Sunday, November 30
Fairfield, Conn.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
5-0
85
at
77
Sacred Heart
3-1
1
2
F
LEHIGH
33
52
85
Sacred Heart
41
36
77
Mountain Hawks pick up come-from-behind 85-77 victory at Sacred Heart
11/30/2014 3:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Lehigh women's basketball team erased an eight-point halftime deficit and rallied past undefeated Sacred Heart Sunday afternoon at the Pitt Center as the Mountain Hawks captured an 85-77 win. Lehigh improves to 5-0 on the season, including 4-0 away from home, while the Pioneers fall to 3-1 with the loss.
"This was a real character win for our team," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We struggled in the first half to defend dribble penetration so we made some adjustments at halftime and the girls did a really good job executing the game plan. I'm very proud of the way they came back after being down by eight at halftime against a really good team. They showed a lot of grit and toughness getting back into the game."
Lehigh scored a season-high 85 points and was led by sophomore Lexi Martins who recorded her fifth double-double in as many games with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Martins converted nine of ten attempts from the free-throw line and 16 of her points came in the second half. Senior Katie O'Reilly chipped in a career-best 18 points behind a 6-for-6 showing from the charity stripe and 5-for-8 effort from the field. Sophomore Kerry Kinek (12) and freshman Quinci Mann (11) also scored in double-figures. Kinek led the team with five assists.
The Mountain Hawks shot 95.5 percent (21-for-22) from the free-throw line, 53.8 percent (28-for-52) from the field and 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from downtown. Lehigh held Sacred Heart to 42.0 percent from the field (29-for-69), including a 29.7 percent (11-for-37) second-half clip. Lehigh held a 36-30 rebound advantage.
O'Reilly scored the first five points for Lehigh with a layup and three-pointer before a trey from Mann helped the Mountain Hawks take an 8-6 lead at the first media timeout. A layup from junior Elizabeth Sharlow sparked a 9-2 Lehigh run out of the break as the Mountain Hawks jumped ahead 15-8. Lehigh led by as much as eight at 22-14 following a pair of free throws from sophomore Kiernan McCloskey, but the Pioneers used a 10-2 run that took four minutes off the clock to tie the contest at 24.
A three-pointer from junior Amina Affini followed a jumper from senior Sarah Williams as Lehigh went ahead 29-25 with 4:52 left on the first-half clock. Tied again at 33, Sacred Heart closed the half on an 8-0 run and held Lehigh scoreless for the final 2:10 of the term as the Pioneers took a 41-33 lead into the locker room.
The Mountain Hawks shot 52.0 percent (13-for-25) from the field in the first half, but turned the ball over 11 times which led to nine Pioneer points. Sacred Heart shot a blistering 58.1 percent (18-for-31) from the floor in the opening term.
Four points from Kinek and a Mann three-pointer opened the second half for the Mountain Hawks as Lehigh narrowed the Sacred Heart lead to one at 44-43 and forced the Pioneers to call a timeout with 17:08 left on the clock. Mann followed with a layup to give Lehigh back the lead at 45-44 as the clock wound down to 15:36.
The lead exchanged hands several times over the next three minutes until the Pioneers used a 7-2 run to jump ahead 56-52 with 10:01 remaining. Lehigh stayed close, but Sacred Heart held onto the advantage until an O'Reilly three-pointer made it 64-62 with 6:55 left on the clock. A three-pointer from Hannah Kimmel tied the score at 68, but a pair of Martins free throws put Lehigh on top for good with 4:48 to play as the Mountain Hawks took a 70-68 lead.
Sacred Heart was never able to get closer than three the rest of the way as the Mountain Hawks answered every Pioneer basket and converted nine-of-ten free throw attempts down the stretch to grab the 85-77 victory.
Lehigh returns home Tuesday at 11 a.m. to host Hampton on Education Day inside Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks will welcome over 3,000 students from local elementary and middle schools and give the youngsters an opportunity to enjoy an interactive educational experience. Free video will be available via the Patriot League Network.
"Our four roads wins give the ladies a lot of confidence that they'll bring home for Tuesday's game," said Troyan. "We've got a big week ahead of us and I'm sure the team will use this momentum and capitalize on it against Hampton and Saint Joe's on Thursday."
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
SHU
FG%
.538
.420
3FG%
.533
.231
FT%
.955
.813
RB
36
30
TO
18
10
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
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
/ Women's Basketball
G
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