Wednesday, February 18
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
17-8, 9-6PL
44
vs
50
Navy
15-11, 9-6PL
1
2
F
Navy
28
22
50
Lehigh
19
25
44
Offense struggles in 50-44 loss to Navy
2/18/2015 9:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team couldn't get its offense in any sort of rhythm Wednesday night inside Stabler Arena as the Mountain Hawks shot just 25 percent from the field and dropped a 50-44 contest to Navy. Lehigh falls to 17-8 overall and 9-6 in league play, while the Mids improve to 15-11 overall and 9-6 in the Patriot League. The teams are now tied for third place in the league standings, with the Mids holding the tiebreaker by way of their season sweep.
Senior Sarah Williams led Lehigh offensively with 12 points and three assists. Sophomore Lexi Martins was held to four points, but grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. Junior Kerry Kinek tallied seven points and five rebounds.
The Mids were led by Taylor Dunham with 12 points and Justice Swett with 13 boards.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 25 percent (16-for-64) from the field, 31.3 percent (5-for-16) from three-point range and 50 percent (7-for-14) from the free throw line. Navy shot 38 percent (19-for-50) from the field, 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from downtown and 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from the charity stripe. Lehigh controlled a 50-39 rebound advantage, including a 20-7 edge on the offensive glass, but the Mountain Hawks were only able to score eight second-chance points.
A jumper from freshman Quinci Mann scored the first points of the game and Lehigh eventually took a 5-4 lead following a Williams three-pointer. The Mids scored the next five points to pull ahead 9-5, but Lehigh pulled back to tie the game at 11 with the help of five points from Williams as the first-half clock wound down to 12:34.
With the score knotted at 13 a minute later, the Mids erupted on a 7-0 run that took 2:28 off the clock and put Navy ahead 20-13. A pair of Martins layups narrowed the Navy lead to 21-17 at 5:38, but the Mids closed the final five minutes of the half with a 7-2 streak to carry a 28-19 lead into the locker room.
Both teams were held scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half until a three-pointer from Navy's Hannah Fenske extended the Mids' lead. Senior Katie O'Reilly scored the next three points of the game, but a 7-3 Navy run followed as the Mids controlled a 38-25 lead with 9:29 to play.
Lehigh still trailed by 13 four minutes later, 41-28, but a three-pointer from junior Elizabeth Jordan ignited a 7-2 run to pull the Mountain Hawks within eight at 43-35. Lehigh shot 3-for-3 from the field during the streak with baskets from Kinek and O'Reilly as the clock wound down 3:19.
A Dunham three-pointer put the Mids back up by ten at 47-37 with 1:34 to play, but Lehigh responded with a layup from Williams before junior Amina Affini snatched a steal and drained a three-pointer to put the Mountain Hawks within five at 47-42 with 1:14 to play. Lehigh was forced to send the Mids to the free throw line where Navy converted 3-of-5 attempts down the stretch. Kinek tossed in a last-second layup, but it wasn't enough as Navy walked away with the 50-44 victory.
The Mountain Hawks head to archrival Lafayette Saturday at 2 p.m. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
NAVY
LEHIGH
FG%
.380
.250
3FG%
.273
.313
FT%
.429
.500
RB
39
50
TO
13
14
STL
8
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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