Saturday, February 13
Worcester, Mass.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
15-9, 8-5PL
71
at
77
Holy Cross
11-13, 8-5PL
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Lehigh
19
17
11
20
4
71
Holy Cross
13
14
24
16
10
77
Lehigh falls 77-71 in back-and-forth overtime battle at Holy Cross
2/13/2016 4:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lehigh women's basketball team erased an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to take a late lead, but Holy Cross' Lisa Mifsud hit a game-tying three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime before the Crusaders outscored the Mountain Hawks 10-4 in the extra period to capture a 77-71 win Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center. Lehigh falls to 15-9 overall and 8-5 in league action with the loss, while Holy Cross improves to 11-3 overall and 8-5 in league play.
"Holy Cross made the clutch shot when they needed to and we didn't," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I was happy with the effort today and I thought the team came out with good energy. We didn't make the big shot when we needed to and that was the difference in the game.'
Junior Lexi Martins led Lehigh with her 18th double-double of the season behind 19 points and 15 rebounds. Sophomore Quinci Mann followed with 15 points, while classmate Bernadette Devaney chipped in nine. Senior Kerry Kinek pulled down ten rebounds.
Mifsud led Holy Cross with 21 points, while Infiniti Thomas-Waheed followed with 17.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 33.8 percent (23-for-68) from the field, highlighted by a 42.9 (12-for-28) first-half percentage. Lehigh was 37.9 percent (11-for-29) from three-point range and a perfect 14-for-14 from the charity stripe. Holy Cross shot 44.4 percent (28-for-63) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-for-19) from downtown and 72.2 percent (13-for-18) from the free throw line. The Mountain Hawks held a 46-35 rebound edge, but the Crusaders scored 21 points off 18 Lehigh turnovers.
The Crusaders scored four of the game's first six points, but a conventional three-point from Martins was followed by a three-pointer from freshman Hailey Pascoe as Lehigh jumped ahead 8-4 less than three minutes into the first quarter. The Crusaders tied the game two minutes later, but a Martins layup, four points from senior Elizabeth Sharlow and a Kinek layup put the Mountain Hawks back in front 16-8 with 2:13 on the clock. The Mountain Hawks held Holy Cross scoreless for more than four minutes until a Crusaders layup at the 1:49 mark broke Lehigh's 8-0 run. The teams traded three-pointers in the closing seconds as Lehigh was able to carry a 19-13 lead into the second quarter.
The Mountain Hawks spent the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter on a 6-1 run thanks to baskets from Martins, Mann and Kinek as Lehigh extended its lead to 25-14. A Mifsud trey snapped the Lehigh streak at 6:03 and kicked off a 13-6 Holy Cross run that pulled the Crusaders within 31-27 with 1:14 left on the first-half clock. A Sharlow three-pointer halted the Holy Cross run and was followed by a pair of Martins free throws as Lehigh was able to take a 36-27 lead heading into halftime.
The Crusaders opened the second half on a 16-6 run to tie the game at 42 with 3:47 left in the third quarter. A big three-pointer from Devaney put the Mountain Hawks in front 45-42, but Holy Cross scored eight points in the next minute to pull ahead 50-45 with 2:30 remaining in the period. Mann added a jumper before a Holy Cross free throw ended the quarter and the Mountain Hawks found themselves down 51-47 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Holy Cross scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to stretch its lead to 58-47 with 7:21 left in the game. A Martins offensive put-back stopped the Crusader streak at 7:04 and ignited a 7-2 run over the next two minutes that saw a Pascoe three and another Martins basket as the Mountain Hawks were within 60-54 with just under five minutes to play. Senior Amina Affini scored five points over the next two minutes before Devaney hit a huge three-pointer that tied the game at 62 with 2:39 on the clock.
Neither team could convert on their next few possessions before Mifsud drew a foul and converted a pair of free throw attempts to put the score at 64-62 with. Mann drained a three-pointer on Lehigh's next possession to give Lehigh a 65-64 lead before Holy Cross missed its next shot and fouled Martins who converted two chances to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 67-64 with 19 seconds left. The Crusaders missed their next shot, but got the offensive board and kicked the ball out to Mifsud who drained an off-balance three to tie the score at 67 with 1.8 seconds remaining and send the contest to overtime.
Thomas-Waheed scored the first basket of the extra period with 3:30 on the clock, but Martins answered with a layup on Lehigh's next possession to put the score at 69-69. A Mifsud free throw was followed by a Katie Dhoerty three-pointer that put the Crusaders up 73-69 with 1:42 to play. Martins was sent to the line for two with 30.6 seconds to play where she converted both attempts to put the score at 73-71. Lehigh was forced to foul down the stretch as the Crusaders converted six of eight attempts to capture the 77-71 victory.
The Mountain Hawks return home Wednesday to take on Navy at 7 p.m. inside Stabler Arena. Tickets are available at Lehightickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
HC
FG%
.338
.444
3FG%
.379
.421
FT%
1.000
.722
RB
46
35
TO
18
11
STL
5
11
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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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