Wednesday, February 23
Stabler Arena
7:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
72
vs
39
Bucknell
Mountain Hawks bury Bucknell, 72-39
2/24/2011 1:46:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's basketball team (19-9, 9-4) picked up its eighth-straight victory on Wednesday evening in a 72-39 victory over the Bucknell Bison at Stabler Arena. With the win and a Navy victory over American, Lehigh is now in a three-way tie for first place in the Patriot League standings with one game to go.
"We really played a complete game offensively and defensively," said Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan. "This was a great Bucknell team that came in here tonight. We executed well on our end and played well on both ends of the floor."
Senior Erica Prosser turned in a nice performance against the Bison, dropping 16 points and adding eight assists. Prosser also tied her season-high of six steals. Senior Courtney Dentler also had a solid game as she scored 15 points and tallied four rebounds. Junior Alexa Williams continued her consistent play, chipping in 10 points.
Lehigh trailed 8-4 in the early stages of the game, as Bucknell's Joyce Novacek and Shelby Romine contributed to the early Bison attack. Senior Aly Byorick would then hit three-pointer to cut the lead to 8-7. From there the Mountain Hawks controlled the remainder of the game. The Bison had a brief 14-13 lead, but that would be the last lead of the game they would have.
A three-pointer by Prosser with 7:07 remaining in the first half put Lehigh up by seven. Two layups by Williams and layup by Dentler concluded a 16-0 run that blew the game open for the Mountain Hawks. During that run, Bucknell had six possessions with a turnover. The Brown and White had a 29-14 lead at the 2:49 mark and headed into the locker room with a 34-18 lead at halftime.
The story was the same in the second half, as Lehigh opened the period with an 8-1 run, which included layups by Prosser, Williams and Dentler. Then, leading 44-22, the Mountain Hawks scored another five straight points on a three-pointer by freshman Hillary Weaver and a jumper by senior Kristen Dalton.
A Prosser layup at the 7:20 mark put Lehigh up by 27 points, its largest lead of the game at that point. Dentler then drained a three off a nice pass from Williams to put Lehigh up by 30 with 3:59 remaining in the game. Lehigh continued a string of three-straight three-pointers when Byorick cashed in on her second of the game followed by a next possession trey from sophomore Sarah Pearce. Lehigh led by 36 at that point with 1:26 remaining in the game.
For the game, Lehigh shot 51.8 percent from the field and an incredible 53.3 percent from three-point range on eight made three-pointers. Lehigh dished out 19 assists, three above its season average. Bucknell just won the battle of the boards, grabbing 34 rebounds against the Brown and White's 33.
Lehigh will close out the regular season by hosting Holy Cross in Stabler Arena with a 7:30 p.m. tip time. The contest can be listened to on ESPN Radio 1230/1320. The game will have pregame coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to tip with Matt Markus calling the action.
Tickets are now on sale for the Patriot League quarterfinal game at $6 per ticket for the general public and just $3 for students of any age or children. Tickets can be purchased online at Lehighsports.com, by phone or in person at Grace Hall (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri.)
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