Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh hits League halfway point at Army Sunday
1/27/2012 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team (12-8, 5-1 PL) has won four straight Patriot League games and will look to keep the winning streak going Sunday when the Mountain Hawks travel to face Army (9-12, 3-3 PL) at 1:00 p.m. The game will mark the halfway point in League play as the Mountain Hawks sit in sole possession of second place, two games ahead of the Black Knights who are tied for fourth.
Lehigh is coming off a thrilling 50-46 comeback victory at Navy Wednesday. Trailing 33-17 at halftime, Lehigh shot 52 percent in the second half while holding Navy to just 13 second half points. The Mountain Hawks trailed by as many as 16 but used a 14-0 run to get back in the game, 10 of those points coming from senior Emily Gratch.
Gratch finished with 12 as did junior Kelly Peterson - 22 of the duo's 24 points came in the second half. Gratch is now 28 points away from being the 15th player in Lehigh women's basketball history to have 1,000 points for her career.
While Gratch inches closer to a milestone, senior Alexa Williams hit one of her own in Wednesday's game. With an offensive rebound with 17:47 to go in the first half, Williams became the 23rd student-athlete in Patriot League history to have 700 career rebounds. She ranks 22nd all-time with 707 and is just five rebounds away from overtaking No. 21 (Joanna Groth - Navy 1994-98) and eight away from No. 20 (Kelly Fitzpatrick - Fordham 1991-95.)
Williams and Gratch have led a Lehigh offense that ranks tied for second in the League with 58.6 points while the Mountain Hawks are tied for first in League games with 63.3 points per game. Williams' 11.6 points rank No. 6 in the Patriot League while her League-leading 9.6 rebounds per game rank tied at No. 43 in the nation. Gratch is second on the team in both categories with 10.2 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Lehigh will take on an Army team that is also led by a stellar duo as sophomore Jen Hazlett and junior Anna Simmers pace the Black Knights. The pair rank fourth (13.1 ppg) and fifth (12.9 ppg) respectively in scoring in the Patriot League while Hazlett ranks seventh in field goal percentage (43.0) and Simmers is 10th (41.5 percent). Hazlett also ranks second in three-point field goal percentage (38.6) and fifth in made threes per game (1.6).
Army launched its 2011-12 season with a 6-2 start before losing seven straight to finish its non-League schedule 6-9. The Black Knights are off to a 2-3 start in League play as they defeated Lafayette and Colgate and fell to Navy, American and Holy Cross. Army's three losses have been by a combined six points.
Army is coming off 62-59 loss at Holy Cross Wednesday where the Black Knights erased a double-digit deficit over the final six minutes of the game but still fell short. Holy Cross - which didn't score a field goal over the final seven minutes - scored its final seven points of the game from the free throw line, including a crucial pair with 10.6 seconds to go to put the game out of reach.
Army was led by Hazlett's 18 points, including 14 in the second half while Simmers and Molly Yardley added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Hazlett and Simmers are two of nine returning letterwinners for Army while the Black Knights feature eight newcomers as Army graduated the team's top two scorers and four starters.
Army was predicted to finish seventh out of eight teams in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Black Knights finished in a tie for fourth in the final 2010-11 standings and as the No. 5 seed, fell 54-40 to No. 4 Bucknell in the Patriot League Quarterfinals.
Sunday's game will mark the 50th meeting between Lehigh and Army as the Mountain Hawks hold the all-time edge 27-22 including eight of the last 10.
The two teams split last season's series as Lehigh fell on January 16th at Army 54-52 on a Black Knights basket with 18 seconds left. The Mountain Hawks avenged the loss with a 70-57 win on February 12th at Stabler Arena.
In 2009, the two schools met in the Patriot League Semifinals where No. 1 Lehigh cruised to a 61-42 victory over No. 5 Army en route to the Mountain Hawks' second League title at the time and the first of back-to-back Championships.
Lehigh will next hit the court to begin the second half of league play on Saturday, February 4th at Holy Cross. The Mountain Hawks beat the Crusaders 75-60 the first time around on January 7th at Stabler Arena.
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Date:
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January 29, 2012
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Opponent:
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Army Black Knights
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Tip-off:
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1:00 PM
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Arena/Capacity:
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Christl Arena/5,043
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Location:
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West Point, N.Y.
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Lehigh's Record:
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12-8 overall, 5-1 Patriot League
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Army's Record:
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9-12 overall, 3-3 Patriot League
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Series:
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Lehigh leads 27-22
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Radio:
Internet TV:
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WLVR 91.3 FM with Matt Markus beginning at 12:45 p.m.
http://www.patriotleague.org/allaccess/?media=268738
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Live Stats
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http://bit.ly/wJPYKG
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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www.goarmysports.com
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Not by a computer?
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Follow twitter.com/LehighSports on your phone for updates
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MHT EP10 - Women's Basketball
Friday, February 27
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Tuesday, February 17
Interview after win vs Colgate 1/10
Saturday, January 10
Interview after Bucknell win 1/3/25
Saturday, January 03
