Lehigh Holds off Rival Lafayette 56-53 for Patriot League Win

Saturday, January 21

Easton, Pa.

2 p.m.

Lehigh University

6-13, 1-7PL

Lafayette

1-19, 0-8PL

Lehigh

Lafayette

Lehigh Holds off Rival Lafayette 56-53 for Patriot League Win

1/21/2017 9:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. – Four Mountain Hawks scored in double figures as the Lehigh women's basketball team held on late to down rival Lafayette 56-53 on Saturday at the Kirby Sports Center. Freshman Gena Grundhoffer had game-highs of 17 points and nine rebounds, and Camryn Buhr, Hannah Hedstrom and Bernadette Devaney added 11 points apiece. Buhr also collected six rebounds, and Hedstrom and Mae Williams had four boards apiece. Lehigh shot 36.2 percent (21-for-58) from the field to the Leopards 34.5 percent (20-for-58). Lehigh also dominated in points off turnovers, holding an 18-3 edge, and forced 20 Leopard turnovers. Lehigh also outscored Lafayette 24-18 in the paint. The win ends the Mountain Hawks' 10-game losing streak, as they improve to 6-13 overall and 1-7 in Patriot League play. The loss is the Leopards' 19th straight, dropping them to 1-19 (0-8 Patriot).

Hedstrom finished the game 5-for-8 from the field and Devaney was a perfect 3-for-3, all from beyond the arc. Buhr shot 50 percent for the game (5-for-10), while Grundhoffer was 6-for-15, including 2-of-6 from long range.

Lehigh built up a 12-4 lead over the first six-plus minutes of the game, highlighted by a pair of threes from Grundhoffer. After her second three put Lehigh up by eight, the Leopards closed the period on a 9-0 run to hold a 13-12 lead after one quarter.

Buhr needed less than 30 seconds to put Lehigh back on top 16-13 to begin the second quarter. The two teams went back and forth over the remainder of the quarter, with the Leopards taking a 19-18 lead on a Maia Hood jumper with exactly seven minutes remaining. Hedstrom knotted the game at 23-23 by drawing a foul on a driving layup and hitting the ensuing free throw with 5:38 left until halftime. Devaney drilled her first three of the game with 1:32 left to put Lehigh back on top 26-25, but it was short lived as Ashley Lutz and Sammy Stipa scored the final five points of the opening half for Lafayette to give the Leopards the 30-26 lead going into halftime.

Lafayette shot an even 40 percent (12-for-30) in the opening half to Lehigh's 31.1 percent (10-for-32). Grundhoffer led all players with 10 points and had a team-high four rebounds. Lafayette had a 25-18 edge in rebounds at the break and a 9-2 advantage in second chance points. Lehigh had the advantage in turnovers by one and a 9-3 edge in points off turnovers. The two teams also combined to shoot 5-for-22 from three-point range.

Lehigh scored the first six points of the second half with Grundhoffer tying the game with a pair of layups and Buhr putting LU on top with a layup at 7:25. After Lafayette tied the game at 32, Lehigh got the lead up to five points on three separate occasions, the first coming off a steal and three-pointer from Devaney, and followed by a Grundhoffer basket. After Hedstrom extended the lead twice in the final 1:14, Stipa answered for Lafayette with a three-pointer, and added a jumper in the closing seconds to cut the Lehigh lead to 43-41 going into the fourth quarter.

Buhr sank a free throw for Lehigh to open the scoring in the fourth and Hailey Pascoe put home her lone three of the game 50 seconds later to open up a four-point lead, 47-43. Lutz cut the lead back to one point with a long three with 5:08 remaining, before Lehigh got two huge back-to-back three pointers. Devaney hit her third triple in as many attempts with 4:10 to go to make it 50-46, and Quinci Mann hit a critical three-pointer for her only basket of the game with 3:25 to go, giving the Mountain Hawks their largest lead of the game at 53-46. The basket proved to be Lehigh's final field goal of the contest.

Following an Alexis Santarelli layup, Grundhoffer hit a free throw to up the lead back to six with 2:33 left. Moments later, Stipa hit her third and final three to make it 54-51, and Sarah Agnello hit a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to make it a one-point game, 54-53.

Devaney was fouled on the inbounds and hit both free throws to make it 56-53. Lehigh was then able to grab the defensive rebound after a Leopard miss on the ensuing possession. After two Lehigh misses at the free throw line, Stipa's desperation shot from near the Lafayette bench fell short, giving Lehigh the win.

After a league-wide bye this coming week, Lehigh will next travel to Boston University next Saturday for a rematch with the Terriers. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the Patriot League Network and ESPN Radio LV.

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