Offensive outburst leads Lehigh to 95-67 win over Mount St. Mary’s

Tuesday, November 19

7:00:00 PM

Lehigh University

3-1

Mount St. Mary's

1-4

Mount St. Mary's

Lehigh

Offensive outburst leads Lehigh to 95-67 win over Mount St. Mary’s

11/19/2013 9:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Five Lehigh women's basketball players recorded new season or career highs in scoring as the Mountain Hawks defeated Mount St. Mary's 95-67 at Stabler Arena on Tuesday night. Lehigh's 95 points were the second-highest single game total in school history, trailing only a 103 point effort that came in the 1976-77 season.

"We are very pleased with the result and the contributions from multiple players," said head coach Sue Troyan. "So many players brought a great effort and it was a true team win. I'm especially pleased with the defense in the second half. Now we need to carry this momentum into the next three road games."

The Mountain Hawks beat Mount St. Mary's for the third straight time and improved to 3-1 for the first time since the 2009-10 season. That squad went on to finish 29-4 overall and 13-1 in the Patriot League to claim the league championship and make an NCAA tournament appearance.

Lehigh finished the game 31-of-60 from the floor for a 51.7% field goal percentage, marking the first time that the Mountain Hawks have shot 50 percent or better since March 1, 2012 when Lehigh shot 50 percent against Bucknell in a Patriot League quarterfinal game. The Mountain Hawks also impressed from three-point range, shooting 7-for-13 (53.8 percent). Lehigh picked up a season-high 53 rebounds, 20 assists, 11 blocks, and 31 made field goals.

Sophomore Elizabeth Sharlow recorded her first career double-double with a season-high 12 rebounds and a career-high 15 points. Sophomore Kerry Kinek continued her impressive season, tallying a team-leading 18 points while also collecting nine rebounds. Junior Katie O'Reilly notched her second straight 17-point game. Sophomores Amina Affini and Liz Jordan notched a career-high eight and six points, respectively. Senior Alexandra Yantzi stuffed a career-high five blocks, while freshman Lexi Martins also contributed three.

O'Reilly drained Lehigh's first two points of the game before Kinek followed with six of her own to give Lehigh an early 8-2 lead. The Mount slowly fought back to pull within three at 14-11 with 13:50 to play in the opening half thanks to seven points from Sydney Henderson. A three-pointer from Burton and a Sharlow layup added five unanswered points to the board as Lehigh was able to extend its lead to 19-11.

The Mountain Hawks extended their lead to 12 at 29-17 with 8:14 left to play in the opening half. Lehigh kept its lead in double-digits for the remainder of the half as the Mountain Hawks' sharp shooting continued. A Kinek free throw notched the last point of the half to give Lehigh a 43-33 lead heading into the locker room.

Lehigh stayed dominant in the early-goings of the second half, eventually extending its lead to 56-39 with the help of six points from O'Reilly. Mount St. Mary's tried to battle back, but the Mountain Hawks kept making their shots as Lehigh found itself up 72-54 with 7:39 to play. The next ten combined points came from free throws, six for Lehigh and four for the Mount, before converted a conventional three-point play. Williams followed with two free throws to help Lehigh to an 83-60 lead with 4:17 to play.

Three-pointers from Jordan, Affini and Martins helped the Mountain Hawks to a 12-7 run to close out the game and capture their third win of the season.

The Mountain Hawks will now hit the road for a three-game slate that begins with a trip to Fairfield on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and can be listened to live on 91.3 WLVR with Matt Markus with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. Lehigh then travels to Rhode Island on Saturday before a Thanksgiving Eve matchup with Ohio State in Columbus.

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