Friday, November 22
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
5-0,0-0Patriot
75
vs
68
Seton Hall
4-2,0-0Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Seton Hall
16
18
20
14
68
Lehigh
22
18
13
22
75
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Complete team effort gets Lehigh 75-68 victory over Seton Hall at Stabler
11/22/2019 10:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Against one of the more talked about opponents on the schedule for the 2019-20 season, the Lehigh women's basketball team led for most of the game, used two big-time performances from key seniors, taking down Seton Hall, 75-68 at Stabler Arena Friday on Knoebels Night.
The Mountain Hawks came out of the gate firing on all cylinders to open, leading the Pirates 22-16 at the end of the first quarter of play. A Cameryn Benz layup pushed the score to 12-5 heading into the first media timeout. Junior Mariah Sexe scored all six of her points for the night in the final 1:24 of the first quarter to give Lehigh a six-point lead heading into the second.
In the second quarter, a Mya Jackson 3-point shot with 6:10 remaining gave Seton Hall its first lead of the game, but it would be short-lived as Camryn Buhr answered back with a 3-pointer of her own to put the Mountain Hawks back up by two points. Seton Hall tied the game back up with 3:16 to play in the first half after the media timeout, but Buhr and Benz got the lead back up to four with 2:32 on the clock. Sophomore Katie Rice nailed a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in the half to put Lehigh up by six, 40-34 heading into the locker room. It wasn't surprising for Lehigh to hold an advantage at the break, after leading at halftime in all five games in 2019 so far.
With 6:07 left in the third quarter, Buhr's 3-pointer gave Lehigh its largest lead of the game at nine points, leading 47-38. The Pirates scored eight unanswered points to trail by just one point, 47-46 with 4:18 left. Seton Hall ended up out-scoring Lehigh 20-13 in the third quarter to take a 54-53 lead into the fourth.
With 1:23 remaining, Alexis Lewis gave Seton Hall its final basket of the game to trail, 69-68 before the Mountain Hawks converted foul shots for the remainder of the game to come away with a 75-68 home victory.
"They were a really good team, I think they were picked to finish third in the conference this season," said head coach Sue Troyan. "It was a real strong game from our team coming out here, I thought from start to finish played really consistently on both ends of the floor both offensively and defensively, took care of the basketball which was a priority and did a really good job in transition defense. I really thought tonight was a team effort."
For the second straight game, Camryn Buhr scored 20 points with 11 rebounds to lead the way in the points column and for the fifth straight game to open the season, she found herself scoring in double-digits. Cameryn Benz added 16 points to go along with 10 boards for her first double-double of the year. Buhr and Benz became the first Lehigh pair to record a double-double in the same game since Lexi Martins and Kerry Kinek against Loyola (Md.) on Jan. 6, 2016.
Gena Grundhoffer finished with eight points and five rebounds, while Emma Grothaus had another strong game off the bench, tallying eight points to go along with eight boards. Grundhoffer and Megan Walker both led the team in +/- with a +16 on the night.
The Mountain Hawks made seven 3-pointers for the game, going 31.8 percent (7-for-22), while shooting 38.2 percent (26-for-68) from the field. Lehigh out-rebounded Seton Hall, 52-44 while committing only 10 turnovers despite the Pirates only turning the ball over six times during the night. Friday was the first game all season that the Lehigh bench failed to record at least 30 points, but the bench did out-score Seton Hall's, 28-4.
The win propels Lehigh's overall record to a perfect 5-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season. It is the first time the Mountain Hawks defeated Seton Hall since 1985, snapping a four-game skid, while earning its first win over a BIG EAST opponent since the 2009-10 season when the Mountain Hawks bested Villanova, 80-65 at Stabler Arena. That team went on to win the Patriot League Championship for the second straight season.
"I think this a team that has a lot of confidence right now, honestly," said Troyan. "Obviously when you have six seniors, a fifth-year in Meagan, when they walk on the court, they have a lot of confidence, they know what we're doing, how we're doing it. They're really good at end-of-game situations and executing down the stretch.
"We talked about how Seton Hall was going to make a run, we needed to withstand that and I thought we just had a lot of consistent play across the board. And they had a lot confidence, I think they knew the whole time they were going to win the game."
The Mountain Hawks turn their attention to Thanksgiving weekend against Ball State and Fordham during the Bahamas Hoopfest Classic in Nassau.
Lehigh Women's Basketball held Seton Hall to under 40% shooting! Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem!
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (11/22/2019) Lehigh WBB vs. Seton Hall 11-22-19
The Mountain Hawks came out of the gate firing on all cylinders to open, leading the Pirates 22-16 at the end of the first quarter of play. A Cameryn Benz layup pushed the score to 12-5 heading into the first media timeout. Junior Mariah Sexe scored all six of her points for the night in the final 1:24 of the first quarter to give Lehigh a six-point lead heading into the second.
In the second quarter, a Mya Jackson 3-point shot with 6:10 remaining gave Seton Hall its first lead of the game, but it would be short-lived as Camryn Buhr answered back with a 3-pointer of her own to put the Mountain Hawks back up by two points. Seton Hall tied the game back up with 3:16 to play in the first half after the media timeout, but Buhr and Benz got the lead back up to four with 2:32 on the clock. Sophomore Katie Rice nailed a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in the half to put Lehigh up by six, 40-34 heading into the locker room. It wasn't surprising for Lehigh to hold an advantage at the break, after leading at halftime in all five games in 2019 so far.
With 6:07 left in the third quarter, Buhr's 3-pointer gave Lehigh its largest lead of the game at nine points, leading 47-38. The Pirates scored eight unanswered points to trail by just one point, 47-46 with 4:18 left. Seton Hall ended up out-scoring Lehigh 20-13 in the third quarter to take a 54-53 lead into the fourth.
The Mountain Hawks found themselves dominating the fourth stanza, despite trailing by four points early after another Jackson 3-pointer. After the media timeout with seven minutes to play in regulation, Mary Clougherty drained a 3 to put Lehigh back up by four, 61-57.The step back and the three. Camryn Buhr is on fire. She's up to 17 points, putting the Mountain Hawks up by seven in the third. Watch: https://t.co/qhAZqKx5c4. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/JAn2AMckJt
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) November 23, 2019
The Pirates tied the game back up at 66 with 2:41 to play when Lehigh had perhaps its most clutch possession of the game when fifth-year Meagan Eripret drove to the basket off the Buhr assist, put the ball in the net and drew the foul for the and-one. Eripret's basket put the Mountain Hawks up two, 68-66. She got back to the line in similar fashion, this time making one of the two shots to put Lehigh up by three points.THREE! Nothing but net for Mary Clougherty who puts the Mountain Hawks up by four with a little over six minutes to play. Watch: https://t.co/qhAZqKx5c4. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/D2H8SlY521
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) November 23, 2019
AND 1! What a play by Meagan Eripret to put the Mountain Hawks back up by two points. That is pure hustle out of the fifth-year. Watch: https://t.co/qhAZqKx5c4. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/tdRmKgzkba
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) November 23, 2019
With 1:23 remaining, Alexis Lewis gave Seton Hall its final basket of the game to trail, 69-68 before the Mountain Hawks converted foul shots for the remainder of the game to come away with a 75-68 home victory.
"They were a really good team, I think they were picked to finish third in the conference this season," said head coach Sue Troyan. "It was a real strong game from our team coming out here, I thought from start to finish played really consistently on both ends of the floor both offensively and defensively, took care of the basketball which was a priority and did a really good job in transition defense. I really thought tonight was a team effort."
For the second straight game, Camryn Buhr scored 20 points with 11 rebounds to lead the way in the points column and for the fifth straight game to open the season, she found herself scoring in double-digits. Cameryn Benz added 16 points to go along with 10 boards for her first double-double of the year. Buhr and Benz became the first Lehigh pair to record a double-double in the same game since Lexi Martins and Kerry Kinek against Loyola (Md.) on Jan. 6, 2016.
Gena Grundhoffer finished with eight points and five rebounds, while Emma Grothaus had another strong game off the bench, tallying eight points to go along with eight boards. Grundhoffer and Megan Walker both led the team in +/- with a +16 on the night.
The Mountain Hawks made seven 3-pointers for the game, going 31.8 percent (7-for-22), while shooting 38.2 percent (26-for-68) from the field. Lehigh out-rebounded Seton Hall, 52-44 while committing only 10 turnovers despite the Pirates only turning the ball over six times during the night. Friday was the first game all season that the Lehigh bench failed to record at least 30 points, but the bench did out-score Seton Hall's, 28-4.
The win propels Lehigh's overall record to a perfect 5-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season. It is the first time the Mountain Hawks defeated Seton Hall since 1985, snapping a four-game skid, while earning its first win over a BIG EAST opponent since the 2009-10 season when the Mountain Hawks bested Villanova, 80-65 at Stabler Arena. That team went on to win the Patriot League Championship for the second straight season.
"I think this a team that has a lot of confidence right now, honestly," said Troyan. "Obviously when you have six seniors, a fifth-year in Meagan, when they walk on the court, they have a lot of confidence, they know what we're doing, how we're doing it. They're really good at end-of-game situations and executing down the stretch.
"We talked about how Seton Hall was going to make a run, we needed to withstand that and I thought we just had a lot of consistent play across the board. And they had a lot confidence, I think they knew the whole time they were going to win the game."
The Mountain Hawks turn their attention to Thanksgiving weekend against Ball State and Fordham during the Bahamas Hoopfest Classic in Nassau.
Lehigh Women's Basketball held Seton Hall to under 40% shooting! Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem!
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
SHU
Lehigh
FG%
.347
.382
3FG%
.227
.318
FT%
.684
.800
RB
44
52
TO
6
10
STL
3
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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