Tuesday, December 2
11 a.m.
Lehigh University
6-0
85
vs
67
Hampton
0-5
1
2
F
Hampton
37
30
67
Lehigh
35
50
85
Mountain Hawks explode down the stretch en route to 85-67 win over Hampton on Education Day
12/2/2014 1:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team trailed Hampton 55-52 with 11:40 to play before a three-pointer from sophomore Kayla Burton sparked a 24-3 Lehigh run that spanned nine minutes as the Mountain Hawks pulled away from the Lady Pirates, 85-67 Tuesday at Stabler Arena in front of over 4,000 local school children on Education Day. Lehigh moves to 6-0 with the victory, the best start since 1984-85, while five-time defending MEAC champ Hampton falls to 0-5 with the loss.
"I'm very proud of how the kids competed today," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I was pretty critical of them at halftime, but they came out in the second half and took care of the ball much better and showed a lot of toughness. The atmosphere was incredible today and we're so happy to be able to host kids from local schools."
Junior Kerry Kinek enjoyed a monster game with a season-best 22 points and 19 rebounds to record her third double-double of the season. Twelve of Kinek's points came from the charity stripe, just one free throw shy of tying Lehigh's single-game record. Sophomore Lexi Martins followed with 15 points, eight rebounds and a team-best five assists. Burton totaled a season-best 13 points to go along with a trio of rebounds and assists.
"Kayla was a big spark coming off the bench for us and she was the calming force that came in and steadied the offense, in addition to making some big shots," said Troyan. "Kerry was a beast on the boards and Lexi was very consistent. More so, this was definitely a team win. I thought there were a lot of strong contributions from a number of players today."
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 52 percent (26-for-50) from the field and 3-for-9 from downtown. Lehigh converted 69.8 percent (30-for-43) of its free throws, 22 of which came in the second half. The Mountain Hawks held Hampton to a 30.5 percent (25-for-82) mark from the field and 28.6 percent (8-for-28) clip from three-point range. Lehigh held a 50-35 rebound edge.
Lehigh and Hampton traded baskets in the early going as the teams stood tied at ten just over five minutes into the game. The Mountain Hawks began to distance themselves as a Burton layup and Kiernan McCloskey three-point play gave Lehigh a 15-10 advantage with 13:19 left in the first half.
The Pirates began to claw back, using a mini 6-1 run to take a 22-20 lead following a steal and layup from Malia Tate-DeFreitas. Lehigh answered with five straight points as a three-pointer from freshman Quinci Mann made it 25-22 with 8:15 on the clock. Just under three minutes later, a Mann jumper helped Lehigh regain a five-point lead at 29-24.
The Mountain Hawks' lead reached six, but Hampton responded with the next five points to pull within 32-31 with 3:36 left in the first half. A pair of McCloskey free throws gave the Mountain Hawks a 34-31 advantage, but Hampton closed the half by scoring six of the final seven points to take a 37-35 lead into the locker room.
Mann and Martins each scored seven first-half points to lead the way. Nine Mountain Hawks scored during the first half. Kinek posted five points and eight rebounds. Lehigh shot 52 percent from the field (13-of-25) in the first half, but the Mountain Hawks turned the ball over 17 times which led to 12 Hampton points.
A Kinek layup opened the second-half scoring and tied the game at 37, but Hampton answered with a 7-2 run to jump ahead 44-39. A Kinek jumper sparked a 6-0 Lehigh run that saw a layup from senior Katie O'Reilly and Burton three-pointer as the Mountain Hawks reclaimed the lead at 46-44 with 14:55 left on the clock. The score was tied three times in the next minute and a half before the Lady Pirates put together a 9-4 spurt with the help of a pair of three-pointers as Hampton took 55-52 lead.
The Mountain Hawks responded with an 11-0 run with the help of six points from Burton. The streak took 5:20 off the clock as Lehigh jumped ahead 63-55. A Jackie Marshall three-pointer ended an 0-for-7 run from the field for the Lady Pirates at the 5:57 mark, but Lehigh quickly regained control and scored the next 17 points behind a 13-for-13 showing from the free throw line to take a commanding 80-58 lead with 2:16 left on the clock.
The Lady Pirates were able to tally a few more points, but the Lehigh lead was too much as the Mountain Hawks rolled to an 85-67 victory.
The Mountain Hawks return to action Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest at in-state foe Saint Joseph's. Lehigh will then have a 16-day finals break and return to action on Dec. 20 and 21 at the Arizona State Classic. Each game can be heard on 91.3 WLVR and wlvr.org.
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Team Stats
HAMW
LEHIGH
FG%
.305
.520
3FG%
.286
.333
FT%
.750
.698
RB
35
50
TO
15
26
STL
13
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
12
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
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