Wednesday, February 7
Lewisburg, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
13-10, 7-5PL
52
at
59
Bucknell
15-8, 9-3PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
5
13
18
16
52
Bucknell
12
14
13
20
59
Lehigh Unable to Overcome Slow Start in 59-52 Loss at Bucknell
2/7/2018 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team was unable to overcome a slow start offensively on Wednesday night in a 59-52 loss at Bucknell. The Mountain Hawks started the game 1-for-18 from the field before shooting 14-for-30 in the second half, trimming an 11-point first half deficit down to two in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Camryn Buhr finished with 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-12 shooting. Senior Bernadette Devaney tallied nine points, and sophomore Cameryn Benz registered eight points and seven rebounds on 3-of-6 shooting. Sophomore Gena Grundhoffer finished with seven points, all of which came in the fourth quarter. Mariah Sexe scored six points on two triples at the end of the second and third quarters.
Bucknell won the battle on the boards 37-34 and came away with nine blocked shots and nine steals. The Bison shot 41.7 percent from the field and 20 percent from long range, while Lehigh shot 33.3 percent overall and 28.6 from downtown. Lehigh falls to 13-10 (7-5 PL), while Bucknell improves to 15-8 (9-3 PL).
"I thought we looked a little tired today," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We missed a large number of point-blank layups with no one between us and the basket. We missed a lot of easy baskets at the rim, which are shots we typically finish."
Both teams got off to sluggish starts as the Bison started 2-for-9 and Lehigh began 0-for-6 as the Bison built a 6-0 lead at the first media timeout at the 4:15 mark. Lehigh's first basket came nearly seven minutes in when Devaney broke a 0-for-7 start with a three-pointer at the 3:14 mark to make it 8-3. Devaney added a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to make it 12-5 after one quarter. Lehigh went 1-for-13 in the quarter, but Bucknell was not much better as both teams combined to go 5-for-28 in the opening frame.
LU started the second 0-for-5 before Williams hit a baseline jumper and Hedstrom followed with a jumper to make it 17-11. Bucknell built a 24-13 lead before Mann got on the scoresheet with a jumper in the lane to make it 24-15, and Mariah Sexe drained a three with four seconds left in the half as Lehigh cut it to 26-18 at halftime. Lehigh closed the half by hitting five of their last 12 shots after the 1-for-18 start, shooting 6-for-30 in the opening half. Bucknell was 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) in the opening 20 minutes. The 18 points was the second lowest point total for a half this season and the five points in the first quarter was a season-low.
Lehigh returned from the locker room and shot much better in the third quarter, outscoring Bucknell 18-13 in the period and shooting 7-for-13 to trim the deficit down to three. Buhr started the half by hitting her first four shots as Lehigh got within 31-26. Lehigh hit two out of a possible four free throws to make it 35-28 following a personal foul and technical foul coming out of the media timeout at 4:17. Benz scored three straight points to make it 39-33 in the final minute, then Sexe hit her second buzzer-beater in as many quarters, draining a long three from the corner as time expired to make it a three-point ballgame entering the fourth quarter.
"Mariah did a good job stepping up and doing her job," Troyan said. "She's a very strong perimeter shooter and knocked down some key buckets to keep us in the game.
"Cam Buhr stepped up and played really well for us," Troyan said. "She wanted the ball in her hands on the offensive end and I think we got all out of sorts when she had to sit in the first quarter with those two quick fouls before we made a run with her back in there in the second. I think that goes to show you how important she is to our team."
Benz hit a free throw to make it a two-point game 15 seconds into the fourth. Bucknell scored the next five points and kept the lead to no less than five until Gena Grundhoffer drilled a three-pointer as part of back-to-back hoops to make it 48-44 with 5:40 left. Bucknell started the quarter 4-for-5 from the field to hold a 50-44 lead at the media timeout. Benz and Devaney added back-to-back layups to cut the deficit down to four on two separate occasions, but from there, Bucknell went on to score their final seven points from the free throw line as Lehigh missed six of its last eight shots over the final 3:08.
"We didn't turn the ball over, but we didn't make a lot of shots," Troyan said. "In the last six possessions of the game, we had great open looks at the basket, but they just didn't go down."
Up next, Lehigh will return home on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. to host top ranked American at Stabler Arena. All are encouraged to wear pink for the annual Play4Kay game which will double as National Girls and Women in Sports Day. For every fan in attendance, one dollar will be donated to women's cancer foundations, courtesy of Dunne Manning.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Bucknell won the battle on the boards 37-34 and came away with nine blocked shots and nine steals. The Bison shot 41.7 percent from the field and 20 percent from long range, while Lehigh shot 33.3 percent overall and 28.6 from downtown. Lehigh falls to 13-10 (7-5 PL), while Bucknell improves to 15-8 (9-3 PL).
"I thought we looked a little tired today," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We missed a large number of point-blank layups with no one between us and the basket. We missed a lot of easy baskets at the rim, which are shots we typically finish."
Both teams got off to sluggish starts as the Bison started 2-for-9 and Lehigh began 0-for-6 as the Bison built a 6-0 lead at the first media timeout at the 4:15 mark. Lehigh's first basket came nearly seven minutes in when Devaney broke a 0-for-7 start with a three-pointer at the 3:14 mark to make it 8-3. Devaney added a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to make it 12-5 after one quarter. Lehigh went 1-for-13 in the quarter, but Bucknell was not much better as both teams combined to go 5-for-28 in the opening frame.
LU started the second 0-for-5 before Williams hit a baseline jumper and Hedstrom followed with a jumper to make it 17-11. Bucknell built a 24-13 lead before Mann got on the scoresheet with a jumper in the lane to make it 24-15, and Mariah Sexe drained a three with four seconds left in the half as Lehigh cut it to 26-18 at halftime. Lehigh closed the half by hitting five of their last 12 shots after the 1-for-18 start, shooting 6-for-30 in the opening half. Bucknell was 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) in the opening 20 minutes. The 18 points was the second lowest point total for a half this season and the five points in the first quarter was a season-low.
Lehigh returned from the locker room and shot much better in the third quarter, outscoring Bucknell 18-13 in the period and shooting 7-for-13 to trim the deficit down to three. Buhr started the half by hitting her first four shots as Lehigh got within 31-26. Lehigh hit two out of a possible four free throws to make it 35-28 following a personal foul and technical foul coming out of the media timeout at 4:17. Benz scored three straight points to make it 39-33 in the final minute, then Sexe hit her second buzzer-beater in as many quarters, draining a long three from the corner as time expired to make it a three-point ballgame entering the fourth quarter.
"Mariah did a good job stepping up and doing her job," Troyan said. "She's a very strong perimeter shooter and knocked down some key buckets to keep us in the game.
"Cam Buhr stepped up and played really well for us," Troyan said. "She wanted the ball in her hands on the offensive end and I think we got all out of sorts when she had to sit in the first quarter with those two quick fouls before we made a run with her back in there in the second. I think that goes to show you how important she is to our team."
Benz hit a free throw to make it a two-point game 15 seconds into the fourth. Bucknell scored the next five points and kept the lead to no less than five until Gena Grundhoffer drilled a three-pointer as part of back-to-back hoops to make it 48-44 with 5:40 left. Bucknell started the quarter 4-for-5 from the field to hold a 50-44 lead at the media timeout. Benz and Devaney added back-to-back layups to cut the deficit down to four on two separate occasions, but from there, Bucknell went on to score their final seven points from the free throw line as Lehigh missed six of its last eight shots over the final 3:08.
"We didn't turn the ball over, but we didn't make a lot of shots," Troyan said. "In the last six possessions of the game, we had great open looks at the basket, but they just didn't go down."
Up next, Lehigh will return home on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. to host top ranked American at Stabler Arena. All are encouraged to wear pink for the annual Play4Kay game which will double as National Girls and Women in Sports Day. For every fan in attendance, one dollar will be donated to women's cancer foundations, courtesy of Dunne Manning.
Like Lehigh women's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
BUCKNELL
FG%
.333
.417
3FG%
.286
.200
FT%
.571
.696
RB
34
37
TO
12
13
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballLehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
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