the arc. Lehigh had a 19-point edge at the free-throw line as it was 29-for-36 from the charity stripe while Monmouth was 10-for-15. But Monmouth shot 46 percent for the game, including 50 percent in the second half.
Lehigh trailed 6-2 five minutes into the game as Byorick had the Mountain Hawks' lone basket. Then on the hot shooting hand of Peterson, Lehigh took a 23-22 lead with 7:10 to go in the half as Peterson had 10 of Lehigh's 15 points over a five minute stretch. Byorick then added a three to give Lehigh a 26-22 lead with five minutes to go as the Mountain Hawks' defense held Monmouth without a field goal for four minutes.
The teams then exchanged baskets and free throws late in the half ,but Peterson hit a three at the top of the key to give Lehigh a 35-34 edge at the half.
Peterson and Byorick accounted for 20 of Lehigh's points as Peterson led the way with 13 on 5-for-9 shooting including 3-for-5 from three while Byorick added 10 points. In the first half, Lehigh shot 36 percent (12-for-33) including 45.5 percent (5-for-11) from behind the arc. Monmouth shot 41 percent (12-for-29) from the floor and 33 percent (3-for-9) from three.
Lehigh was 6-for-10 from the free-throw line while Monmouth was 7-for-8 and while Monmouth had a slight edge in rebounding, 21-20. Lehigh had 12 offensive rebounds to Monmouth's eight.
Two minutes into the second half, Lehigh went on a quick 4-0 run on a basket by senior Kelela Blake and a fast-break layup from Williams. Weaver then added a three to extend Lehigh's lead to 43-38 with 15:48 to go.
Monmouth then responded with a 7-2 run, but Lehigh stopped the run thanks to another Weaver three. But Monmouth came right back again with a 7-0 run as Lehigh then trailed 51-48 with 11:31 left in the game.
Lehigh took advantage of Monmouth's aggressive defense as the Mountain Hawks were in the bonus for the final 11 minutes of the game.
The Mountain Hawks started to attack on offense as they got a pair of starting Monmouth players in foul trouble halfway through the second half as Lehigh was in the double bonus with 9:16 left in the game.
Lehigh went 23-for-26 from the free-throw line in the second half.
The teams then exchanged baskets over the next six minutes as neither team was able to pull away. O'Reilly hit a three to put Lehigh up 69-65 with 3:16 to go, but Monmouth responded with a three to pull right back to within one.
Lehigh led 71-70 with 2:00 remaining and after a missed Weaver three, Williams came up with the offensive board to give the Mountain Hawks more clock to work with, but they couldn't take advantage as the possession resulted in a turnover.
On the other end, Monmouth hit a three from the corner to take a 73-71 lead with 1:09 to go.
On the Mountain Hawks next possession, Williams drove to the lane drawing a foul. She hit both to even the game with 50 seconds remaining.
After a missed Monmouth jumper, Abby Martin got the offensive rebound and laid it in to put Monmouth ahead 75-73 with 25 seconds left, which proved to be the difference.
Williams added nine rebounds, six of which were on the offensive end and had three steals and two blocks while junior Sarah Pearce tied a career-high seven boards.
Martin paced Monmouth with a game-high 23 points while the Hawks had two other players in double figures.
Lehigh will next travel to Staten Island, N.Y. to take on Wagner on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the second and final game of the Thanksgiving Challenge.
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