Wednesday, February 24
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
17-10, 10-6PL
83
vs
74
Colgate
4-22, 2-14PL
1
2
3
4
F
Colgate
18
23
17
16
74
Lehigh
17
26
24
16
83
Mountain Hawks earn hard-fought 83-74 win over Colgate
2/24/2016 9:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team used a 17-3 run in the third quarter to pull away from Colgate and keep the lead for good as the Mountain Hawks earned an 83-74 win over the visiting Raiders Wednesday night in Stabler Arena. Lehigh moves to 17-10 overall and 10-6 in league play with the win, marking the most league wins since the 2010-11 season. Colgate falls to 2-14 in the Patriot League and 4-22 overall with the loss.
"This was an important win for us," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought we played really well offensively today and did a much better job defensively in the second half. We always know that Colgate is a team that is going to fight for 40 minutes, so I was happy with the way our kids responded to that and kept the energy up."
Four Mountain Hawks scored in double-figures for the first time since Jan. 13 as junior Lexi Martins led the team with her 21st double-double of the season. Martins finished the game with 19 points and 14 rebounds thanks to a 6-for-8 showing from the field and 7-for-10 effort from the free throw line. Sophomore Quinci Mann also contributed 19 points, while classmate Bernadette Devaney added a career-high 12 points. Senior Elizabeth Sharlow tallied 10 points and six rebounds. Senior Kerry Kinek added nine points, while sophomore Taylor Campbell posted a career-high eight in Lehigh's balanced scoring attack.
Colgate was led by Ariel Etheridge with 21 points and Katie Curtis with 17 points.
Lehigh finished the game shooting 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the field, 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from three-point range and 82.4 percent (28-for-34) from the free throw line. Lehigh held the Raiders to 38.0 percent (27-for-71) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from downtown and 82.4 percent (14-for-17) from the charity stripe. The Mountain Hawks held a 41-38 rebound advantage.
Martins scored the first four points of the game as the Mountain Hawks kept Colgate off the board until the 7:09 mark, but the Raiders eventually tied the game at 8-8 two minutes later. Colgate jumped in front 11-10 following a Josie Stockill conventional three-point play, but a three-pointer from Devaney and a Kinek layup put the Mountain Hawks up 15-11 with 2:34 left in the opening quarter. The Raiders countered with a 7-2 run to close the quarter and take an 18-17 lead.
A Kateri Stone three-pointer opened the second quarter to extend the Colgate advantage to 21-17, but a pair of Kinek free throws were followed by four points from Martins and a Campbell three-pointer as the Mountain Hawks strung together a 9-2 run to take a 26-23 lead with 7:04 on the clock. The Raiders had an answer for the next few Lehigh baskets as Colgate was within one at 30-29 before Campbell drained another trey that ignited an 8-2 run to extend Lehigh's lead to 38-31 with 4:18 to play. The Raiders spent the last four minutes of the half on a 10-5 run to trim the Mountain Hawk advantage to 43-41 heading into halftime.
The Raiders drained a three on the first possession of the second half to immediately jump back in front. The lead changed hands three times over the minute and a half until five unanswered points from Martins sparked a 17-3 run over the next 5:39 to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 63-51 and force a Colgate timeout with 2:23 left on the third-quarter clock. Lehigh went 5-for-8 from the field and scored six points from the free throw line while forcing five Colgate turnovers during the streak. The Raiders bounced back by scoring seven of the final nine points of the quarter as the game headed into the last ten minutes of play with Lehigh in front 65-58.
A Mann jumper opened the fourth term, but Colgate's Etheridge scored five unanswered points to quickly pull the Raiders within 67-63 with 8:45 to play. The Mountain Hawks answered with a lengthy 9-2 run thanks to seven made free throws as nearly five minutes ticked off the clock and Lehigh found itself in front 76-65 with 3:47 to play. Colgate once again put together a rally, this time answering with seven straight points to narrow the Lehigh lead back down to four at 76-72 with 1:27 on the clock. The Raiders were forced to send the Mountain Hawks to the free throw line down the stretch as Lehigh converted all seven attempts to secure the 83-74 win.
The Mountain Hawks remain home Saturday to host first-place Army on Senior Night at 7:30 p.m. at Stabler Arena.
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Team Stats
COLGATE
LEHIGH
FG%
.380
.444
3FG%
.353
.389
FT%
.824
.824
RB
38
41
TO
13
17
STL
6
3
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
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