Wednesday, January 18
Stabler Arena
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
5-13, 0-7PL
64
vs
66
Navy
13-5, 6-1PL
1
2
3
4
F
Navy
23
14
10
19
66
Lehigh
12
16
21
15
64
Heartbreaking Buzzer-Beater Sinks Lehigh 66-64
1/18/2017 10:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A three-pointer as time expired from Navy's Taylor Dunham lifted the Midshipmen past Lehigh 66-64 on Wednesday night at Stabler Arena. The shot from nearly 40 feet away thwarted what had been a furious comeback for the Mountain Hawks, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the opening half. Freshman Camryn Buhr netted a career and game high 14 points and added eight rebounds. Junior Bernadette Devaney scored 12 points and was 4-for-5 from three-point range, sophomore Hailey Pascoe scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and freshman Gena Grundhoffer had nine points and seven rebounds. Freshman Hannah Hedstrom scored eight points and six rebounds, and junior Quinci Mann scored six points and added a career-best eight rebounds. The loss was Lehigh's 10th in a row as they fall to 5-13 (0-7 Patriot), while Navy remains in second place in the league at 13-5 (6-1 Patriot).
Lehigh out-rebounded Navy 44-36 in the game. The Mids shot 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) from three-point range and 40 percent overall, while Lehigh was 10-of-27 (37 percent) from three and 25-of-69 (36.2 percent) overall.
"They're going to be disappointed at letting this one go," said head coach Sue Troyan. "It's the third or fourth time in a close league game that we haven't finished. There's certainly plenty to take away in terms of positives and we just have to learn from the negative things and continue to get better."
Navy opened up the game by hitting their first five shots to hold a 13-7 lead four minutes in. Buhr and Mann each hit layups, sandwiched around a three-pointer from Pascoe for Lehigh's points. Grundhoffer sank a jumper and Mae Williams hit one from long range to get Lehigh to within 13-12, before Navy bridged the first and second quarters with a 17-0 run, scoring the final 10 points of the first quarter to hold a 23-13 lead after one.
Navy finished the first quarter shooting 4-for-5 from three-point range and 7-for-15 overall, while Lehigh was 5-for-14 with a pair of threes.
Lehigh ended the Mids' run at the 5:32 mark of the second quarter to make it 30-14, before Navy upped the lead back to a game-high 18 points for the third time with exactly three minutes left until halftime. From there, Lehigh closed the half on an 11-2 run to cut the lead down to single digits going into the break. Devaney drilled a three-pointer to start the run, followed by two free throws each from Hedstrom and Mann, and a jumper from Mann in the closing seconds to make it 37-28.
"I thought we didn't play very well in the first quarter and Navy made a big run on us, but our kids fought and competed and did a better job of executing towards the end of the second quarter," Troyan said. "We told them at halftime we really thought they could get back into the game. I thought in the second half we came out with much more intensity and did a better job of defending the three. We made some shots too that got us back in the game."
Trailing 45-37 midway through the third quarter, Buhr gave the Mountain Hawks a huge spark, igniting a 12-2 run to end the quarter and giving Lehigh a 49-47 lead heading into the fourth quarter. After a Devaney three to make it 45-40, Buhr ran off nine points in a row, putting back her own misses on two straight trips down the floor, both times to get Lehigh within three points. After a Navy miss, Buhr stepped up and drained home her lone three of the game to knot it at 47-47 with 1:44 on the clock. On the next possession, she collected another offensive board and put in the layup that gave Lehigh the two-point edge.
"Cam (Buhr) really stepped up and played well inside with some big rebounds and put backs," Troyan said. "Her defense has been real consistent and I thought she played really well again tonight. It's nice to see her starting to come around and gain some confidence on the offensive end. She just needed a game where she could break out and do the things we knew she was capable of."
Devaney began the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to give Lehigh a five-point lead at 52-47. After Navy tied it, Pascoe put Lehigh back up with another triple. Navy eventually gained a 58-57 lead with 5:19 to play and the two teams would answer each other over the next four minutes. Buhr added a layup to put Lehigh back up with 4:23 to play and after several empty possessions by both teams, Hedstrom's jumper gave Lehigh a 61-60 lead with 1:04 left.
With 40 seconds remaining, Dunham banked in a line drive three-pointer to put Navy up 63-61. After a timeout, Devaney drilled what looked to be the difference maker with a three-pointer from the right wing with 13.7 seconds remaining to give LU the 64-63 lead. After Navy missed a jumper with six seconds left, Hedstrom hauled in the rebound and Lehigh called timeout. Navy, who had four fouls to give, fouled once with 2.1 seconds left, before stealing the ensuing inbounds pass and calling timeout with 0.6 seconds left.
Navy, who was already in the bonus, inbounded the ball from in front of their own bench. Ashanti Kennedy hit Dunham, who quickly turned to her right and put up a near 40-footer and swished it home as the horn sounded, sparking off a wild celebration for the Midshipmen.
"We were switching on every screen, and they switched and we also couldn't foul," Troyan said. "And (Dunham) got a contested look at it and knocked it down, so you have to give them credit for it as well.
"They're learning lessons for us and we've been in these situations quite a few times and just have to learn and get better from it," Troyan said. "We played one of the better teams in the league and I firmly believe there's a lot of parity in the league and we'll be able to compete with anybody."
The Mountain Hawks will stay in the Lehigh Valley this weekend as they take on rival Lafayette on Saturday afternoon in Easton. Tip off from the Kirby Sports Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. on PatriotLeague.TV and Lehighsports.com/watch.
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Team Stats
NAVY
LEHIGH
FG%
.400
.362
3FG%
.421
.370
FT%
.714
1.000
RB
36
44
TO
8
12
STL
10
5
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
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