Monday, December 9
5:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
6-2
75
vs
54
Saint Peter's
0-7
1
2
F
Saint Peter's
28
26
54
Lehigh
35
40
75
Mountain Hawks clip Peacocks, 75-54
12/9/2013 7:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team had four players score in double-figures en route to a 75-54 win over Saint Peter's inside Stabler Arena on Monday evening. Sophomore Kerry Kinek made a career-high 12 field goals to reach a personal best 25 points that led the Mountain Hawk charge.
"I thought we played well given the significant layoff," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We had a lot of players step up tonight and it's nice to have good versatility in the lineup. I was happy with both the offensive and defensive performances today."
With the win, the Mountain Hawks improve to 3-0 versus the MAAC this season and 4-0 all-time against the Peacocks. Lehigh claimed its sixth win of the season to start 6-2 for the first time since 2009-10.
Sophomore Elizabeth Sharlow chipped in 12 points, followed by junior Katie O'Reilly with 11 points, ten of which came in the second half. O'Reilly's one first-half point notched her 500th career tally. Freshman Kiernan McCloskey recorded a career-high ten points and nine rebounds. Freshman Kayla Burton handed out a career-best seven assists, while also chipping in eight points. Junior Sarah Williams added five helpers.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game with a season-high 17 steals, led by five from sophomore Amina Affini. Senior Alexandra Yantzi notched three blocks and seven rebounds.
Lehigh finished the game shooting 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the field. The Mountain Hawks were 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the charity stripe. The Lehigh defense limited the Peacocks to just one made three-pointer out of 13 attempts.
Saint Peter's scored on its first possession, but Lehigh responded with nine of the next 11 points to take a 9-4 lead following a Kinek layup with 16:39 left in the first half. Kinek scored six points during that span to lead the charge
After a Peacocks jumper, two McCloskey free throws made it 11-6. Saint Peter's responded by scoring eight of the next 11 points to take a 14-13 lead following a Kaydine Bent three-point play with 12:14 on the clock.
Sharlow answered with four straight points, using a pair of free throws and a layup off a nifty feed from Kinek to make it 17-14 with just over 10 minutes on the clock.
Kinek heated up with a layup and jumper in a 48-second span to put the Mountain Hawks up 21-16 with 7:41 remaining. Leading 21-20, Lehigh went on a 6-0 run capped off by a Sarah Williams three-pointer to make it 27-20 with 5:45 left in the half.
After trading points, the Peacocks staged a 6-0 run to pull within 29-28 with 2:45 on the clock. However, the Mountain Hawks finished the half with a 6-0 run of their own, using baskets from Sharlow and Kinek, and free throws from O'Reilly and Kinek to take a 35-28 lead at the half.
The teams got out to a hot start after the halftime break, each hitting their first two baskets to put the score at 39-32 Lehigh with 18:42 to play. Three points from Bent closed the gap a bit, but Lehigh answered with eight straight points with Kinek netting four and Sharlow and O'Reilly scoring two apiece to make it 47-35 Mountain Hawks with 16:01 left to play.
Saint Peter's fought back to pull within six at 49-43 before an Affini jumper gave Lehigh two more. The Mountain Hawks were scoreless for the next two minutes until Burton hit a three with 10:28 to go to take a 54-44 lead. Three straight points from O'Reilly and two Burton free throws opened up a 15-point Lehigh lead with 7:28 to play.
The teams exchanged baskets until there was 3:26 left on the clock and Kinek hit her career-high 25th points, which was followed by a layup from Sharlow to give the Mountain Hawks a commanding 70-53 lead. Saint Peter's grabbed one more point before Lehigh closed out the contest with five unanswered tallies to claim a 75-54 win and the Mountain Hawks' sixth victory of the season.
The Mountain Hawks will now have time off for final exams before returning to action on Dec. 20-21 when Lehigh hosts the Christmas City Classic in Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks will welcome Vermont, Delaware and Youngstown State to the tournament. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting LehighTickets.com.
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Team Stats
SPU
LEHIGH
FG%
.367
.424
3FG%
.077
.167
FT%
.600
.727
RB
38
44
TO
22
15
STL
5
17
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
12
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
8
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