Sunday, November 25
Bethlehem, Pa.
4:30 P.M.
Lehigh University
5-2
60
vs
62
Charlotte
4-1
1
2
3
4
F
Charlotte
10
19
13
20
62
Lehigh
18
11
13
18
60
Photo by: Hunter Julius
Mountain Hawks Fall Late To Charlotte In The Christmas City Classic
11/25/2018 8:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In their first-ever meeting with the Charlotte 49ers in the championship game of the 2018 Christmas City Classic presented by Best Western, the Mountain Hawks fell on a late layup and foul shot, picking up just their second loss of the year to the tune of 62-60.
Of the 21 Christmas City Classic tournaments held, Lehigh has now played in the championship game 17 times, while winning just four times.
With the loss, Lehigh falls to 5-2 while Charlotte advances to 5-1.
Junior Camryn Buhr led the charge for the Mountain Hawks with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Buhr is now tied with fellow junior Gena Grundhoffer for the season high in scoring, as Grundhoffer put up 17 points in the win against Central Connecticut earlier this season.
Freshman Emma Grothaus recorded her second double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and recording 12 rebounds against the 49ers. This is the third double-double of the season for Lehigh, with Buhr recording a double-double against Norfolk State.
"Emma is going to be a great Patriot league player, she's 6-foot-3, athletic , and can read rebounds very well. The neat thing for her is that she'll get even better as she gets stronger and more physical. She's a hard worker that reads the ball well along with defending equally as well," said head coach Sue Troyan.
For the sixth time this season, Lehigh found three or more players scoring in double figures as Grundhoffer joined Buhr (17) and Grothaus (10) with 11 points on the day.
Lehigh and Charlotte would trade blows throughout the game, with the lead changing 10 times and the two teams tied another nine. The Mountain Hawks had chances to run away with the game, leading by as much as 10 points against a high-octane 49ers team.
"It's the game of basketball, we have to learn and get better from a game like this. It was a game that could have gone either way," said Troyan. "We made big shots to take the lead, they would make big shots to take it back. We missed a couple free throws late that could have put us up by three, but give Charlotte credit, they made big shots and came away with timely rebounds when they needed to."
Coming out of the half tied at 29, Charlotte would begin to make life difficult for the Mountain Hawks, having a response to the Lehigh's offense, the score would be tied four times in the quarter, including going into the fourth tied at 42.
The fourth quarter featured a heavyweight bought between Buhr and Charlotte's explosive scorer, Jade Phillips. Phillips, who scored 27 points on the day, recorded 16 of those 27 in the fourth quarter alone.
"Our defense has gotten better over this season, but if I had to be critical, when we needed big stops late in the fourth, we weren't able to shut [Charlotte] down. We had the opportunity to seal the deal and get a stop and rebound," said Troyan.
Lehigh would send Buhr as its champion, as she scored 13 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. Buhr has scored in double figures in all seven this season.
"Cam's a leader by example, on the floor and by how she plays. It gives us a lot of consistency knowing we have her to come up with big shots. I thought this was one of her best games, especially her performance in the fourth quarter," said Troyan.
Phillips began the final stanza with a jumper to initially put the 49ers up by two. Lehigh would hold a lead as large as six against a pesky Charlotte team that continued to nip at the heels of the Mountain Hawks. With 21 seconds to go, Phillips converted a layup to put the 49ers down by just one point, seven seconds later sophomore Mary Clougherty would go to the line with the chance to put Lehigh back up by three. Missing both free throws, Charlotte would take its last timeout with 13 seconds on the clock.
The 49ers would give the ball to Phillips who initially missed a jumper, but was able to get her own rebound and put up a contested layup that would go in after contact, and after making a free throw, Charlotte would lead by two. Senior Hailey Pascoe would get the ball and attempted a jumper from the right side, bouncing off the rim to give Charlotte its first ever Christmas City Classic championship victory.
Buhr and junior Hannah Hedstrom were named to the All-Tournament team. Phillips was named Tournament MVP.
The Mountain Hawks will enjoy the confines of Stabler Arena for the time being as the Big Red of Cornell from the Ivy League make the trip to battle Lehigh on November 29.
Lehigh women's basketball team held an opponent to under 40% shooting. Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Of the 21 Christmas City Classic tournaments held, Lehigh has now played in the championship game 17 times, while winning just four times.
With the loss, Lehigh falls to 5-2 while Charlotte advances to 5-1.
Junior Camryn Buhr led the charge for the Mountain Hawks with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Buhr is now tied with fellow junior Gena Grundhoffer for the season high in scoring, as Grundhoffer put up 17 points in the win against Central Connecticut earlier this season.
Freshman Emma Grothaus recorded her second double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and recording 12 rebounds against the 49ers. This is the third double-double of the season for Lehigh, with Buhr recording a double-double against Norfolk State.
"Emma is going to be a great Patriot league player, she's 6-foot-3, athletic , and can read rebounds very well. The neat thing for her is that she'll get even better as she gets stronger and more physical. She's a hard worker that reads the ball well along with defending equally as well," said head coach Sue Troyan.
For the sixth time this season, Lehigh found three or more players scoring in double figures as Grundhoffer joined Buhr (17) and Grothaus (10) with 11 points on the day.
Lehigh and Charlotte would trade blows throughout the game, with the lead changing 10 times and the two teams tied another nine. The Mountain Hawks had chances to run away with the game, leading by as much as 10 points against a high-octane 49ers team.
"It's the game of basketball, we have to learn and get better from a game like this. It was a game that could have gone either way," said Troyan. "We made big shots to take the lead, they would make big shots to take it back. We missed a couple free throws late that could have put us up by three, but give Charlotte credit, they made big shots and came away with timely rebounds when they needed to."
Coming out of the half tied at 29, Charlotte would begin to make life difficult for the Mountain Hawks, having a response to the Lehigh's offense, the score would be tied four times in the quarter, including going into the fourth tied at 42.
The fourth quarter featured a heavyweight bought between Buhr and Charlotte's explosive scorer, Jade Phillips. Phillips, who scored 27 points on the day, recorded 16 of those 27 in the fourth quarter alone.
"Our defense has gotten better over this season, but if I had to be critical, when we needed big stops late in the fourth, we weren't able to shut [Charlotte] down. We had the opportunity to seal the deal and get a stop and rebound," said Troyan.
Lehigh would send Buhr as its champion, as she scored 13 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. Buhr has scored in double figures in all seven this season.
"Cam's a leader by example, on the floor and by how she plays. It gives us a lot of consistency knowing we have her to come up with big shots. I thought this was one of her best games, especially her performance in the fourth quarter," said Troyan.
Phillips began the final stanza with a jumper to initially put the 49ers up by two. Lehigh would hold a lead as large as six against a pesky Charlotte team that continued to nip at the heels of the Mountain Hawks. With 21 seconds to go, Phillips converted a layup to put the 49ers down by just one point, seven seconds later sophomore Mary Clougherty would go to the line with the chance to put Lehigh back up by three. Missing both free throws, Charlotte would take its last timeout with 13 seconds on the clock.
The 49ers would give the ball to Phillips who initially missed a jumper, but was able to get her own rebound and put up a contested layup that would go in after contact, and after making a free throw, Charlotte would lead by two. Senior Hailey Pascoe would get the ball and attempted a jumper from the right side, bouncing off the rim to give Charlotte its first ever Christmas City Classic championship victory.
Buhr and junior Hannah Hedstrom were named to the All-Tournament team. Phillips was named Tournament MVP.
The Mountain Hawks will enjoy the confines of Stabler Arena for the time being as the Big Red of Cornell from the Ivy League make the trip to battle Lehigh on November 29.
Lehigh women's basketball team held an opponent to under 40% shooting. Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
CHARLOTT
LEHIGH
FG%
.382
.333
3FG%
.300
.211
FT%
.571
.778
RB
45
40
TO
11
9
STL
4
2
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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