Wednesday, January 28
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
14-5, 6-3PL
76
vs
61
Bucknell
13-7, 5-4PL
1
2
F
Bucknell
32
29
61
Lehigh
32
44
76
Strong second half propels Lehigh to big 76-61 win over Bucknell
1/28/2015 9:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After being tied at 32 at halftime, the Lehigh women's basketball team outscored Bucknell 44-29 in the second half to roll to a 76-61 win over the Bison Wednesday night inside Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks started the second half on a 20-8 run thanks to a 6-for-6 showing from beyond the arc and then closed the game on a 12-4 streak to pick up the victory. Lehigh improves 14-5 overall and 6-3 in the Patriot League to pull away from a pack of four teams that were tied for second place in the league. The Bison fall to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in league play.
"I thought this was one of our best second halves of the year," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We weren't particularly happy with the performance during the first half, so we challenged them at halftime and they came out really strong on both ends of the floor. Hopefully we can gain some momentum from tonight's game and continue shooting the ball well and defending well."
Sophomore Lexi Martins tallied her 13th double-double of the season with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Martins shot 9-for-14 from the field, 3-for-5 from three-point range and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Junior Kerry Kinek followed with 14 points and six boards. Freshman Quinci Mann tallied 11 points and a career-high six assists, while junior Elizabeth Sharlow contributed ten points and seven rebounds.
The Bison were kept in the game by 14 second-half points from Audrey Dotson. Claire Maree O'Bryan led Bucknell with 17 points.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 45.2 percent (28-for-62) from the field and 43.5 percent (10-for-23) from three-point range, including a 6-for-10 (60 percent) mark from downtown during the second half. Lehigh shot 83.3 percent (10-for-12) from the charity stripe. The Mountain Hawks held the Bison to a 41.7 percent (25-for-60) clip from the field and 38.5 percent (5-for-13) mark from downtown. Bucknell entered Wednesday's game with the best rebounding margin in the Patriot League (+9.5), but the Mountain Hawks were able to outrebound the Bison 42-29. Lehigh finished the game with a season-high 10 three-pointers and season-best 22 assists.
Bucknell started the game 4-for-8 to take an early 8-6 lead with 14:34 on the clock, but a Mann three-pointer and Martins conventional three-point play followed to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 12-8 just 40 seconds later. The Bison evened the score a minute later, but a three-pointer from sophomore Kayla Burton put Lehigh in front before Kinek followed with a trey of her own and the Mountain Hawks controlled an 18-14 lead with 11:23 on the clock.
O'Bryan scored the next seven points for the Bison, but Lehigh held onto a slim 23-21 lead with just under seven minutes to play. Martins tallied five of the game's next seven points to put the Mountain Hawks in front by five at 28-23 with 5:20 left on the first-half clock. The Bison answered with a 9-2 run over the next 4:32 to pull ahead 32-30, but Mann tossed in a jumper with 37 seconds on the clock to send the game into halftime tied at 32.
A Mann layup opened the second-half scoring and sparked an 8-3 Lehigh run that also saw three-pointers from Mann and Martins as Lehigh jumped ahead 40-35 with 17:40 to play. Bucknell's Dotson added a three for the Bison, but Lehigh answered with three treys of its own, one from Kinek and two from Martins, to string together a 9-0 run and put Lehigh ahead 49-38 with 14:58 to play.
Following yet another Lehigh three-pointer, this time from junior Amina Affini, Sharlow scored the next six points for the Mountain Hawks, but the Bison answered every basket as the score read 58-48 with 10:53 on the clock. Lehigh extended its lead to 14 at 64-50 thanks to six points from Kinek, but the Bison rattled off seven-straight points over the next two minutes to trim the Mountain Hawk lead to 64-57 as the clock wound down to 6:38.
A Martins offensive putback stopped the streak and ignited an 12-0 Lehigh run that took 5:05 off the clock and saw five points from Martins and four from O'Reilly as Lehigh jumped ahead 76-57 with a minute and a half to lead. The Bison scored the final four points, but it wasn't enough as Lehigh rolled to a 76-61 victory.
The Mountain Hawks return to action Saturday at Boston University. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and free video will be available on the Patriot League Network with audio coverage on 91.3 WLVR.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
LEHIGH
FG%
.417
.452
3FG%
.385
.435
FT%
.667
.833
RB
29
42
TO
6
11
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballChasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 2
Thursday, May 15
Chasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 1
Wednesday, May 14
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, March 19
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, January 29
