Saturday, February 7
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
16-6, 8-4PL
75
vs
61
Loyola
6-17, 4-8PL
1
2
F
Loyola Maryland
24
37
61
Lehigh
40
35
75
Lehigh picks up wire-to-wire win over Loyola, 75-61
2/7/2015 4:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team got out to a quick start and was able to hold off several Loyola rallies to pick up a 75-61 victory over the Greyhounds Saturday afternoon inside Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks led from start to finish en route to the victory as Lehigh improves to 16-6 overall and 8-4 in Patriot League play, while Loyola falls to 6-17 overall and 4-8 in the Patriot League.
"I thought our first half was one of the better defensive halves we've played all year," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We played with a high level of intensity and really executed the game plan. Our defensive presence set the tone and we did a pretty good job executing high-percentage shots offensively."
Sophomore Lexi Martins recorded her 15th double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points and ten rebounds. Senior Katie O'Reilly put together a strong game with 16 points, a career-high eight steals, six rebounds and three assists. Junior Kerry Kinek chipped in ten points and five rebounds, while sophomore Kayla Burton followed with seven points and three assists.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 52.7 percent (29-for-55) from the field, 28.6 percent (2-for-7) from three-point range and 68.2 percent (15-for-22) from the charity stripe. Lehigh held Loyola to a 32.8 percent (22-for-67) clip from the field and 22.7 percent (5-for-22) mark from downtown. The Mountain Hawks held a 42-33 rebound advantage and scored 44 of their 75 points in the paint.
The Mountain Hawks got out to a quick 6-0 lead thanks to baskets from O'Reilly, junior Elizabeth Sharlow and freshman Quinci Mann. Lehigh kept Loyola off the board until the 16:42 mark and surged ahead 12-4 four minutes later following a Martins layup. After a Loyola jumper, the Mountain Hawks used five points from Burton and a three-pointer from junior Amina Affini to string together an 8-2 run and take a commanding 20-8 lead with 10:22 left in the half.
Lehigh extended its advantage to 24-10 before Loyola used a 9-2 run over the next 3:42 to cut the Mountain Hawk lead to single-digits at 26-19 with 5:15 on the clock. An O'Reilly conventional three-point play followed that sparked a 12-0 Mountain Hawk streak to extend Lehigh's lead to 38-19 with 2:37 left on the first-half clock. Lehigh went 4-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line during the streak. Loyola scored five of the half's final seven points, but Lehigh controlled a commanding 40-24 lead heading into the locker room.
The Mountain Hawks wrapped up the first half shooting 53.3 percent (16-for-30) from the field and held Loyola to just 27.3 percent (9-for-33).
Loyola put together a 9-5 run in the first 4:32 of the second half to pull within 12 at 45-33 at the first media timeout. Following an O'Reilly conventional three-point play, the Greyhounds drained back-to-back three pointers to cut Lehigh's lead to single digits at 48-39 with 14:25 to play. A Martins offensive putback followed and sparked a 9-2 Lehigh streak in which the Mountain Hawks forced three Greyhound turnovers and the clock wound down to 11:07 with Lehigh ahead 57-41.
Loyola returned the favor and forced three Lehigh turnovers within the next 2:51 as Loyola scored the next seven points to pull within nine once again at 57-48 with 8:16 left on the clock. After each team scored a basket, the Mountain Hawks erupted on a 12-0 run that saw six points from Martins and layups from three other Mountain Hawks as Lehigh took its largest lead yet, 71-50, with 4:09 to play.
Loyola closed the game on an 11-4 run, but it was too little, too late as the Mountain Hawks walked away with the 75-61 win.
The Mountain Hawks hit the road Wednesday to face first-place American at 7 p.m. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network with audio coverage available on 91.3 WLVR.
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Team Stats
LOYOLA
LEHIGH
FG%
.328
.527
3FG%
.227
.286
FT%
.857
.682
RB
33
42
TO
17
23
STL
13
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
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