Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh looks for season sweep of Lafayette Saturday
2/17/2012 10:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's basketball team (13-12, 6-5 PL) has dropped three straight games and four of its last five, but will look to turn things around at Lafayette (8-18, 2-9 PL) Saturday with tip set for noon. It will be the 81st meeting between the rivals as Lehigh has won nine of the last 10 with a 14-point average margin of victory. Lehigh won the first meeting this season 68-55 as the Mountain Hawks will look for the season sweep Saturday.
Lehigh is coming off a 62-56 loss to Bucknell Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks trailed by as many as 19 in the second half before going on a 21-5 run to cut the deficit to three with 33 seconds left but came up just short. Eight Lehigh players had at least two points led by a trio in double figures. Junior Kelly Peterson led the way with 12 points while senior Emily Gratch and freshman Sarah Williams had 11 points apiece.
Lehigh currently sits in fourth place in the league, a game behind Army and Navy which is tied for second. Lehigh is one-game ahead of Holy Cross, but even if the two teams finished tied, Lehigh would own the No. 4 seed by virtue of Lehigh's regular season sweep of Holy Cross.
The Mountain Hawks have been led by seniors Alexa Williams and Emily Gratch this season and as the regular season winds down, Lehigh will continue to rely on its preseason All-Patriot League forwards.
Williams has started all 25 games for Lehigh and leads the team in points, rebounds, blocks and steals. Her 12.6 points per game rank sixth in the league while her 8.9 rebounds are first. She also ranks fourth in blocked shots (1.5), sixth in steals (1.6) and seventh in field goal percentage (44.2). In 11 league games, she is averaging 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds. She has the second most double-doubles in the league with six and Williams has scored in double figures in 12 of her last 15 games.
Gratch missed Lehigh's first eight games of the season due to injury but has returned with full force as she is second on the team in scoring (11.8), rebounding (6.8) and blocks (1.0). She leads the team with a 50.9 field goal percentage including shooting a stellar 54.6 percent in league games.
Williams and Gratch have two of the better field goal percentages in the Patriot League but the duo and the rest of the Mountain Hawks will be up against a Lafayette team that is second in the league in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 36.2 percent. The Leopards also lead the league in three-point field goal defense, holding teams to 26 percent from behind the arc.
While Lehigh enters Saturday's game struggling as of late, so is Lafayette which has dropped five straight and seven of its last eight. Lafayette's last win was vs. Colgate, 66-58, on Jan. 25. Lafayette is coming off a 61-52 loss at Holy Cross on Wednesday. The Leopards managed to cut an 18-point second-half deficit down to six, going on a 16-4 run over a four-minute stretch, but were unable to complete the comeback.
Lafayette was led by double-doubles from Danielle Fiacco (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Emily Homan (13 points, 10 rebounds).
The Leopards have been led by Homan and Fiacco all season long. Homan - who has been named the league's Rookie of the Week three times this season - leads the team in scoring averaging 11.7 points and is second on the team with 6.7 rebounds per game. Fiacco leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 10.8 points per game.
Fiacco (3.8) and Homan (1.8) rank first and second in the league in blocked shots as the Leopards lead the league in the category (6.3). The Leopards also lead the league with 40.3 rebounds per game while Lehigh is close in second with 39.4 rebounds per game.
Lehigh won the first meeting this season 68-55 on Jan. 21 as Alexa Williams and Peterson posted career highs of 23 and 17 points, respectively. The duo combined for 14 of Lehigh's 22 made field goals while defensively the Mountain Hawks held the Leopards to just one field goal in the game's final four minutes.
The two schools met in last year's Patriot League quarterfinals where Lehigh cruised to victory at Stabler Arena, 82-58.
Lehigh's last loss at Lafayette came on Jan. 26, 2008, 48-45. Lehigh fell to Monmouth earlier this season in a neutral site game at Lafayette.
The game will be televised on Service Electric Channel 51 with Gary Laubach and John Leone.
After Saturday, Lehigh will return home for its final two regular season games as the Mountain Hawks host Navy Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. and Army Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
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Date:
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February 18, 2012
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Opponent:
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Lafayette Leopards
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Tip-off:
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12:00 PM
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Arena/Capacity:
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Alan P. Kirby Sports Center/5,000
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Location:
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Easton, Pa.
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Lehigh's Record:
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13-12 overall, 6-5 Patriot League
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Lafayette's Record:
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8-18 overall, 2-9 Patriot League
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Series:
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Lafayette leads, 41-39
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TV:
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Service Electric Ch. 51 with Gary Laubach and John Leone.
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Internet TV:
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http://www.patriotleague.org/allaccess/?media=302680
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Radio:
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WLVR 91.3 FM with Matt Markus beginning at 11:45 p.m.
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Listen online:
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client.stretchinternet.com/client/lehigh.portal#
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Live Stats
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http://bit.ly/zlJUEG
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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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
