Almost exactly 10 years ago, Lehigh women's basketball was getting set to begin their quest to defend their second Patriot League title in program history with an amazing group of student athletes.
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Little did they know during the 2010 tournament, they would do just that as the Mountain Hawks finished the year 29-4 overall with a league record of 13-1 to earn their second consecutive championship and the third all-time.
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Fast forward 10 years and the program is in a position to succeed and get to that next level, after finishing with the team's best season since that magical 2009-10 run. Last season, Lehigh finished the year 21-10 overall with a Patriot League record of 12-6, finishing in third place and earning a berth to the semifinal round. While the team couldn't escape American on the road, the loss set them up for a bright future moving forward and into the 2019-20 season on the silver anniversary of the program's third league title and NCAA Tournament appearance.
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Last year was a strong season for Lehigh, but the expectations remain the same for head coach Sue Troyan's team, as another challenging schedule awaits culminating with tough league play in 2020.
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"The expectations of our program remain consistent from year to year," said Troyan. "To work hard and use every day as an opportunity to be our best while putting our program in a position to compete at the highest level within our league.
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"We feel we have the leadership, talent, experience and depth to compete at a very high level this year given six seniors, a returning core of 13 players, and four returning multi-year starters."
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Those returnees and multi-year starters have made significant strides and impacts to put this current group of young women in a position to succeed and achieve their goals.
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Guards
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The Mountain Hawks feature a ton of talented players at the guard position with the returns of two-time All-Patriot League selection Camryn Buhr, All Defensive-Team and Academic All-Patriot League selection Hannah Hedstrom and also a deep and talented group of players who will bring strength and versatility to the guard rotation.
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Buhr comes into the season as Lehigh's returning leading scorer (12.9 ppg) and rebounder (6.8 rpg) and is just 26 points shy of 1,000 for her career at 974. Hedstrom has paced the Mountain Hawks in assists each of the last three seasons and averaged 3.2 assists per game a year ago.
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— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) June 19, 2019
Returning for their sophomore years are Megan Walker and Clair Steele, both looking to make immediate impacts on the floor from the point guard and wing positions. Added into the group is freshman point guard Anna Harvey, who will be looking to provide valuable minutes as an important member of the rotation.
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We have a strong contingency of guards that will provide immense depth at each position," Troyan said. "Some of our strongest depth will be at the point guard position with the talents of Hannah, Clair and Anna. Hannah and Clair will provide our team with a dynamic look at the point guard position as each of them brings different strengths to this position. Hannah is the floor general who sets the tone for our team on the defensive end while unselfishly distributing the ball in our motion offense.
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"Clair is a dynamic point guard who can distribute the ball and score in a variety of ways, she also gives versatility to the position with her ability to play the off-guard position. Anna will add strong depth to our point guard rotation, as she pushes both point guards to bring their best every day."
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The key loss of last season's roster is Hailey Pascoe, who graduated in May. Pascoe made 66 of Lehigh 202 3-pointers during the 2019-20 season and finished her career ninth in program history in that category with 134. This season, the Mountain Hawks will need a variety of players to step up into Pascoe's role to continue to have outside shooting success.
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"We feel we have a lot of guards who are ready to step up where Hailey left off with her 3-point shooting abilities," said Troyan. "Mary Clougherty, Paige Galiani, Walker and Katie Rice have all shown significant improvements with their perimeter shooting abilities and will provide strong depth and competitiveness at the off-guard position.Â
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"Each of these players have the ability to step in and make contributions to our rotations given their offensive and defensive capabilities and our depth here will provide for one of the most competitive positions on the floor. Buhr will be an anchor in our guard rotation at the wing position given the offensive and defensive strengths she brings to the program. Rice and freshman Frannie Hottinger will also add depth and talent at the wing position with their ability to make an impact at both ends of the floor."
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Forwards
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Like the guard position, Lehigh is full of talent at forward, with a group of players that could step in and compete right away.
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Of those are returning seniors Gena Grundhoffer and Cameryn Benz, who both started the bulk of the games in the post last season.
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Grundhoffer averaged 9.0 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game a season ago, while Benz averaged 7.6 points per game and 6.6 rebounds while playing in 23.3 minutes per game as well. However, they will be joined by a variety of contributors including fifth-year senior Meagan Eripret and the emergence of sophomore Emma Grothaus and junior Mariah Sexe.
Junior Gena Grundhoffer continued to make her presence felt on the court in 2018-19.
🏀Played in every game for a third straight season
🏀15 games with double-figure points
🏀Career-high 46 assists
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) June 28, 2019
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"We do have a lot of depth and versatility in our post positions," said Troyan. "Meagan, Cameryn and Gena bring talent, maturity and experience to our post rotation, but they are challenged every day with the growth and development of Emma and Mariah.Â
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"All five of these players have the ability to make significant contributions in our rotation this season, while Emily Johnson will provide added depth to this rotation. In the post, it will likely be a rotation by committee as each of these players has the ability to bring positive contributions to our programs in a variety of different ways given their skill sets."
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Aside from the known contributions of both Grundhoffer and Benz, the improvement of Grothaus is key for the sustained success of the Mountain Hawks as  her off-season development has provided for significant growth.  She was excellent during her rookie campaign, averaging 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds while averaging 17.5 minutes per game off the bench. Her 21 blocks led the team and she led all freshman players in points per game, rebounds per game, blocks per game (0.7) and minutes per game. Sexe made 15 appearances last season and averaged 1.4 points, 1.3 rebounds in 6.7 minutes per game during the 2018-19 season. She will be utilized even more throughout the year.
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Lehigh's 2019-20 captains - Hedstrom, Sexe and Buhr Roster Depth and Versatility
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The biggest story surrounding this roster is the depth and talent up-and-down the list of players for the upcoming year.
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Buhr, Benz, Grundhoffer and Hedstrom might be the four familiar faces returning for their final seasons on the team, but there is a surplus of other players that will contribute just as much off the bench and at the top of the rotation in addition to those players.Â
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Having the likes of Walker, Steele, and Grothaus only creates more opportunities for individuals to make an impact and help the Mountain Hawks be better-rounded and execute the game plan more thoroughly.
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But having those five seniors with the added fifth-year in Eripret is beneficial in growing the other players and making them better.
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"The storyline for this team will be the depth and versatility we have at every position, and the willingness for every player to embrace their roles knowing that roles on this team may change from game to game given our depth," said Troyan. "We will rely heavily on our senior class for their talents, leadership, decision making, and experience.Â
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"Having a group of six players who have played together for the past three years while improving through each season (10 wins as freshmen, 15 wins as sophomores, 21 wins as juniors) will definitely be a strength to our program. Their leadership, acceptance and mentoring of our underclassmen will also play a critical role in our success this season."
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Outlook
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When the preseason awards and polls were released, there was a consensus around the league that the Mountain Hawks would be the favorite hoist the Patriot League Championship trophy in February 2020 and punch their tickets to the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time in program history.
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In order to do that though, the offseason and preseason was important to learn the ways of the new team, get back on track for upcoming season and execute a game plan to ultimately reach the goals set out for the team.
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"The team has worked hard through the summer and off-season to prepare themselves for the upcoming season. As a pre-season favorite in our league, it will be important for them to adjust to playing with a target on their back and be ready to bring their best in every game," Troyan said. "This has been a focal point of our off-season training (bringing our best every day), so we hope the emphasis on the process will play out in games as well."
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Getting the best out of the team requires a mentality to do whatever it takes to win and be there for their teammates. Going through preseason practice in preparation for this very moment is something that requires every single member of the team to be bought in and eager to be successful.
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"Our mentality as we approach our season is making sure we use every day to better ourselves so we can be the best team possible," said Troyan. "Depth and versatility are key components to how we will play. We plan to use these to play an up-tempo game on both ends of the floor and feel that we will be able to go to our bench and become even stronger.
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"We have a challenging non-league schedule with a lot of road games, we feel strongly that a veteran team with strong leadership will be able to navigate those challenges. The ultimate goal of our schedule is prepare our program for the rigors of what will be a challenging and competitive Patriot League slate."
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