Lehigh Ready for Saturday Night Matchup with Sacred Heart

Saturday, November 19

Stabler Arena

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

Sacred Heart

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Lehigh Ready for Saturday Night Matchup with Sacred Heart

11/18/2016 5:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Lehigh will play at home for the third time in four games on Saturday night as they welcome Sacred Heart to Stabler Arena for a non-league matchup. Lehigh is coming off a 91-80 win over Delaware State on Wednesday in front of an announced crowd of 4,410 on Education Day. The game marked the first time in three years that Lehigh scored 90-plus points in regulation.

The Mountain Hawks have been out-rebounded in their last two games by a margin of 111-74, but have moved into the Patriot League lead with 72.7 points per game.

Four Mountain Hawks scored in double figures against Delaware State with junior Quinci Mann leading the way with 21. Freshman Gena Grundhoffer collected 17 points, sophomore Hailey Pascoe had a career-high 14 points off the bench and freshman Cameryn Benz added 11 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Hannah Hedstrom dished out nine assists to go along with a team-high three steals.

Delaware State held the lead for much of the second and third quarters before Lehigh retook the lead in the final seconds of the third quarter and pulled away in the final 10 minutes to secure the win.

ALL-TIME VS. SACRED HEART
The Mountain Hawks and Pioneers will meet up for the 10th time in program history dating back to their first matchup on January 9, 1999, which the Mountain Hawks won by a score of 76-73.

Sacred Heart has won two of the last three matchups between the two programs, with Lehigh prevailing 85-77 in the most recent contest in 2014. Quinci Mann had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting for Lehigh, while Kiernan McCloskey tallied four points and three rebounds to lead Lehigh's returners from the 2014 matchup. Lexi Martins led Lehigh with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Katie O'Reilly chipped in 18 points.

Departed senior Alissa Tarsi led Sacred Heart with 18 points, while current senior Hannah Kimmel scored 13 points and Adaysha Williams added 12 points and three assists.

Lehigh is 2-2 against the Pioneers all-time at Stabler Arena, and the home team has prevailed in five of the previous nine matchups in the series.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart enters Saturday's game with a 1-1 record, coming off an 80-66 setback against Brown. The team opened the season on Nov. 11 with a 56-44 win at crosstown rival Fairfield.

The Pioneers were picked as the preseason favorite in the Northeast Conference, with redshirt senior Hannah Kimmel being named to the preseason all-league team. Sacred Heart finished last season with a 20-13 overall record, and made an appearance in the WNIT after losing in the NEC Championship game to Robert Morris. The team features a veteran starting five consisting of a sophomore, three seniors and one grad student.

Kimmel returns as the reigning conference player of the year and a two-time first team All-NEC pick, after leading the Pioneers with 16.4 ppg and was second on the team with 7.6 rebounds per game. Through the first two games of this season, sophomore Katherine Haines leads the team with 13.2 ppg and ranks second with 6.5 rebounds per contest. Kimmel has a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game to go along with 10.5 points, including a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Brown.

Adaysha Williams is also averaging double figures in points through the first two games (10.5 ppg) and has a team-high six assists.

Haines led all scorers with 18 points and added six rebounds in the Pioneers season-opening win on Nov. 11 vs. Fairfield at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn. Williams registered nine points and three steals, while Hickey collected six points and six rebounds.

In Monday night's loss against Brown, Haines picked up eight points and seven rebounds to go with Kimmel's double-double. Through their first two games, Sacred Heart is shooting just under 38 percent from the field (42-111), and exactly 27 percent from three-point range (10-for-37).

LEHIGH NOTES
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Lehigh is currently in the midst of playing seven of its 11 non-league games at home this season, the highest percentage (63.6) of non-league home games in at least the last 20 seasons. The Mountain Hawks are currently 2-0 at Stabler Arena after finishing last season 10-6 on their home floor.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Lehigh enters Saturday's matchup holding a 40-18 all-time record against current Northeast Conference teams. Lehigh is perfect against both Robert Morris (4-0) and Bryant (2-0), and is only below .500 against Central Conn. State (1-2), with the last matchup between the two taking place during the 1990-91 season.

GRUNDHOFFER AT THE LINE
Freshman Gena Grundhoffer has the fourth-most made free throws in the nation without a miss this season (12-for-12). She is one of four players in the Patriot League and one of 71 in the nation to hold a perfect free throw percentage of 100.0 percent so far this season.

LEADING THE LEAGUE
- Quinci Mann entered Friday, Nov. 18 as the leading scorer in the Patriot League with 21.7 ppg through the first three games of the season.
- After a nine-assist performance against Delaware State, freshman Hannah Hedstrom ranks second in the league with 4.3 assist per game.
- Freshman Gena Grundhoffer is also one of four players perfect from the free throw line this season, with Grundhoffer tied for third overall with 12 makes.

THE ART OF GIVING
Hedstrom dished out nine assists in Wednesday morning's win over Delaware State, marking the most assists for a Lehigh player in a game since Sarah Williams' eight assists against Bucknell on January 29, 2014.

REBOUNDING FROM LOSING REBOUNDERS
The Mountain Hawks are getting out-rebounded by an average of 48.3-41.3 through their first three contests this season. Lehigh has a completely new look to its front court this year with the graduation of Kerry Kinek and Lexi Martins, the second and third leading career rebounders in program history. Martins, who graduated a year early and transferred to George Washington, ranked third in the nation last year with 13.6 rebounds per game. Departed seniors Elizabeth Sharlow (4.3 rpg) and Amina Affini (2.7 rpg) rounded out the team's top four rebounders from 2015-16. Overall, the Mountain Hawks lost over 83 percent of their rebounds and 91 percent of their blocks from last season.

PRESEASON HONORS
The Mountain Hawks were predicted to finish second in the Patriot League when the league's preseason poll was announced in October. Lehigh was one of five schools to receive a first place vote in the poll. Junior guard Quinci Mann was named to the five-person Preseason All-Patriot League team. Mann is coming off a breakout sophomore campaign where she averaged 13.3 points per game and shot a team-best 43.3 percent from beyond the arch, which ranked fourth in the Patriot League.

FLASHY UPGRADES TO STABLER ARENA
Lehigh's Stabler Arena received upgrades this past offseason that will enhance fan experience during the upcoming basketball season. The arena had both of its scoreboards replaced with state-of-the-art Daktronics video boards that will display live video, in-game stats Lehigh featured content. In addition, two brand new auxiliary scoreboards have been installed in opposite corners of the venue, along with a new LED scorers table to supplement the video boards. The new look is completed by new baskets/shot clocks.

Following Saturday's game, Lehigh will head out on the road for a matchup at Mount Saint Mary's on Tuesday night.