Monday, March 9
West Point, N.Y.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
19-11
76
at
57
No. 2 Army
23-7
1
2
F
Lehigh
37
39
76
Army
25
32
57
Photo by: Army Athletics
Lehigh punches ticket to championship game with 76-57 semifinal victory at No. 2 Army
3/9/2015 9:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lehigh women's basketball team had four players score in double figures and used a strong defensive effort to capture a 76-57 victory in the Patriot League Semifinals at second-seeded Army Monday night. The Mountain Hawks trailed 19-17 with ten minutes left in the first half, but closed the opening term on a 20-6 run to take the lead for good. Lehigh advances to Saturday's Patriot League Championship game at top-seeded American.
Tickets for Saturday's 6 p.m. game at American will go on sale on Lehightickets.com Tuesday morning. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network with audio coverage on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley 1230 and 1320 AM.
Lehigh advances to its first Patriot League Championship game since the 2009-10 season. The Mountain Hawks handed Army just its second home loss of the season as the Black Knights end their 2015 campaign at 23-7 overall. Lehigh picked up its first win in West Point since Feb. 14, 2010.
"I'm very proud of how our team competed today," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We were focused to start the game and carried that right through to the end. They played 40 minutes of good basketball tonight and we're so excited to head to Saturday's championship game."
Senior Sarah Williams led Lehigh offensively with a career-high 17 points, while freshman Quinci Mann followed with a career high-tying 16 points. Sophomore Lexi Martins and junior Kerry Kinek both registered double-doubles as Martins finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kinek recorded 13 points and 11 boards. It marked the first time two Mountain Hawks registered double-doubles in the same game since Dec. 21, 2014. Kinek led the team with four assists.
The Black Knights were kept in the game by 33 points from junior Kelsey Minato.
Lehigh wrapped up the contest shooting 51.9 percent (28-for-54) from the field, 44.4 percent (4-for-9) from three-point range and 88.9 percent (16-for-18) from the charity stripe. The Mountain Hawks held Army to a 29.7 percent (19-for-64) mark from the field, 47.4 percent (9-for-19) clip from downtown and 76.9 percent (10-for-13) from the free throw line. Lehigh held a commanding 51-24 rebound advantage, including a 40-17 edge on the defensive glass.
Army scored the first points of the contest, but a basket from Kinek was followed by a Williams steal and fast-break layup to put four points on the board for the Mountain Hawks. The teams traded baskets and Army eventually jumped ahead 9-7 following a Jean Parker three, but buckets from Williams and Mann gave Lehigh a 11-9 lead with under 14 minutes to play in the first half.
The Mountain Hawks kept Army off the board for over four points until Minato converted a four-point play at the 12:12 mark. Junior Elizabeth Sharlow answered with a layup on Lehigh's next possession to tie the game at 13 with 11:49 to play. An O'Reilly layup gave Lehigh a 15-13 advantage, but Minato scored six of the game's next eight points to give the Black Knights a 19-17 advantage at 9:16.
A pair of Kinek free throws with 6:59 on the clock scored Lehigh's first points in nearly three minutes and sparked a 6-0 Mountain Hawk run that saw baskets from Martins and Williams to give Lehigh a 23-19 lead with 6:20 on the first-half clock. The Mountain Hawks continued their hot shooting and stout defense, holding the Black Knights to just six points from the free throw line for the remainder of the half. Lehigh used six points from Mann, four from McCloskey and Kinek and three from Martins to run its lead to 37-25 as the halftime buzzer rang.
Minato was the only Black Knight to score for the final 16:47 of the first half as the Mountain Hawk defense held Army to a 21.2 percent (7-for-33) clip from the field in the opening term. Lehigh shot 53.3 percent (16-for-30) from the field and held a 24-16 rebound advantage at the half.
A Mann three-pointer scored the first second-half points, but Army's Daizjah Morris hit a long two on the Black Knight's next possession, making her the first Army player other than Minato to score in nearly 19 minutes. Lehigh was ahead 42-27 following an O'Reilly layup, but Minato hit back-to-back threes to pull the Black Knights within nine at 42-33 and force a Lehigh timeout with just over 15 minutes to play.
Kinek drained a trey of her own to stop the Army streak, but Olivia Schretzman scored the next four points of the game before Minato drained another three to narrow the Lehigh lead to 45-40 with 11:52 on the clock. A Sharlow layup stopped the Black Knights' momentum on Lehigh's next possession before Williams followed with a fast-break layup to re-extend the Mountain Hawk advantage to nine at 49-40 less than two minutes later.
Both teams heated up over the next two minutes as the score quickly moved to 55-46 in favor of Lehigh with 7:30 left to play. Minato drained her seventh and eighth three-pointers of the game in the next minute and a half, but Mann answered with two treys of her own while McCloskey chipped in a pair of free throws to keep Lehigh ahead 62-52 with 5:30 on the clock.
Neither team scored for the next two minutes until Williams banked in a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to extend the Mountain Hawk advantage to 65-52 with 3:10 to play. The Black Knights wouldn't' go quietly, but Lehigh had an answer for each Army basket and used a 9-for-10 showing from the charity stripe in the final three minutes to capture a 76-57 win and earn a spot in Saturday's championship game.
Those interested in a possible fan bus to the Patriot League Championship game should RSVP to this Facebook event.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
ARMY
FG%
.519
.297
3FG%
.444
.474
FT%
.889
.769
RB
51
24
TO
16
4
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballLehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, November 19
Season Preview - Women's Basketball
Friday, October 31
Chasing 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
