Lehigh University Athletics
Wednesday, February 28
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Holy Cross
Photo by: Rebecca Gillard
Lehigh Set for Senior Night and Regular Season Finale against Holy Cross
2/27/2018 5:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
| GAME INFORMATION | |
| Matchup | Holy Cross (11-17, 6-11 PL) at Lehigh (15-13, 9-8 PL) |
| Date/Time | Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 – 6 p.m. |
| Location | Stabler Arena – Bethlehem, Pa. |
| TV | Service Electric Channel 50 |
| Video Stream | Patriot League Network (PatriotLeague.TV) |
| Radio | ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley 1160/1230/1320 AM |
| Audio | ESPNLV.com |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Game Notes | Lehigh | Holy Cross |
| @LehighWBB | |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's basketball team will wrap up the regular season this Wednesday night when they welcome Holy Cross to Stabler Arena. Lehigh will honor its three seniors - Bernadette Devaney, Quinci Mann and Mae Williams - from the Class of 2018 in a pregame ceremony.
The Mountain Hawks are tied with Army West Point for fourth place, but Lehigh holds the tiebreaker and can clinch the fourth seed and a home quarterfinal game with a win on Wednesday, or an Army loss. The Mountain Hawks are shooting 46.2 percent from the field over their last three games, their best shooting percentage over any three game span this season.
The Mountain Hawks have shot at least 42 percent in each of their last three games and shot a season-high 52 percent in Saturday's win at Lafayette. Winners of two straight, Lehigh is shooting 41.2 percent from beyond the arc over both games. Sophomore Gena Grundhoffer is coming off the first back-to-back 20-point games of her career, which earned her Patriot League Player of the Week honors, the first major weekly award for Lehigh this season.
With a win, Lehigh would tie its season-best three-game winning streak and earn its sixth straight win over Holy Cross at Stabler Arena.
ALL-TIME VS. HOLY CROSS
Despite winning 17 of the last 23 matchups against Holy Cross since 2009, Lehigh still trails 42-23 in the all-time series. The two teams have split the pair of regular season matchups each of the last two seasons, with the home team winning each matchup.
The Crusaders took the first contest between the two this season back on Jan. 5 in Worcester, 54-49. Lehigh outscored HC 29-19 in the second half as Camryn Buhr had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Lehigh. Both teams shot under 25 percent from three-point range while HC outscored Lehigh 36-24 in the paint.
Last year at Stabler Arena, Lehigh shot 52.1 percent and was 10-for-20 from 3pt range in one of their best games of the season, an 80-64 win with Mann (23) and Grundhoffer (20) both scoring 20 points.
Both teams have enjoyed prolonged winning streaks in the series history, with Lehigh winning 10 straight from 2009-2013, and Holy Cross winning 18 straight as part of 26 wins in 27 games against Lehigh from 1991 to 2001.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
With a Patriot League record of 6-11, Holy Cross currently is in eighth place, but in a three-way tie for sixth place going into the final day of the regular season. The Crusaders can climb as high as No. 6 and clinch a first round bye with a win, a Lafayette win, and a Loyola loss.
Holy Cross is coming off a 61-52 win at home on Senior Day on Saturday, ending its six game losing streak. The closest game during the streak was a six-point loss at home to Boston U. on Feb. 10.
The Crusaders have the top two scorers in the Patriot League this season in sophomore forward Lauren Manis (17.9 ppg) and senior guard Infiniti Thomas-Waheed (16.5 ppg). HC boats the third highest scoring offense in the league with 63.9 ppg. In Patriot League games, the Crusaders rank one spot ahead of Lehigh in points per game with 60.3 to Lehigh's 59.8.
The Crusaders -1.2 scoring margin ranks fifth in the league, one spot behind Lehigh ( 0.9). The Crusaders are shooting 38.4 percent from the field this year, good for eighth in the league. Holy Cross (33.2) and Lehigh (33.1) rank just about even in three-point percentage with the two teams separated by one tenth of a percent and ranking second and third, respectively, in the league. Defensively, HC controls the glass with a rebounding margin of -3.8, good enough for eighth in the league while ranking second in steals (9.0) and fourth in turnover margin.
Manis, the reigning PL Rookie of the Year, ranks fifth in the PL at 8.8 rebounds per game and is third in the league at 82.4 percent from the free throw line. Madalyn Smith (.416) and Tricia Byrne (.395) lead the team from three-point range.
UP NEXT
Lehigh will take on Army West Point in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament on Monday at a location that will be determined after Wednesday's results.
Click here to read full game notes/preview
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Players Mentioned
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