Saturday, November 15
West Long Branch, N.J.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
1-0
82
at
70
Monmouth
0-1
1
2
F
Lehigh
39
43
82
Monmouth
39
31
70
Lehigh pulls away from Monmouth for Coach Troyan’s 300th career win
11/15/2014 9:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - After leading for most of the game, the Lehigh women's basketball team pulled away late, topping Monmouth 82-70 in its season opener on Saturday evening. The win was head coach Sue Troyan's 300th career win, all coming at Lehigh. Sophomore Lexi Martins tallied her first-career double-double in the victory, posting career highs in points (15) and rebounds (10) to help the Mountain Hawks finish with a 48-37 edge on the glass. Freshman Quinci Mann scored 16 points and dished five assists in her collegiate debut.
"It's a nice round number. Certainly it means a lot for me being at one place and loving this one place," said Troyan, who's entering her 20th season at Lehigh. "I'm appreciative of our administration for keeping me here as long as I've been here. It's special to do it all at Lehigh and do it with these kids."
Thirteen of Martin's 16 points were in the first half while junior Kerry Kinek posted 12 points and seven rebounds, all but one rebound coming in the second half after getting into early foul trouble. Senior Katie O'Reilly scored 16 points as well.
Monmouth was led by Sarah Olson who knocked down six three-pointers on ten attempts.
"I thought their press was really tough," said Troyan. "That's something we'd seen from them. I thought our kids settled down and did a much better job in the second half. We made some adjustments in our press offense during halftime and I thought they did a good job of executing. I thought our kids were composed. I'm proud of how they competed. It was ugly at times, but early in the season, it's going to be ugly. There's a lot we can learn from."
Lehigh got out to an early 5-2 lead after a Mann three-pointer, then held three-point leads of 8-5, 10-7 and 12-9 after a Kiernan McCloskey fast break layup with 15:13 left in the first half. The teams traded threes until Lehigh used a 10-0 run to take a 25-17 lead. Trailing 17-15, the run began with a McCloskey layup and ended with layups from Mann and O'Reilly to force a Monmouth timeout with 9:04 left in the first half.
Monmouth clawed back to within one possession on several occasions, but the Mountain Hawks responded. An offensive rebound and put back from senior Elizabeth Sharlow gave Lehigh a 32-27 lead with 5:44 on the clock. Another Sharlow layup helped the Mountain Hawks regain a six-point, 38-32 advantage with 2:39 left in the half. However, Monmouth answered with seven of the final eight points as a Jenny Horvatinovic offensive rebound and short jumper tied the score as the first half expired.
Mann led the way with 13 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting. O'Reilly and Sharlow each added seven points while Martins had five points and seven rebounds. Lehigh shot 44 percent from the field in the first half to Monmouth's 36 percent.
Monmouth knocked down a three-pointer on the first possession of the second half, just its second (and what proved to be final) lead of the evening. The teams went back and forth over the ensuing minutes, until Martins scored four straight points followed by Kinek jumper, her first points of the season, to make it 51-48 with 15:51 on the second-half clock.
Sarah Olson responded with her fourth three of the game to even the score at 51, but layups from sophomore Kayla Burton and Sharlow layup made it 55-51 with 13:56 to play.
Monmouth pulled even at 59, but Lehigh responded with four straight and 11 of the next 13 points as a Mann three-pointer with 5:09 remaining gave the Mountain Hawks a 70-61 lead. Monmouth pulled back within five at 72-67, but that's as close as the Hawks would get. Lehigh ended the game on a 10-3 run to run away with the 82-70 victory.
Martins finished the night 7-of-13 from the field while adding three assists, a block and steal. She only turned the ball over once in 28 minutes.
"Lexi's had a great preseason and really earned the starting position," said Troyan. "I'm really proud of how she competed, how she played and how she's grown and developed as a person and player. At the end of last year, she was down and out, but really worked hard in the offseason, not only in the gym, but also in her mental focus and mental attitude. She's playing with a lot of confidence, playing really well, and being a great teammate as well."
Lehigh shot 53 percent from the field (31-of-59) and 39 percent from three-point range (5-of-13). Monmouth finished 33 percent (26-of-78) and 33 percent from long range (10-of-31).
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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Team Stats
LEHIGH
MU-W
FG%
.525
.333
3FG%
.385
.323
FT%
.625
.667
RB
48
37
TO
23
17
STL
5
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
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