Sunday, January 25
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
13-5, 5-3PL
65
vs
60
Lafayette
10-9, 3-5PL
1
2
F
Lafayette
25
35
60
Lehigh
28
37
65
Mountain Hawks hold on for 65-60 win over rival Lafayette
1/25/2015 3:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team used a 19-9 run during the middle of the second half and held off a late Leopard rally to secure a 65-60 victory over rival Lafayette Sunday afternoon inside Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks picked up their ninth-straight home victory over Lafayette with the win and even the all-time series between the two squads at 43-43. Lehigh improves to 13-5 overall and 5-3 in the Patriot League while the Leopards fall to 10-9 overall and 3-5 in Patriot League play.
"This was a very important win for us," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We were coming off a tough loss at Navy Wednesday where we didn't play very well and we wanted to protect our home court. I thought our kids did a nice job staying composed down the stretch to get the win."
Freshman Quinci Mann led Lehigh with 15 points, all of which came in the second half. Senior Sarah Williams and junior Elizabeth Sharlow each tallied 11 points, while sophomore Lexi Martins finished with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Williams finished with a team-best five assists.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 33.9 percent (20-for-59) from the field, 13.3 percent (2-for-15) from three-point range and 65.7 percent (23-for-35) from the charity stripe. Lehigh held Lafayette to a 27.9 (19-for-68) field goal percentage and 30.4 percent (7-for-23) showing from downtown. The Mountain Hawks held a 53-44 rebound edge.
Lafayette quickly jumped out to a 7-2 lead less than two minutes into the game, but Lehigh fought back to tie the score at eight with 15:44 to play with the help of four points from senior Katie O'Reilly and a basket from junior Kerry Kinek. The Mountain Hawks took their first lead of the game at 16-14 following a three-pointer from sophomore Kayla Burton and a Sharlow layup, but Lafayette quickly knotted the score at 16.
The score was knotted again at 22 with 5:09 left in the first half, before Williams scored five straight points over the next 4:22 and sophomore Kiernan McCloskey added a free throw to put Lehigh up 28-22 with 43 seconds left on the first-half clock. Lafayette's Jamie O'Hare drained a three-pointer on the Leopards' next possession to pull Lafayette within three at 28-25 as the game headed into halftime.
The Mountain Hawks finished the first half shooting 30.3 percent (10-for-33) compared to Lafayette's 26.7 (8-for-30) percentage. Lehigh was just 1-for-12 (8.3 percent) from downtown during the first half.
A layup from Emily Homan pulled the Leopards within one to start the second half, but Williams answered with a pair of jumpers to put the Mountain Hawks up 32-27 with 17:03 to play. Lehigh held onto a slim 34-32 lead a minute later after another O'Hare three-pointer, but four points from Martins and a jumper from Mann helped Lehigh string together a 6-0 run over the next 1:12 to give the Mountain Haws a 40-32 lead with 15 minutes left to play.
The Leopards tallied the next three points on a 3-for-4 showing from the charity stripe, but Lehigh erupted on a 13-6 run over the next 6:47 to pull ahead 53-41. The streak saw seven points from Mann in addition to baskets from four other Mountain Hawks as Lehigh shot 5-for-10 from the floor and forced five Leopard turnovers during the run to take Lehigh's largest lead yet.
Lafayette responded with nine unanswered points over the next 2:13 to pull within three at 55-52 with 3:22 to play. A pair of Sharlow free throws stopped the streak and was the front end of a 4-1 Mountain Hawk run to put Lehigh ahead 59-53 with 2:09 to play. The Leopards were never able to get closer than four the rest of the way as Lehigh went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to secure a 65-60 victory.
The Mountain Hawks remain home Wednesday to host Bucknell at 7 p.m. inside Stabler Arena.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates throughout the season.
"This was a very important win for us," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We were coming off a tough loss at Navy Wednesday where we didn't play very well and we wanted to protect our home court. I thought our kids did a nice job staying composed down the stretch to get the win."
Freshman Quinci Mann led Lehigh with 15 points, all of which came in the second half. Senior Sarah Williams and junior Elizabeth Sharlow each tallied 11 points, while sophomore Lexi Martins finished with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Williams finished with a team-best five assists.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 33.9 percent (20-for-59) from the field, 13.3 percent (2-for-15) from three-point range and 65.7 percent (23-for-35) from the charity stripe. Lehigh held Lafayette to a 27.9 (19-for-68) field goal percentage and 30.4 percent (7-for-23) showing from downtown. The Mountain Hawks held a 53-44 rebound edge.
Lafayette quickly jumped out to a 7-2 lead less than two minutes into the game, but Lehigh fought back to tie the score at eight with 15:44 to play with the help of four points from senior Katie O'Reilly and a basket from junior Kerry Kinek. The Mountain Hawks took their first lead of the game at 16-14 following a three-pointer from sophomore Kayla Burton and a Sharlow layup, but Lafayette quickly knotted the score at 16.
The score was knotted again at 22 with 5:09 left in the first half, before Williams scored five straight points over the next 4:22 and sophomore Kiernan McCloskey added a free throw to put Lehigh up 28-22 with 43 seconds left on the first-half clock. Lafayette's Jamie O'Hare drained a three-pointer on the Leopards' next possession to pull Lafayette within three at 28-25 as the game headed into halftime.
The Mountain Hawks finished the first half shooting 30.3 percent (10-for-33) compared to Lafayette's 26.7 (8-for-30) percentage. Lehigh was just 1-for-12 (8.3 percent) from downtown during the first half.
A layup from Emily Homan pulled the Leopards within one to start the second half, but Williams answered with a pair of jumpers to put the Mountain Hawks up 32-27 with 17:03 to play. Lehigh held onto a slim 34-32 lead a minute later after another O'Hare three-pointer, but four points from Martins and a jumper from Mann helped Lehigh string together a 6-0 run over the next 1:12 to give the Mountain Haws a 40-32 lead with 15 minutes left to play.
The Leopards tallied the next three points on a 3-for-4 showing from the charity stripe, but Lehigh erupted on a 13-6 run over the next 6:47 to pull ahead 53-41. The streak saw seven points from Mann in addition to baskets from four other Mountain Hawks as Lehigh shot 5-for-10 from the floor and forced five Leopard turnovers during the run to take Lehigh's largest lead yet.
Lafayette responded with nine unanswered points over the next 2:13 to pull within three at 55-52 with 3:22 to play. A pair of Sharlow free throws stopped the streak and was the front end of a 4-1 Mountain Hawk run to put Lehigh ahead 59-53 with 2:09 to play. The Leopards were never able to get closer than four the rest of the way as Lehigh went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to secure a 65-60 victory.
The Mountain Hawks remain home Wednesday to host Bucknell at 7 p.m. inside Stabler Arena.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
LAFAYETT
LEHIGH
FG%
.279
.339
3FG%
.304
.133
FT%
.682
.657
RB
44
53
TO
15
17
STL
10
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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