Saturday, February 19
Easton, Pa.
1:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
70
at
49
Lafayette
Mountain Hawks tame the Leopards in 70-49 victory
2/19/2011 8:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team (18-9, 8-4) increased its winning streak to seven games on Saturday afternoon with a 70-49 revenging win over the Lafayette Leopards. With the Lehigh win and a Navy loss, the Mountain Hawks are now tied for second in the Patriot League standings.
“These wins we have been getting have been credited to our focus,” said Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan. “We are only worried about focusing on ourselves now and not anyone else. All we want to do is take care of our own business.”
Junior Alexa Williams had a strong game for the Mountain Hawks, posting a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Emily Gratch also posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. It was the first time since the Army game back on Jan. 16 that two Lehigh players recorded double-digit rebounds in the same game.
Senior Erica Prosser also had a productive game with 11 points, six assists and five steals. Junior Aly Byorick posted her second-straight double-digit scoring effort as she also netted 11 points.
Lehigh jumped out to an 11-7 lead headed into the first media timeout. Williams scored five of those first 11 points and Prosser had two assists and two points to help contribute to the good start. Lehigh continued what was a 12-2 run, when junior Emily Gratch hit a layup off a Prosser miss, followed by threes from freshman Hillary Weaver and junior Aly Byorick.
The Leopards then began to heat up, when Sarah McGorry was fouled when she made a layup, cutting Lehigh's lead to 19-14. The Mountain Hawks continued to shoot well between the seven minute and four minute mark. In that time span, Byorick converted on two more field goals, one of them being a three, to give her eight points in the first half. Prosser hit a step back three to give Lehigh a 32-20 lead. Lafayette then scored the final four points of the first half. The Brown and White had a 32-24 lead at halftime.
Lehigh got off to a strong start in the second half with a 12-2 run. Williams and senior Courtney Dentler started the half with back-to-back layups. After a Liz Virgin basket for Lafayette, Williams and Gratch combined for four more points in the paint to give the Mountain Hawks a 40-26 lead headed into the first media timeout.
The Mountain Hawks upped their lead to 51-32 at the 9:30 mark. From there, Lehigh continued to dominate, as sophomore Becky Guman, Prosser and Williams all hit transition layups to give them a 57-32 lead. Lafayette was forced to call a timeout as Lehigh had its biggest lead of the game.
From that point on, Lafayette would cut the lead down to 18, but Lehigh maintained a 20-point or greater lead for the majority of the remaining time.
For the game, Lehigh shot 40.6 percent from the field, including 50 percent in the second half. The Mountain Hawks also had a good game on the boards, out-rebounding the Leopards, 46-36. The Brown and White also outscored Lafayette in the paint, 38-20.
Lehigh will return to Stabler Arena for its final two games of the regular season. The Mountain Hawks will first take on Bucknell at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by Holy Cross at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday. The Bucknell game can be heard on WLVR FM and Lehighsports.com and the Holy Cross game can be listened to on 1230/1320 ESPN Radio with pregame coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to tip with Matt Markus.
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