Lehigh ends regular season with 63-61 loss at Colgate

Saturday, March 1

Hamilton, N.Y.

4:00:00 PM

Lehigh University

12-17 (5-13PL)

Colgate

8-21 (4-14PL)

Lehigh

Colgate

Lehigh ends regular season with 63-61 loss at Colgate

3/1/2014 6:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lehigh women's basketball team erased an 11-point halftime deficit, but couldn't close out the game as Colgate claimed a close 63-61 battle Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court. The win gave Colgate its fourth league victory, while the Mountain Hawks fall to 12-17 overall and 5-13 in league play. The Raiders and Mountain Hawks will matchup once again on Tuesday in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament at Stabler Arena.

"We dug ourselves into a hole in the first half," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We played better in the second half, but just couldn't close out the game. We can learn a lot from this game heading into the tournament, especially since we'll be facing the same team."

Sophomore Kerry Kinek led the Mountain Hawks with her second-straight double-double, and third in the last four games, with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Katie O'Reilly followed with nine points, while freshman Kiernan McCloskey grabbed nine rebounds.

Colgate's Mariah Jones led all scorers with 25 points, while Carole Harris pulled down 11 rebounds.

Lehigh finished the game shooting 37.7 percent (23-for-61) from the field, highlighted by a 51.9 percent (14-for-27) clip in the second half. The Mountain Hawks shot 11-for-15 from the charity stripe and 4-for-9 from downtown. Colgate shot 30.3 percent (23-for-76) from the field and 83.3 percent (10-for-12) from the free throw line. Lehigh held a 51-43 rebound advantage, but turned the ball over 19 times compared to Colgate's nine.

Both teams started cold from the field, as the score was tied 3-3 with 16:44 on the clock. Lehigh took a 9-7 lead on back-to-back jumpers from senior Alexandra Yantzi and junior Sarah Williams, but two minutes later the game was knotted at 13. Following a Williams three-pointer, the Mountain Hawks took a 16-15 lead and held onto the lead until a Kinek jumper made it 25-24 with 6:13 on the clock.

A pair of free throws from Colgate's Missy Repoli gave the lead back to the Raiders and sparked a 13-1 Colgate run that ended the half. The Mountain Hawks turned the ball over seven times in the five-minute stretch as Colgate was able to ride a 37-26 lead into the locker room.

A Kinek three-pointer started the second-half scoring, but Colgate answered right back with a trey of its own. Lehigh strung together an 8-2 run thanks to four points apiece Kinek and O'Reilly to cut Colgate's lead to five at 42-37 with 15:11 on the clock.

Still down by five with 11 minutes left in the game, a three-pointer from freshman Kayla Burton followed by a Kinek jumper knotted the score at 44 with 9:24 to play. Just over a minute later, a jumper from Burton gave Lehigh a 48-46 lead, Lehigh's first advantage since the 6:13 mark of the first half. Colgate strung together five unanswered points to reclaim the lead, 51-48, with 6:38 on the clock.

Five straight points from Jones extended Colgate's lead to 56-50 with 4:57 on the clock, but Lehigh answered with a layup from McCloskey and a three-pointer from sophomore Amina Affini to pull back within one at 56-55 with 4:24 to play. A Kinek jumper followed to give Lehigh a one-point lead with under two minutes remaining.

Jones answered right back with a layup to give the Raiders back the lead, but a Kinek jumper put the score at 59-58 in favor of Lehigh with 1:12 left on the clock. It would be Lehigh's final lead of the contest as Colgate's Lauryn Kobiela hit a jumper with 24 seconds remaining. Lehigh had no choice but to foul and the Raiders converted three-of-four chances from the charity stripe to claim the win.

The Mountain Hawks will host Colgate in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Stabler Arena. Tickets can be purchased at Lehightickets.com and the game will be broadcast live on Service Electric 2 Sports in the Lehigh Valley and for free online via the Patriot League Network.

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