Lehigh Completes Season Sweep of Lafayette with Strong 72-62 Win

Saturday, February 24

Easton, Pa.

2 p.m.

Lehigh University

15-13, 9-8

Lafayette

10-17, 6-11

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Lehigh	18	23	21	10	72
Lafayette	10	20	21	11	62

Photo Gallery Game Notes

Photo by: Rebecca Gillard

Lehigh Completes Season Sweep of Lafayette with Strong 72-62 Win

2/24/2018 7:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Photo Gallery

EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team used a Patriot League play-high 72-point effort on Saturday afternoon to complete the season sweep of Lafayette in a 72-62 win. Lehigh shot a season-high 52 percent from the field (26-for-50) and connected on 9-of-21 three-pointers in the win. Sophomore Gena Grundhoffer scored a career-high 26 points to lead the way with her second consecutive 20-point effort. Grundhoffer was 9-of-13 from the floor and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Senior Quinci Mann tallied 18 points while shooting 50 percent overall with four three-pointers. Camryn Buhr added 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and sophomore Hannah Hedstrom scored six points with game-highs of nine rebounds and three steals. Lehigh totaled 15 assists, tied a season-low with 11 turnovers won the rebounding battle 28-24.

Lehigh (15-13, 9-8 PL) held Lafayette (10-17, 6-11 PL) to just 3-of-11 shooting in the fourth quarter, as the Leopards finished the game shooting just under 48 percent.

"I thought we played a complete game on both ends of the floor," said head coach Sue Troyan. "In particular, our offense looked really good and the scoring was well balanced. Gena had a great game inside and on the perimeter. Quinci and Cam Buhr had complete games as well. It was a complete game all around."

Lehigh led wire-to-wire after storming out of the gate and hitting their first three shots to take a 7-2 lead a minute and a half in. Grundhoffer connected on a three-pointer to make it 15-8 going into the media timeout at 3:52, at which point Lehigh was 6-for-9, including a perfect 4-for-4 from inside the arc. Hedstrom drained a three from the corner late to give Lehigh the 18-10 lead after one. LU finished the first quarter 7-for-12 offensively.

Cameryn Benz came away with a steal early in the second and fed Mann for a breakaway basket to make it 22-10. The Leopards answered with a 9-2 run and capitalized on some Lehigh miscues to get within 24-19 at the 6:42 mark. After getting within five once again at 26-21, the Brown and White rattled off seven quick points to grow the lead back to 12 thanks to layups from Grundhoffer and Buhr, sandwiched around a Mann triple. Grundhoffer hit another three moments later to give Lehigh its largest lead of the half at 38-25 with 2:06 remaining, and Lehigh carried a 41-20 lead into the break.

(2/24/2018) Women's Basketball at Lafayette

"Gena went against size and it was great to see her score inside," Troyan said. "She did a good job getting to the free throw line, and knocking down a couple three-pointers. It was a really complete game for her. She's starting to play with a high level of confidence and that's going to be important for us going down the stretch."

Both teams were hot from the field in the first half with Lehigh shooting 57.1 percent overall and 6-for-12 from three, while Lafayette used a strong second quarter to shoot 54.5 percent overall in the opening half. Grundhoffer had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the opening half to lead all scorers while Mann added 13 on 5-of-10 from the field.

"I thought defensively we did a good job getting steals," Troyan said. "Hannah got some steals inside and didn't let their bigs get comfortable doing what they wanted to do. Hannah gives you whatever you need, whether its steals, rebounds or running the offense. She's just a tough kid out there on the court."

Mann and Buhr each hit threes in the early minutes of the third and a Buhr basket gave LU its largest lead of the game at 51-35 at the 6:40 mark. But, Lafayette connected on their first five field goals of the quarter and added free throws to creep back within 53-46 at the 4:11 mark. Both teams exchanged baskets over the last four minutes as Lehigh upped the lead back to 11 on four occasions, twice courtesy of Bernadette Devaney points, and Mann tacked on a pair from the free throw line to make it 62-51 entering the fourth.

"Quinci played within herself today and didn't force shots," Troyan said. "She distributed the ball well and took what the defense gave her."

The Mountain Hawks' defense stood strong over the final 10 minutes, holding the Leopards to 3-of-11 in the period, including just one basket inside the arc. Buhr opened the frame with a layup and Grundhoffer added a three to make it 68-52 at 7:36. Grundhoffer added two free throws and Buhr added a layup down the stretch as the Leopards connected on a pair of threes to score 10 of the game's final 14 points.
"There's been a lot of growth in this program," Troyan said. "We're still probably not quite to where we want to be or where we'll be a year for now, but I have a lot of faith in this group. We're led by a really strong senior class and they can play with anyone in the league."

Next up, the Mountain Hawks will close out the regular season on Wednesday night at Stabler Arena against Holy Cross. The team will hold its annual Senior Night and honor its three senior student-athletes prior to the 6 p.m. tipoff.

Lehigh holds the No. 4 seed in the PL standings, and can claim a quarterfinal home game on March 5 with either a win or an Army West Point loss this coming Wednesday.

"It's a matter of putting three games together in the tournament and we've done that at times this season, but a lot of it is just playing with confidence," Troyan said. "This is a much improved team from last year and they can still get a lot better too."

Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.