Wednesday, January 13
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
9-7, 2-3PL
77
at
80
Bucknell
11-5, 5-0PL
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Lehigh
23
19
17
11
7
77
Bucknell
11
14
21
24
10
80
Lehigh drops 80-77 overtime heartbreaker at first-place Bucknell
1/13/2016 9:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team wasn't able to hold onto its lead Wednesday night as unbeaten Bucknell rallied to force overtime before Kyi English drained a game-winning three-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play to propel the Bison to an 80-77 overtime victory in Sojka Pavillion. Lehigh falls to 9-7 overall and 2-3 in league play with the loss, while the Bison move to a perfect 5-0 in the Patriot League and 11-5 overall.
"It was a frustrating game because I thought this was one of our best offensive games in the last month," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We struggled down the stretch to execute and inbound the ball. We couldn't put it away, but from a growing standpoint we can definitely take a lot of learning points away from this game."
Sophomore Quinci Mann led Lehigh with 18 points behind a 7-for-13 showing from the field. Senior Amina Affini followed with 14 points. Junior Lexi Martins tallied her 13th double-double of the season with 11 points, all of which came from the free throw line, and 15 rebounds. Sophomore Bernadette Devaney scored a career-high 11 points thanks to three treys.
Bucknell was led by Claire DeBoer with 23 points and Jacquie Klotz with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 40.0 percent (24-for-60) from the field, 43.5 percent (10-for-23) from three-point range and 82.6 percent (19-for-23) from the free throw line. Bucknell went 42.9 percent (29-for-69) from the floor, 31.6 percent (6-for-19) from downtown and 80 percent (8-for-10) from the charity stripe. The Bison finished the game with a 41-38 rebound advantage.
A layup from Affini put the first two points of the game on the board for the Mountain Hawks, but Bucknell scored six of the next eight to jump ahead 6-4 early on. An Affini trey then sparked a 6-0 Mountain Hawk run that saw four points from Mann to give Lehigh a 10-6 lead. A pair of DeBoer layups would be Bucknell's only baskets in the next three minutes as Lehigh closed the term on 13-5 run thanks to four points from junior Kayla Burton and a 6-for-6 showing from the free throw line that gave Lehigh a 23-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
A Martins free throw opened the second term, but the Bison scored nine of the next 13 points to trim Lehigh's lead to eight at 28-20 with just over four minutes to play. A Mann three-pointer was followed by a trey from senior Kerry Kinek and back-to-back threes from Devaney as Lehigh strung together a 12-3 run over the next two minutes to extend its lead to 40-23 with just over two minutes left on the second-quarter clock. The teams traded layups in the final 15 seconds, but Lehigh held onto its 17-point lead at 42-25 as the first-half buzzer rang.
The Mountain Hawks finished the first half shooting 43.8 percent (14-for-32) from the field, 46.2 percent (6-for-13) from three-point range and 88.9 percent (8-for-9) from the free-throw line. Lehigh held a commanding 22-12 rebound advantage in the opening half.
Bucknell opened the second half on a 14-6 run to pull within single digits at 48-39 with 5:00 left on the third-quarter clock. The Bison got as close as seven following a DeBoer layup that put the score at 50-43 at the 3:10 mark, but Lehigh wouldn't let the Bison score another field goal for the rest of the quarter. A Devaney three-pointer was followed by a Mann trey and three made free throws from Martins and sophomore Mae Williams to re-extend Lehigh's lead to 59-46 heading into the final quarter.
The Bison worked their way back within single-digits early on in the fourth term thanks to a 9-4 run that brought the score to 63-55 with just under seven minutes to play. Affini answered with back-to-back layups to put the Mountain Hawks back up by 12 at 67-55 a minute later. The Mountain Hawks held onto their double-digit lead at 69-57 with 4:26 on the clock, but Bucknell tossed in three-straight layups to pull within six at 69-63 with 3:17 left to play.
The Lehigh defense forced Bucknell to go 0-for-4 in its next few attempts as the clock wound down to 1:33 and the score remained at 69-63. Following a Lehigh turnover, Kyi English tossed in a layup on Bucknell's next possession to cut the Lehigh lead down to four at 69-65 with 49 seconds on the clock. The Bison missed their next attempt before freshman Hailey Pascoe made one of two free throw attempts to put the score at 70-65 with 31 seconds left in regulation. Kaitlyn Slagus then took over for the Bison, tossing in a layup with 16 seconds left to pull the Bison within three at 70-67. A Lehigh turnover was then followed by Slagus draining a last-second three-pointer that sent the game to overtime tied at 70-70.
The Bison scored the first four points of the extra frame to jump ahead 74-70 before Mann drained a three-pointer to pull the Mountain Hawks within one with three minutes on the clock. Affini followed with a layup a minute later to put Lehigh back in front, 75-74. A DeBoer three-pointer put the Bison right back in front 77-75 before a pair of Martins free throws knotted the score at 77-77 with 47 seconds left to play. Bucknell missed a three, but an offensive rebound gave the Bison the ball back and English drained the game-winning three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left. Lehigh had one last chance, but a long three fell short as the Bison rallied to remain undefeated in league play with an 80-77 overtime victory.
The Mountain Hawks return home to Stabler Arena Sunday to host Holy Cross at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live nationally by American Sports Network and free video will also be available on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
BUCKNELL
FG%
.400
.429
3FG%
.435
.316
FT%
.826
.800
RB
38
41
TO
15
12
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
0
3FGM
0
FTM
11
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
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