Lehigh Holds off Colgate Rally for 59-51 Road Win

Wednesday, January 17

Hamilton, N.Y.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

11-7 (5-2PL)

Colgate

4-14 (0-7PL)

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Lehigh	13	16	20	10	59
Colgate	9	14	13	15	51

Lehigh Holds off Colgate Rally for 59-51 Road Win

1/17/2018 10:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lehigh women' basketball team weathered a late 12-2 run by Colgate, scoring the last four points of the game to hold on for a 59-51 road win on Wednesday night. Senior Quinci Mann led the team with 15 points and added four rebounds, and sophomore Camryn Buhr collected her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Cameryn Benz tallied eight points and eight rebounds including a pair of three-pointers, Gena Grundhoffer scored nine points Bernadette Devaney added seven points on 2-of-3 shooting.

The Lehigh defense gathered nine steals off 14 Colgate (4-14, 0-7 PL) turnovers and Lehigh (11-7, 5-2 PL) won the battle on the boards 43-37. Colgate shot 34.5 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three-point range, while LU went 33.9 percent (20-for-29) overall and 5-for-15 from long range.

"We knew it was going to be a dogfight coming in here," said head coach Sue Troyan. "They're a team that defends you pretty tough in their matchup zone. I'm proud of how we competed and glad we came out of here with a win. We won the game on the defensive end, and that's what we challenged them to do. It was a game that was won by the team, not individuals."

Buhr found Grundhoffer underneath to give Lehigh an 8-6 lead prior to the first media timeout six minutes in. Grundhoffer added three more points to build an 11-6 lead and the Lehigh defense held Colgate off the board for nearly four minutes until a three-pointer in the final minute. Devaney responded with a layup to make it 13-9 after one.

Lehigh scored the first seven points of the second quarter to extend their run to 9-0 and take a 20-9 lead, forcing a 'Gate timeout at the 6:52 mark. Following the timeout, Colgate snapped the run and rattled off eight in a row, including back-to-back threes to make it 20-17. Lehigh went 3:38 without a basket until Devaney drilled one from the corner to make to 23-17. After Colgate got within three, Hedstrom grabbed a defensive rebound and took it coast-to-coast for a layup to make it 26-21, and after a Colgate layup, Mary Clougherty hammered home a three with six seconds left to give Lehigh a 29-23 lead at the half.

Lehigh forced nine turnovers and collected six steals in the opening 20 minutes while holding Colgate to 31 percent from the floor.

Colgate opened the third on a 9-4 run to get within one at 33-32 at the 6:48 mark. Lehigh responded with three straight triples to go back up double digits, starting when Mariah Sexe found Mann for three, then then Benz hit one from straight-away and added another to make it 42-32 going in to the media timeout at 4:37. Mann added a pair from the line to make it 44-32. Lehigh would miss seven straight field goals until Buhr found Devaney up ahead of the pack for a breakaway layup with 1:12 remaining, and Hannah Hedstrom used two free throws to make it a 13-point, 49-35 game entering the fourth quarter.

"Cam Benz did a nice job stepping in," Troyan said. "She was in there for the stretch where we opened it up against them and hit a couple of big threes."

Buhr hit a layup to give LU a game-high 14-point lead at 53-39 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter. The Raiders fought back from there, using a 12-2 run to get within 55-51 with 1:23 remaining. All told, the Lehigh scoring drought lasted 5:59 before Benz grabbed a huge offensive rebound, paving the way for Buhr to hit a clutch jumper in the lane to make it a 57-51 ballgame with 29 seconds left.

Following a defensive stop, Benz corralled a rebound and sank two free throws with 15 seconds left to help lock down the win.

"That was a big shot in a four-point game," Troyan said of Buhr's late hoop. "She's a great competitor and makes big buckets when we need them. I'm proud of the way she competed tonight."

Lehigh will return home his Saturday afternoon for a Patriot League matchup against Army West Point. As part of its annual Alumnae Day, Lehigh will welcome back members of its 1997 Patriot League Championship/NCAA Tournament team with a pregame ceremony. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

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