Lehigh University Athletics
Saturday, November 15
West Long Branch, N.J.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
at
Monmouth
Mountain Hawks kick of 2014-15 campaign Saturday at Monmouth
11/14/2014 11:26:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes | Listen Live | Watch Live ($) | Live Stats
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Lehigh women's basketball team begins the 2014-15 campaign Saturday at Monmouth with tipoff set for 7 p.m. A live audio broadcast will be available on 91.3 WLVR and wlvr.org. The Mountain Hawks return four starters and ten letterwinners from a 2013-14 squad that finished 5-13 in the Patriot League and 13-18 overall.
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Lehigh finished eighth in the Patriot League last season, which led to a matchup in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament against Colgate. The Mountain Hawks picked up a 59-49 win over the Raiders before falling in the quarterfinals at top-seeded Navy.
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Senior captains Katie O'Reilly and Sarah Williams will look to lead a balanced group of four juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen this season. O'Reilly has been the second-leading scorer on the Mountain Hawk squad for each of the last two years and finished last year's campaign averaging 10.1 points per game. Williams returns from a strong junior campaign in which she averaged eight points per game and led the team in assists.
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Lehigh also returns two-time All-Patriot League member Kerry Kinek and 2013-14 All-Rookie honoree Kayla Burton. Kinek has led the team in scoring and rebounding in both of her seasons as a Mountain Hawk and wrapped up last season with an average of 15.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Burton averaged eight points per game and led the team in three-point shooting percentage as a freshman.
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The returning Mountain Hawks accounted for 90.3 percent of last year's total points, 99.4 percent of made three-pointers, 85.7 percent of total rebounds and 86.2 percent of total minutes. The Mountain Hawks were predicted to finish fifth in the Patriot League this season.
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Monmouth was predicted to finish ninth in the MAAC preseason poll this season after finishing the 2013-14 campaign with an 8-25 overall record and 6-14 MAAC mark.
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Monmouth returns ten letter winners and three starters from last year's team, including four of the Hawks' top five scorers. Jasmine Walker leads the group of returners at 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while Sara English finished with 5.8 points and a team-best 5.6 rebounds per game. Helena Kurt averaged 5.5 points and 1.6 assists per game, while Mia Hopkins also contributed 4.9 points per game, shooting a team-best 35.3 percent from long range.
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The Hawks are faced with replacing a pair of starters in Chevannah Paalvast and Shira Shect, as well as transfers Kasey Chambers and India Dotson. Paalvast led the Hawks at 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while totaling more than 1,000 career points. Shecht averaged 4.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 20 starts early in the year before battling through injuries late in the year. Chambers, who transferred to Penn, started the first nine games last season and finished the year at 4.7 points and a team-best 2.1 assists per game. India Dotson moved on to the University of New Haven after seeing action in two games as a reserve.
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Lehigh and Monmouth have met seven times dating back to 1994 and Monmouth leads the all-time series 6-1. Lehigh's lone win came on Nov. 28, 2005 inside Stabler Arena as the Mountain Hawks captured a 64-45 victory. In addition to Lehigh's win, two of the last five meetings have gone into overtime, while the other two have been decided by two points or less.
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Monmouth picked up a 55-50 double-overtime win in the most recent meeting on Nov. 25, 2012. The Mountain Hawks had opportunities to win the game at the buzzer at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but were unable to convert as the Hawks scored 11 points in the final extra session for the victory. Lehigh did not surrender its lead in the first half, but over the final 30 minutes the two teams were knotted three times and the score changed five times during Monmouth's rally.
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Kinek scored nine points and collected nine rebounds in the loss. The Mountain Hawks finished the game with a 26.2 field goal percentage compared to Monmouth's 30.2 mark. Lehigh converted just four of its 27 three-point attempts while limiting the Hawks to 1-for-10 from three-point range.
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The Mountain Hawks make their home debut Monday at 7 p.m. against East Stroudsburg inside Stabler Arena. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network and tickets can be purchased at Lehightickets.com.
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Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates throughout the season.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Lehigh women's basketball team begins the 2014-15 campaign Saturday at Monmouth with tipoff set for 7 p.m. A live audio broadcast will be available on 91.3 WLVR and wlvr.org. The Mountain Hawks return four starters and ten letterwinners from a 2013-14 squad that finished 5-13 in the Patriot League and 13-18 overall.
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Lehigh finished eighth in the Patriot League last season, which led to a matchup in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament against Colgate. The Mountain Hawks picked up a 59-49 win over the Raiders before falling in the quarterfinals at top-seeded Navy.
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Senior captains Katie O'Reilly and Sarah Williams will look to lead a balanced group of four juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen this season. O'Reilly has been the second-leading scorer on the Mountain Hawk squad for each of the last two years and finished last year's campaign averaging 10.1 points per game. Williams returns from a strong junior campaign in which she averaged eight points per game and led the team in assists.
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Lehigh also returns two-time All-Patriot League member Kerry Kinek and 2013-14 All-Rookie honoree Kayla Burton. Kinek has led the team in scoring and rebounding in both of her seasons as a Mountain Hawk and wrapped up last season with an average of 15.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Burton averaged eight points per game and led the team in three-point shooting percentage as a freshman.
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The returning Mountain Hawks accounted for 90.3 percent of last year's total points, 99.4 percent of made three-pointers, 85.7 percent of total rebounds and 86.2 percent of total minutes. The Mountain Hawks were predicted to finish fifth in the Patriot League this season.
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Monmouth was predicted to finish ninth in the MAAC preseason poll this season after finishing the 2013-14 campaign with an 8-25 overall record and 6-14 MAAC mark.
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Monmouth returns ten letter winners and three starters from last year's team, including four of the Hawks' top five scorers. Jasmine Walker leads the group of returners at 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while Sara English finished with 5.8 points and a team-best 5.6 rebounds per game. Helena Kurt averaged 5.5 points and 1.6 assists per game, while Mia Hopkins also contributed 4.9 points per game, shooting a team-best 35.3 percent from long range.
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The Hawks are faced with replacing a pair of starters in Chevannah Paalvast and Shira Shect, as well as transfers Kasey Chambers and India Dotson. Paalvast led the Hawks at 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while totaling more than 1,000 career points. Shecht averaged 4.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 20 starts early in the year before battling through injuries late in the year. Chambers, who transferred to Penn, started the first nine games last season and finished the year at 4.7 points and a team-best 2.1 assists per game. India Dotson moved on to the University of New Haven after seeing action in two games as a reserve.
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Lehigh and Monmouth have met seven times dating back to 1994 and Monmouth leads the all-time series 6-1. Lehigh's lone win came on Nov. 28, 2005 inside Stabler Arena as the Mountain Hawks captured a 64-45 victory. In addition to Lehigh's win, two of the last five meetings have gone into overtime, while the other two have been decided by two points or less.
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Monmouth picked up a 55-50 double-overtime win in the most recent meeting on Nov. 25, 2012. The Mountain Hawks had opportunities to win the game at the buzzer at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but were unable to convert as the Hawks scored 11 points in the final extra session for the victory. Lehigh did not surrender its lead in the first half, but over the final 30 minutes the two teams were knotted three times and the score changed five times during Monmouth's rally.
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Kinek scored nine points and collected nine rebounds in the loss. The Mountain Hawks finished the game with a 26.2 field goal percentage compared to Monmouth's 30.2 mark. Lehigh converted just four of its 27 three-point attempts while limiting the Hawks to 1-for-10 from three-point range.
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The Mountain Hawks make their home debut Monday at 7 p.m. against East Stroudsburg inside Stabler Arena. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network and tickets can be purchased at Lehightickets.com.
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Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates throughout the season.
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Players Mentioned
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