Monday, November 18
Bethlehem, Pa.
5:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
4-0,0-0Patriot
70
vs
51
Central Connecticut State
0-4,0-0NEC
1
2
3
4
F
Central Conn. St.
11
7
18
15
51
Lehigh
15
14
20
21
70
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Mountain Hawks improve to 4-0 with 70-51 victory over CCSU
11/18/2019 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh women's basketball team's Monday night contest was highlighted by a 12-2 run to kick off the second quarter and was capped off by giant performances for two of the team's key players, as the Mountain Hawks scored 46 of their 70 points in the paint to come away with a 70-51 victory over Central Connecticut State at Stabler Arena. With the victory, Lehigh is 4-0 to start a season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Trailing for a brief moment in the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks made sure they retook the lead in a quick fashion, leading 15-11 at the first break. Lehigh finished the first half of play with the Blue Devils trailing by 11 points after Emma Grothaus' layup put the Mountain Hawks up 29-16.
Though CCSU battled for most of the third stanza, the Mountain Hawks had a strong showing from their bench to lead by 13 heading into the fourth, their largest lead of the quarter, never allowing the Blue Devils to get closer than four points at the very beginning of the period. Clair Steele led all Lehigh scorers with seven points in the third quarter alone, picking up a steal and drawing two fouls in the process.
Despite the large lead at the end of the third, Lehigh only out-scored CCSU, 20-18 in the quarter, the Blue Devils a near-perfect 8-of-10 from the field including a 3-pointer. The Mountain Hawks shot well, going 8-of-17 from the field including 4-of-7 from the free throw line, but it was all about the defense once again forcing eight of CCSU's 24 turnovers scattered throughout the contest.
Coming out of the fourth quarter media timeout with 6:50 to play in regulation, the Mountain Hawks got out to what was then their largest lead of the game at 22 points, up 60-38 following a 3-point basket for Grothaus, the team's first of the game to that point. CCSU got as close as 14 points away with 4:25 to play in the game, but the Mountain Hawks continued to pour it on after Gena Grundhoffer's 3-pointer with 3:02 left made it 68-46 and then a fast break layup for Frannie Hottinger off the Grothaus dish gave Lehigh its largest lead of the game, up 24, 70-46 with just 2:25 remaining on the clock.
"It wasn't our best basketball honestly, but there were some bright spots," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought Cam (Buhr) played very strong on the offensive end, I thought Emma (Grothaus) had a real strong game for us as well.
"We missed a lot of good looks at the rim in the first half, we gotta be more consistent on the offensive end, the defense has been real consistent and has kept us in games, got us leads and that's the thing we need to build on right now, we need to build our offensive confidence as well."
Camryn Buhr led the way in scoring with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds. It's her first 20-point performance of the season so far and has now scored in double-digits in four straight games to open the season. Emma Grothaus led the second unit with a season-high 15 points and five rebounds, adding two steals and a block. Her +/- was also a game-high plus-28 on the night. Grothaus played more minutes than any other member of the Lehigh team on Monday night, playing 27:15 of 40 minutes.
"Emma is really coming into her own," Troyan said. "She has a big, big ceiling. There's a lot there that people are seeing, but there's a lot more as she gets physically more stronger, as she gets more confident.
"She's just a really versatile player that can score in a lot of different ways and I love the fact that we bring her off the bench, honestly. You have two or three kids that can come in and have double-figures every night and that takes some pressure off of our starters as well."
Senior point guard Hannah Hedstrom had a strong showing as the floor general with season-highs so far in points (8) and assists (5) with two steals and three rebounds in 22 minutes. Grundhoffer had seven points, two assists and two steals with two boards as well, including her 3-pointer. For the fourth game in a row, the bench scored at least 30 point, out-scoring the fourth straight opponent in that category to open up the new season.
"I think our length and our size gives people a little trouble," said Troyan. "We play pretty disciplined, we tend to not foul a lot, I think that's part of our gameplan going into contests and we used some different sets, some different squads as well that come in and do some different things, I thought that they were effective as well tonight."
The Mountain Hawks shot a 42.9 percent (27-for-63) from the field, out-rebounded CCSU 38-31 and committed just 13 turnovers, forcing 24 for CCSU. It was the second game in a row that the Lehigh defense forced 20 or more turnovers.
Lehigh will put its winning streak back on the line on Friday evening when Big East foe Seton Hall comes to Stabler Arena on Knoebels Night in the final game of the three-game homestand before the Thanksgiving weekend trip to The Bahamas.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Gallery: (11/18/2019) Lehigh WBB vs. CCSU 11-18-19
Trailing for a brief moment in the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks made sure they retook the lead in a quick fashion, leading 15-11 at the first break. Lehigh finished the first half of play with the Blue Devils trailing by 11 points after Emma Grothaus' layup put the Mountain Hawks up 29-16.
Though CCSU battled for most of the third stanza, the Mountain Hawks had a strong showing from their bench to lead by 13 heading into the fourth, their largest lead of the quarter, never allowing the Blue Devils to get closer than four points at the very beginning of the period. Clair Steele led all Lehigh scorers with seven points in the third quarter alone, picking up a steal and drawing two fouls in the process.
Despite the large lead at the end of the third, Lehigh only out-scored CCSU, 20-18 in the quarter, the Blue Devils a near-perfect 8-of-10 from the field including a 3-pointer. The Mountain Hawks shot well, going 8-of-17 from the field including 4-of-7 from the free throw line, but it was all about the defense once again forcing eight of CCSU's 24 turnovers scattered throughout the contest.
Coming out of the fourth quarter media timeout with 6:50 to play in regulation, the Mountain Hawks got out to what was then their largest lead of the game at 22 points, up 60-38 following a 3-point basket for Grothaus, the team's first of the game to that point. CCSU got as close as 14 points away with 4:25 to play in the game, but the Mountain Hawks continued to pour it on after Gena Grundhoffer's 3-pointer with 3:02 left made it 68-46 and then a fast break layup for Frannie Hottinger off the Grothaus dish gave Lehigh its largest lead of the game, up 24, 70-46 with just 2:25 remaining on the clock.
That Hottinger shot would be the last of the game for Lehigh, allowing five CCSU points in the final two minutes, but the Mountain Hawks hung on for the 19 point win, improving to an overall record of 4-0 with back-to-back victories at Stabler Arena.THREE! 🙌 Emma Grothaus puts Lehigh up, 60-38 with the team's first 3-pointer of the game. She has 15 points tonight. Watch: https://t.co/qhAZqKx5c4. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/E2JGzvSYht
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) November 19, 2019
"It wasn't our best basketball honestly, but there were some bright spots," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought Cam (Buhr) played very strong on the offensive end, I thought Emma (Grothaus) had a real strong game for us as well.
"We missed a lot of good looks at the rim in the first half, we gotta be more consistent on the offensive end, the defense has been real consistent and has kept us in games, got us leads and that's the thing we need to build on right now, we need to build our offensive confidence as well."
Camryn Buhr led the way in scoring with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds. It's her first 20-point performance of the season so far and has now scored in double-digits in four straight games to open the season. Emma Grothaus led the second unit with a season-high 15 points and five rebounds, adding two steals and a block. Her +/- was also a game-high plus-28 on the night. Grothaus played more minutes than any other member of the Lehigh team on Monday night, playing 27:15 of 40 minutes.
Camryn Buhr gets the layup, puts Lehigh up by 11 again. She's at 20 points for the first time in 2019. Three points from her career-high. Watch: https://t.co/qhAZqKx5c4. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/jyFRFSTmNT
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) November 18, 2019
"Emma is really coming into her own," Troyan said. "She has a big, big ceiling. There's a lot there that people are seeing, but there's a lot more as she gets physically more stronger, as she gets more confident.
"She's just a really versatile player that can score in a lot of different ways and I love the fact that we bring her off the bench, honestly. You have two or three kids that can come in and have double-figures every night and that takes some pressure off of our starters as well."
Senior point guard Hannah Hedstrom had a strong showing as the floor general with season-highs so far in points (8) and assists (5) with two steals and three rebounds in 22 minutes. Grundhoffer had seven points, two assists and two steals with two boards as well, including her 3-pointer. For the fourth game in a row, the bench scored at least 30 point, out-scoring the fourth straight opponent in that category to open up the new season.
"I think our length and our size gives people a little trouble," said Troyan. "We play pretty disciplined, we tend to not foul a lot, I think that's part of our gameplan going into contests and we used some different sets, some different squads as well that come in and do some different things, I thought that they were effective as well tonight."
The Mountain Hawks shot a 42.9 percent (27-for-63) from the field, out-rebounded CCSU 38-31 and committed just 13 turnovers, forcing 24 for CCSU. It was the second game in a row that the Lehigh defense forced 20 or more turnovers.
Lehigh will put its winning streak back on the line on Friday evening when Big East foe Seton Hall comes to Stabler Arena on Knoebels Night in the final game of the three-game homestand before the Thanksgiving weekend trip to The Bahamas.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
CCSU
Lehigh
FG%
.420
.429
3FG%
.286
.250
FT%
.714
.619
RB
31
38
TO
24
13
STL
9
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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