Lehigh University Athletics
Friday, November 8
Niagara University, N.Y.
7:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
1-0
93
at
73
Niagara
0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh | 47 | 46 | 93 |
| Niagara University | 35 | 38 | 73 |
Mountain Hawks score most points in over 20 years in 93-73 win at Niagara
11/8/2013 9:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Five Mountain Hawks scored in double figures en route to Lehigh's 93-73 trouncing of Niagara on Friday night at the Gallagher Center. Sophomore Kerry Kinek led the way with 21 points to help Lehigh to its highest scoring game since a 93-78 win over Bucknell on Jan. 13, 1990. The victory over the Purple Eagles was Lehigh's first season opening win since the 2009-10 season.
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"It was a great team effort and that's the first time in a long time that we've scored that many points," said head coach Sue Troyan. "The whole point of what we're trying to do is play up-tempo and score early on the shot clock, and I thought we did very well at that today."
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Sophomore Amina Affini drained a trey to give Lehigh its first points of the 2013-14 season before adding another one a few minutes later to help the Mountain Hawks off to a 15-9 start. The Purple Eagles responded with a 6-0 run to tie the score at 15. The score was knotted again at 20 before seven straight points from Kinek gave Lehigh a 27-20 lead.
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The Mountain Hawks kept rolling to find themselves up by as much as 12 points when the score sat at 37-25. Niagara tallied eight unanswered points to trim Lehigh's lead to 37-33 before the Mountain Hawks responded with ten straight points of their own to go up 47-33. The Purple Eagles knocked in another basket before the buzzer sent the contest into halftime with Lehigh leading 47-35.
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Lehigh shot 44 percent from the field in the first half including a 53 percent clip from three-point range. The Mountain Hawk defense limited Niagara to just 32 percent shooting. Freshman Kayla Burton finished the opening half 3-for-4 in three point attempts.
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A Kinek jumper put two points on the board for Lehigh to open the second half before the Mountain Hawks used a 20-13 run to take a 67-48 lead. Lehigh extended its lead to 23 after a 13-9 run with the help of some strong free throw shooting. The Mountain Hawks were 25-of-30 (83.3%) from the foul line on Friday.
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Niagara eventually battled back to pull within 16 at 86-70 but a 6-3 Lehigh run gave the Mountain Hawks another commanding lead to close out the season-opening win.
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Kinek finished the game with 21 points and nine rebounds, just one point shy of her career high. Junior Katie O'Reilly followed with 14, while sophomore Elizabeth Sharlow contributed a career-high 12 points. Burton finished with 11, senior Lindsay Hoskins scored ten and Affini contributed a career-high eight points.
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"Kerry was very patient with the basketball," said Troyan. "She didn't force things and she took good shots. She did a great job."
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Lehigh finished the game with a 47.6 (30-for-63) field goal percentage and 42.1 (8-for-19)three-point percentage. The Mountain Hawks out rebounded the Purple Eagles 48-40.
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The Mountain Hawks will host their home opener on Monday at Stabler Arena when NJIT comes to town for a 7 p.m. tip. The game can be viewed live on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
NIAW
FG%
.476
.325
3FG%
.421
.323
FT%
.833
.867
RB
48
40
TO
24
20
STL
11
8
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
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