Saturday, December 28
New York, N.Y.
2:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
7-4
80
at
87
Columbia
3-9
1
2
F
LEHIGH
42
38
80
Columbia
44
43
87
Turnovers hurt Lehigh in 87-80 loss at Columbia
12/28/2013 4:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK – A strong offensive effort wasn't enough for the Lehigh women's basketball team as the Mountain Hawks dropped an 87-80 decision at Columbia on Saturday afternoon. Lehigh turnovers helped the Lions claim their third win of the season, while the Mountain Hawks fell to 7-4 in non-league play.
"I give Columbia a lot of credit," said head coach Sue Troyan. "They shot really well, and our defense was poor today. They were able to capitalize when they needed to and we have some work to do before league play begins next week."
Lehigh finished the game shooting 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field, while holding Columbia to 42.9 percent (30-of-70) but 22 Mountain Hawk turnovers and a 44-38 rebound advantage led the Lions to the win.
Sophomore Kerry Kinek and junior Katie O'Reilly chipped in 16 points each to lead the Mountain Hawk offense. Junior Sarah Williams followed with 11 and sophomore Elizabeth Sharlow added ten. Freshmen Lexi Martins and Kiernan McCloskey each grabbed a team-leading six rebounds, while Martins also added eight points.
The Mountain Hawks got out to a 7-0 lead to begin the game and held the Lions scoreless for the first four minutes of the contest. Lehigh held its largest lead of the half with 15:46 to play when the score read 10-2 until the Lions responded with ten unanswered points from Taylor Ward and Sara Mead.
The Lions eventually stretched their lead to 22-16 with 9:29 to play. Kinek chipped in six points and O'Reilly added two to lead Lehigh to an 8-2 run and pull the score within two at 24-22. Columbia answered with five straight points before Lehigh once again answered with a run of 8-2, this time with baskets from three different Mountain Hawks, to climb within one at 31-30 with 5:19 remaining on the clock in the opening half.
The teams exchanged baskets until Lehigh claimed a 40-39 lead thanks to a layup from Sharlow. Mead sunk five straight points for the Lions until two Martins' free-throws gave two back to Lehigh as the halftime buzzer rang with the score at 44-42 Columbia.
The Mountain Hawks shot a scorching 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the field in the first half and the same percentage from three-point range, but surrendered 11 turnovers in the opening stanza.
Columbia opened the second half with eight unanswered points until a layup from senior Lindsay Hoskins broke the streak. Back-to-back treys from Miwa Tachiban and a layup from Amara Mbionwu helped the Lions to their largest lead so far in the game at 57-46 with 16:03 left on the clock.
Three layups, two from Sharlow and one from McCloskey, strung together six straight points for the Mountain Hawks to trim the Columbia lead to 57-52 with 14:56 to play. The Lions erupted on a 14-5 run to take a commanding 71-57 lead with 8:23 remaining on the clock.
Points from O'Reilly, Williams and Sharlow helped the Mountain Hawks string together a 7-2 run over the next two minutes to pull within 73-64 with 6:26 to play. A layup from Williams kept the run going, and O'Reilly followed a few seconds later with one of her own. After a Kinek layup, the Mountain Hawks were able to close the gap to six points at 76-70 with 4:14 to play.
After an exchange of four points each, the score sat at 80-74 with the clock under two minutes. The Lions made three free throws, but O'Reilly tossed in a layup and drew a foul with 31 seconds to play. O'Reilly sunk her shot but the Mountain Hawks had no chance but to foul the Lions. Columbia made three of four foul shots, but Williams answered with a three-pointer to pull back within six at 86-80 and the clock at 10.8 seconds. A Columbia free throw closed out the game as the Lions were able to walk away with the 87-80 win.
The Mountain Hawks will now begin preparations to open Patriot League play against Colgate on Thursday Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. inside Stabler Arena. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting LehighTickets.com.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
COLW
FG%
.483
.429
3FG%
.313
.409
FT%
.708
.750
RB
38
44
TO
22
16
STL
11
12
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
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