Lehigh drops Christmas City Classic championship game to Delaware, 77-64

Saturday, December 21

4:30:00 PM

Lehigh University

7-3

Delaware

8-2

Team	1	2	F
DELAWARE	44	33	77
Lehigh	32	32	64

Lehigh drops Christmas City Classic championship game to Delaware, 77-64

12/21/2013 6:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Despite three double-digit scoring Mountain Hawks, the Lehigh women's basketball team dropped a 77-64 decision to Delaware in the championship game of the Christmas City Classic on Saturday evening in Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks scored 24 points off second chance opportunities, but the Blue Hens notched 20 points off Lehigh turnovers to capture the tournament championship.

"I'm proud of the way we played in the second half and the girls really had some fight in them," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We're disappointed with the result, but this will provide some good teaching points. Delaware is a good team and it's always good to have a test like that."

Sophomore Kerry Kinek led the Mountain Hawks with 13 points, marking her 12th straight double-digit scoring game. Senior Lindsay Hoskins followed with 12 points, a season high, and also pulled down four rebounds. Kinek and Hoskins each earned a spot on the All-Tournament team thanks to their impressive performances.

Freshman Kiernan McCloskey scored a career-high 11 points, while also pulling down five boards. Sophomore Elizabeth Sharlow grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds and added nine points.

Delaware's Erika Brown led all scorers with 23 points, followed by Kelsey Buchanan with 18 tallies. Buchanan earned tournament MVP honors for her efforts.

The Blue Hens shot 53.7 percent (29-for-54) from the field and held Lehigh to 39.7 percent (25-for-63). The Mountain Hawks held a slight 37-35 rebound advantage, but Delaware forced 17 Lehigh turnovers compared to 11 of its own.

Two layups from Kinek and Hoskins started the Mountain Hawks off with a 4-0 lead. Delaware's Kelsey Buchanan answered with four straight points of her own. Hoskins scored the next eight Lehigh points with three layups and two jumpers, but Delaware made its shots as well to knot the score at 12.

Lehigh led 16-15 before the Blue Hens erupted with 12 straight points to take a 27-16 advantage with just under ten minutes left in the opening half. Delaware remained in control at 31-21 before five unanswered Lehigh points trimmed the Blue Hen lead to five at 31-26 with 4:32 left on the clock in the first half.

Freshman Lexi Martins and Junior Sarah Williams each sunk threes in the next two minutes to put six more points on the board for the Mountain Hawks, but Delaware continued its hot shooting and added 13 of its own as the halftime buzzer rang with the scoreboard at 44-32 in favor of the Blue Hens.

Delaware scored the first six points of the second half with buckets from three different Blue Hens before Hoskins stopped the streak with a layup. The Blue Hens sunk another basket, but Lehigh responded with an 8-2 run thanks to four points from Sharlow. After a Blue Hen layup, Lehigh secured another 8-2 run with the help of points from three different Mountain Hawks to nip the Blue Hen lead and put the score at 57-48 with 10:49 to play.

The Blue Hens tossed in five unanswered points before Kinek found her way to the basket with a crafty move that pulled Lehigh within 12 at 62-50. After an exchange of buckets, two free throws from McCloskey coupled with a Kayla Burton three-pointer to trim the Blue Hen lead to nine at 66-57 with 6:04 on the clock.

Still leading by nine at 70-61 with 4:09 to play, the Blue Hens embarked on a 7-3 run to close out the game and hand Lehigh its third loss of the season.

The Mountain Hawks will be back in action Saturday Dec. 28 when they head to Columbia for a 2 p.m. contest. The game will be Lehigh's final tune-up before Patriot League play begins in Stabler Arena at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 against Colgate.

2013 Christmas City Classic All-Tournament Team
Kylie Butler, Vermont
Karen Flagg, Youngstown State
Kerry Kinek, Lehigh
Lindsay Hoskins, Lehigh
Courtni Green, Delaware
Kelsey Buchanan, Delaware

MVP: Kelsey Buchanan, Delaware

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