Mountain Hawks Get Back To Winning Ways With Win Over Binghamton

Wednesday, November 21

Vestal, N.Y.

1 P.M.

Lehigh University

4-1

Binghamton

3-3

LEHIGH

Binghamton

Photo by: Hunter Julius

Mountain Hawks Get Back To Winning Ways With Win Over Binghamton

11/21/2018 4:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

VESTAL, N.Y. – The Lehigh women's basketball team got back to their winning ways after defeating the Binghamton Bearcats 65-55 at the Binghamton Events center on the campus of Binghamton University.

After a tough match against Villanova, the Mountain Hawks saw three players hit double figures in scoring against the Bearcats. Freshman Megan Walker was the high roller for Lehigh today, scoring 13 points while going 3-for-3 from three-point range. Juniors Hannah Hedstrom (12) and Camryn Buhr (11) were the other two Mountain Hawks to reach double figures in scoring.

Buhr has recorded double figures in scoring in every game so far this season for the Mountain Hawks.

"Megan is consistent in how she plays, she's one of those players that gets on the court for how she plays on both ends," said head coach Sue Troyan after the game. "You can put her on the other team's best players defensively, and on offense she's becoming more confident, knowing where her shots are coming to come from. She's a versatile player, she can hit a three or take it off the dribble. I think she plays with a lot of composure out there, she doesn't play like a freshman."

Walker's 13 points set a new season high, besting the seven points she scored against Kutztown in the season opener.

This is now the fourth game this season Lehigh has outscored their opponent by 10 or more points, the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Mountain Hawks first four wins came by 10 or more points.

The Mountain Hawks are now 4-0 when they out-rebound their opponents, as Lehigh rebounded 35 shots compared to the 30 from Binghamton.

Lehigh's defense helped secure the victory on foreign soil, holding the Bearcats to 37.5 percent shooting from the field. With the exception of forward Rebecca Carmody who scored 27 for Binghamton, no other Bearcat would score in double figures.

"We're a little frustrated that we didn't do a little better defending Carmody. We put a lot of different looks on her but give her credit, she made a lot of tough and contested shots. She's a good scorer and did a good job executing when the rest of her team wasn't. It was a good team effort, we held a good scoring team to 55 points," said Troyan.

Although pulling ahead and winning by 10, it wasn't until late that Lehigh was able to establish the double-digit lead, only leading by 10 for the last 18 seconds of the game. Not having a big lead didn't deter the Mountain Hawks, as they were able to lead for over 70 percent of the game.

As it has been for every game this season for Lehigh, the bench was a prime source of points. Scoring 25 points against the Bearcats, this marks the fifth straight game the Mountain Hawks have scored 25 or more points from the bench this season.

"It was good for our kids to be in a close game. It was good to have to execute things down the stretch, knowing situational play, and hitting free throws," said Troyan.

The first quarter, like much of the game, saw Lehigh and Binghamton trade blows. Junior Gena Grundhoffer was responsible for the first six points for the Mountain Hawks as it would be a 15-10 game for Lehigh after the first frame of action.

Lehigh would trail in just one quarter, and that was in the second quarter. After Carmody made a layup to start the second frame, back-to-back threes from the Bearcats gave them a lead they would hold for 2:46 before a Walker three tied the game at 20-20. The Mountain Hawks would close the half out on an 8-2 run.

For the remaining two quarters, Lehigh would only be tied once more with Binghamton, and that was at 1:55 in the third quarter with both teams at 35.

The Mountain Hawks return to action Saturday as they host the 2018 Christmas City Classic, presented by Best Western at Stabler Arena. Lehigh will face Norfolk State at 2 p.m. in the opening game of the two-day tournament, followed by Charlotte and Liberty at 4:30 p.m.