Photo by: Rebecca Gillard
Mountain Hawks Fall 65-62 on Senior Night to Holy Cross
2/28/2018 9:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Photo Gallery
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A late rally by the Lehigh women's basketball team fell short on Wednesday night at Stabler Arena, as Holy Cross held on for a 65-62 win. Sophomore Gena Grundhoffer finished with gam-highs of 24 points and nine rebounds and senior Bernadette Devaney scored 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting with four three-pointers. Senior Quinci Mann also added eight points on 2-of-3 shooting from downtown. Holy Cross (12-17, 7-11 PL) finished the game 23-for-52 from the field and 7-for-20 from three-point range, while Lehigh (15-14, 9-9 PL) shot 38.5 percent overall and 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) from downtown. Holy Cross outscored Lehigh 28-16 off turnovers and 22-12 in the paint.
With Army West Point's loss to Bucknell, Lehigh earns the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament and will host the fifth seeded Black Knights on Monday night at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals at Stabler Arena.
"We struggled in the first half taking care of the basketball, and a lot of turnovers led to a lot of easy buckets for them," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We certainly didn't take care of the basketball, which was a priority coming into the game for us, and it was our Achilles heel in this game."
Grundhoffer and Mann hit back-to-back threes after a 0-for-3 start to get Lehigh within 7-6. Holy Cross then sprinted out on a 9-0 run, starting the game 8-for-11 and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc to take a 19-8 lead, forcing a Lehigh timeout at the 3:43 mark. Lehigh would hold Holy Cross without a field goal the rest of the quarter, as Cameryn Benz broke the run with a three-pointer following the break to cut it to 19-11, and Devaney added a three in the final minute to make it 20-14 after one.
HC scored the first five points of the second before Grundhoffer broke the run with a three and Camryn Buhr added a long jumper to make it 25-19. Holy Cross went on a 5-0 run following the break after two free throws from a technical foul, and a three-point play to go back up by nine, 30-21. Lehigh responded by closing the half on an 8-0 run to pull within one. Mary Clougherty entered the game and quickly sank a long jumper, Buhr grabbed a steal and went the length of the court for a layup and Grundhoffer capped the run with four from the line to cut it 30-29. Overall Lehigh held the Crusaders to just 25 percent shooting in the second quarter, outscoring them and 15-10 and holding them to just one field goal over the final 8:13.
(2/28/2018) Women's Basketball Senior Night
Lehigh outshot Holy Cross 45.5-39.3 percent through the first 20 minutes and 45.5-30.8 percent from beyond the arc.
"Gena's just playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of emotion," Troyan said. "She played with a lot of passion and when she's good, she's really good and makes a big difference. This one's a bit of a tough one to swallow with how well she played. Bernie came off the bench and gave us some great minutes as well."
Lehigh scored the first seven points of the second half, extending their run from the first half to 15-0 to take a 36-30 lead. Holy Cross scored six straight, capped by a steal and basket to tie the game at 36, and eventually grew the run to 15-3 to build a 45-39 lead. Mann hit a floater in the lane and Mae Williams followed with a pair from the line to make it 45-43 before the Crusaders used a layup with 32 seconds left to go up 47-43 after three.
After trailing by as much as nine, Devaney got the team within three at the 4:31 mark with a three before Holy Cross ran off seven straight to go back up by double digits, 61-51. Grundhoffer scored a three-point play after drawing a full with a move underneath and Devaney hit two free throws to make it 61-56 with 50 seconds remaining. Holy Cross would hit one of two free throws before Devaney hit her fourth three-pointer of the night to make it 62-59 with 33 seconds left, and Mann answered for Lehigh with a triple to cut it to 64-62 with 12 seconds remaining. After Lehigh fouled, the Crusaders missed both free throws giving Lehigh one last chance to tie or win the game, but a solid drive to the basket and game-tying look from Clougherty rimmed out.
All told, Holy Cross shot 50 percent in the second half and was 6-for-10 in the fourth quarter.
"We executed down the stretch," Troyan said. "Quinci hit a big shot and Bernie hit a big shot coming out of a timeout. We executed the sideline stuff well and got the shots we were looking for. Mary did a good job getting a good shot at the basket to try and tie it. She can get in the paint and create some things for other people. I thought it was a great shot and if we had to do it 10 other times, I'd have her take the same shot."
Wednesday served as the final regular season home game for the team's three seniors, Mann, Devaney and Williams.
"They're a tremendous class of kids that have given themselves to the program," Troyan said. "They were forced as juniors and seniors to lead a really young team and really play an important leadership role in our program. They've all led in different ways. Quinci has led with her play on the court. Mae has led as our emotional, glue player who will do anything for any one of her teammates. Bernie has been willing to accept any role we've put her in whether it be starting or coming off the bench. The three of them have really set a good example for their teammates to follow."
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A late rally by the Lehigh women's basketball team fell short on Wednesday night at Stabler Arena, as Holy Cross held on for a 65-62 win. Sophomore Gena Grundhoffer finished with gam-highs of 24 points and nine rebounds and senior Bernadette Devaney scored 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting with four three-pointers. Senior Quinci Mann also added eight points on 2-of-3 shooting from downtown. Holy Cross (12-17, 7-11 PL) finished the game 23-for-52 from the field and 7-for-20 from three-point range, while Lehigh (15-14, 9-9 PL) shot 38.5 percent overall and 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) from downtown. Holy Cross outscored Lehigh 28-16 off turnovers and 22-12 in the paint.
With Army West Point's loss to Bucknell, Lehigh earns the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament and will host the fifth seeded Black Knights on Monday night at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals at Stabler Arena.
"We struggled in the first half taking care of the basketball, and a lot of turnovers led to a lot of easy buckets for them," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We certainly didn't take care of the basketball, which was a priority coming into the game for us, and it was our Achilles heel in this game."
Grundhoffer and Mann hit back-to-back threes after a 0-for-3 start to get Lehigh within 7-6. Holy Cross then sprinted out on a 9-0 run, starting the game 8-for-11 and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc to take a 19-8 lead, forcing a Lehigh timeout at the 3:43 mark. Lehigh would hold Holy Cross without a field goal the rest of the quarter, as Cameryn Benz broke the run with a three-pointer following the break to cut it to 19-11, and Devaney added a three in the final minute to make it 20-14 after one.
HC scored the first five points of the second before Grundhoffer broke the run with a three and Camryn Buhr added a long jumper to make it 25-19. Holy Cross went on a 5-0 run following the break after two free throws from a technical foul, and a three-point play to go back up by nine, 30-21. Lehigh responded by closing the half on an 8-0 run to pull within one. Mary Clougherty entered the game and quickly sank a long jumper, Buhr grabbed a steal and went the length of the court for a layup and Grundhoffer capped the run with four from the line to cut it 30-29. Overall Lehigh held the Crusaders to just 25 percent shooting in the second quarter, outscoring them and 15-10 and holding them to just one field goal over the final 8:13.
Lehigh outshot Holy Cross 45.5-39.3 percent through the first 20 minutes and 45.5-30.8 percent from beyond the arc.
"Gena's just playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of emotion," Troyan said. "She played with a lot of passion and when she's good, she's really good and makes a big difference. This one's a bit of a tough one to swallow with how well she played. Bernie came off the bench and gave us some great minutes as well."
Lehigh scored the first seven points of the second half, extending their run from the first half to 15-0 to take a 36-30 lead. Holy Cross scored six straight, capped by a steal and basket to tie the game at 36, and eventually grew the run to 15-3 to build a 45-39 lead. Mann hit a floater in the lane and Mae Williams followed with a pair from the line to make it 45-43 before the Crusaders used a layup with 32 seconds left to go up 47-43 after three.
After trailing by as much as nine, Devaney got the team within three at the 4:31 mark with a three before Holy Cross ran off seven straight to go back up by double digits, 61-51. Grundhoffer scored a three-point play after drawing a full with a move underneath and Devaney hit two free throws to make it 61-56 with 50 seconds remaining. Holy Cross would hit one of two free throws before Devaney hit her fourth three-pointer of the night to make it 62-59 with 33 seconds left, and Mann answered for Lehigh with a triple to cut it to 64-62 with 12 seconds remaining. After Lehigh fouled, the Crusaders missed both free throws giving Lehigh one last chance to tie or win the game, but a solid drive to the basket and game-tying look from Clougherty rimmed out.
All told, Holy Cross shot 50 percent in the second half and was 6-for-10 in the fourth quarter.
"We executed down the stretch," Troyan said. "Quinci hit a big shot and Bernie hit a big shot coming out of a timeout. We executed the sideline stuff well and got the shots we were looking for. Mary did a good job getting a good shot at the basket to try and tie it. She can get in the paint and create some things for other people. I thought it was a great shot and if we had to do it 10 other times, I'd have her take the same shot."
Wednesday served as the final regular season home game for the team's three seniors, Mann, Devaney and Williams.
"They're a tremendous class of kids that have given themselves to the program," Troyan said. "They were forced as juniors and seniors to lead a really young team and really play an important leadership role in our program. They've all led in different ways. Quinci has led with her play on the court. Mae has led as our emotional, glue player who will do anything for any one of her teammates. Bernie has been willing to accept any role we've put her in whether it be starting or coming off the bench. The three of them have really set a good example for their teammates to follow."
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
HCW
LEHIGH
FG%
.442
.385
3FG%
.350
.478
FT%
.571
1.000
RB
27
36
TO
13
20
STL
9
5
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Chasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 2
Thursday, May 15
Chasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 1
Wednesday, May 14
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, March 19
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, January 29



















