Lehigh University Athletics
Wednesday, January 15
Annapolis, Md.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
13-3, 5-0PL
60
at
53
Navy
5-11, 0-5PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
14
9
17
20
60
Navy
14
13
14
12
53
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Mountain Hawks close out Navy, 60-53 on the road for sixth straight win
1/15/2020 11:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lehigh off to best start on the road in program history at 7-1
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Never give up. That seems to be the mantra of the Lehigh women's basketball team as of late, at least on the road. Lehigh fought back after trailing at the end of the first half and third quarter to pull out a 60-53 win at Navy Wednesday evening at Alumni Hall. The win marks the sixth in a row for the Mountain Hawks (13-3, 5-0 Patriot), who are off to their best start in Patriot League play since the 2004-05 campaign.
Lehigh and Navy battled for much of the first quarter, as the Mountain Hawks never led by more than three points, thanks to a Camryn Buhr 3-pointer with 7:25 to go to put Lehigh in front, 7-4. Fifth-year Meagan Eripret hit a jumper to give the Mountain Hawks a 14-12 advantage, but the Midshipmen tied up the game at 14 with 17 seconds left to close out the first frame.
It was a steady first quarter for shooting from the Lehigh contingent, going 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from the floor, but it struggled from beyond-the-arc, going 2-for-8, good for 25 percent.
Cameryn Benz and Megan Walker put the Mountain Hawks back in front by four, 20-16 with 5:20 left in the second quarter with their shots, but after Morgan Taylor hit a jumper to bring Navy within two again, Camryn Buhr's 3-pointer extended Lehigh's lead to five, 23-18 with 4:45 to play. The Mids ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run to go from being down by five to being up by four points, 27-23 at the end of the first half. This marked just the fourth time all season that Lehigh trailed at the end of the first half of play, going 1-2 in those games this year.
The second half started off with a Hannah Hedstrom jumper at the 8:15 mark to cut the deficit to two points, 27-25 and Cameryn Benz tied up the game for the seventh time at 27 with 7:36 to play. Hedstrom put Lehigh back ahead by two with another jumper with 6:09 left but the Midshipmen followed it up with another 3-pointer with 5:46 left to put them ahead, 30-29. Walker answered right back with a 3-pointer of her own for the Mountain Hawks to take the lead back, 32-30, but Navy eventually got the lead back up to 36-32 with 3:32 on the clock. Trailing by five points, 39-34 with 1:32 left in the third quarter, a pair of triples from Walker and Buhr cut the Navy lead down to one, 41-40 heading into the final stanza.
Hedstrom started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Mountain Hawks the lead back and Lehigh got its lead all the back out to a six-point cushion with 4:10 left in regulation, up 52-46. The Midshipmen cut the Lehigh lead back down to just two points, 52-50 with 2:30 left to play, but Walker drilled a free throw to increase the lead to three and a timely layup with just 56 seconds left on the clock from Hedstrom put the Mountain Hawks up by five, 55-50.
It all came down to hitting shots from the foul line in the final 50 seconds as the Mountain Hawks converted on five of their six chances to pull away from Navy and come away with a seven-point victory on the road.
"I thought we did a nice job distributing the ball tonight, even though I felt like we missed a lot of open shots," said head coach Sue Troyan. "But they did a great job sharing the ball and finding each other. When you come down here to Annapolis, you always know you're going to face a scrappy team that's going to play neck-and-neck and it's pretty much what I expected, I thought our kids executed well down the stretch."
Three Lehigh players scored in double-figures, led by Camryn Buhr and Cameryn Benz, who each had 13 points on the night. Megan Walker added 11 points, her third straight game scoring in double figures. Hannah Hedstrom added nine points while Mariah Sexe chipped in six points, followed by Meagan Eripret with four.
Buhr also tallied eight rebounds on the night, with four assists, three steals and a block in 36 minutes. Benz had six boards with two blocks and two steals.
"Cam Buhr struggled a little bit offensively today, but made some big shots for us when we needed them and we can always count on her for that," said Troyan. "She's adjusting to a lot of defenses right now, but we've talked a lot to her about just letting the game come to her and when she does that, she's pretty effective."
The Mountain Hawks shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52) from the field, 32 percent (8-for-25) from range and 75 percent (12-of-16) from the charity stripe. Though Navy shot 43.4 percent from the field overall, Lehigh held the Midshipmen to just 22.7 (5-for-22) from downtown.
Lehigh scored 17 points off 19 Navy turnovers while turning the ball over just 12 times, resulting in eight points for the Midshipmen offense.
The win is Lehigh's seventh road victory of the season, improving the mark to 7-1, the best start on the road for the Mountain Hawks in program history. The win also marks the 10th straight regular season Patriot League victory for Lehigh dating back to last season and the fourth straight win over the Midshipmen, the longest streak against Navy since Lehigh won six in a row between Jan. 16, 2008 and Feb. 11, 2010.
"Our girls are gaining their confidence right now," Troyan said. "We've been saying this a lot, but there's so much room for us to get a lot better, which is exciting too.
"So, we just gotta keep working at it and keep working to make sure we're playing our best basketball in February."
Lehigh remains unbeaten atop the Patriot League at 5-0 and will square off with the other unbeaten squad, the Bucknell Bison, who are also 5-0 heading into an anticipated matchup at Stabler Arena Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.
Tickets for the game and any other game can be purchased here or by calling 610-7LU-GAME.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Gallery: (1/15/2020) Women's Basketball at Navy, 1/15/20
Lehigh and Navy battled for much of the first quarter, as the Mountain Hawks never led by more than three points, thanks to a Camryn Buhr 3-pointer with 7:25 to go to put Lehigh in front, 7-4. Fifth-year Meagan Eripret hit a jumper to give the Mountain Hawks a 14-12 advantage, but the Midshipmen tied up the game at 14 with 17 seconds left to close out the first frame.
It was a steady first quarter for shooting from the Lehigh contingent, going 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from the floor, but it struggled from beyond-the-arc, going 2-for-8, good for 25 percent.
Cameryn Benz and Megan Walker put the Mountain Hawks back in front by four, 20-16 with 5:20 left in the second quarter with their shots, but after Morgan Taylor hit a jumper to bring Navy within two again, Camryn Buhr's 3-pointer extended Lehigh's lead to five, 23-18 with 4:45 to play. The Mids ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run to go from being down by five to being up by four points, 27-23 at the end of the first half. This marked just the fourth time all season that Lehigh trailed at the end of the first half of play, going 1-2 in those games this year.
The second half started off with a Hannah Hedstrom jumper at the 8:15 mark to cut the deficit to two points, 27-25 and Cameryn Benz tied up the game for the seventh time at 27 with 7:36 to play. Hedstrom put Lehigh back ahead by two with another jumper with 6:09 left but the Midshipmen followed it up with another 3-pointer with 5:46 left to put them ahead, 30-29. Walker answered right back with a 3-pointer of her own for the Mountain Hawks to take the lead back, 32-30, but Navy eventually got the lead back up to 36-32 with 3:32 on the clock. Trailing by five points, 39-34 with 1:32 left in the third quarter, a pair of triples from Walker and Buhr cut the Navy lead down to one, 41-40 heading into the final stanza.
Hedstrom started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Mountain Hawks the lead back and Lehigh got its lead all the back out to a six-point cushion with 4:10 left in regulation, up 52-46. The Midshipmen cut the Lehigh lead back down to just two points, 52-50 with 2:30 left to play, but Walker drilled a free throw to increase the lead to three and a timely layup with just 56 seconds left on the clock from Hedstrom put the Mountain Hawks up by five, 55-50.
It all came down to hitting shots from the foul line in the final 50 seconds as the Mountain Hawks converted on five of their six chances to pull away from Navy and come away with a seven-point victory on the road.
"I thought we did a nice job distributing the ball tonight, even though I felt like we missed a lot of open shots," said head coach Sue Troyan. "But they did a great job sharing the ball and finding each other. When you come down here to Annapolis, you always know you're going to face a scrappy team that's going to play neck-and-neck and it's pretty much what I expected, I thought our kids executed well down the stretch."
Three Lehigh players scored in double-figures, led by Camryn Buhr and Cameryn Benz, who each had 13 points on the night. Megan Walker added 11 points, her third straight game scoring in double figures. Hannah Hedstrom added nine points while Mariah Sexe chipped in six points, followed by Meagan Eripret with four.
Buhr also tallied eight rebounds on the night, with four assists, three steals and a block in 36 minutes. Benz had six boards with two blocks and two steals.
"Cam Buhr struggled a little bit offensively today, but made some big shots for us when we needed them and we can always count on her for that," said Troyan. "She's adjusting to a lot of defenses right now, but we've talked a lot to her about just letting the game come to her and when she does that, she's pretty effective."
The Mountain Hawks shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52) from the field, 32 percent (8-for-25) from range and 75 percent (12-of-16) from the charity stripe. Though Navy shot 43.4 percent from the field overall, Lehigh held the Midshipmen to just 22.7 (5-for-22) from downtown.
Lehigh scored 17 points off 19 Navy turnovers while turning the ball over just 12 times, resulting in eight points for the Midshipmen offense.
The win is Lehigh's seventh road victory of the season, improving the mark to 7-1, the best start on the road for the Mountain Hawks in program history. The win also marks the 10th straight regular season Patriot League victory for Lehigh dating back to last season and the fourth straight win over the Midshipmen, the longest streak against Navy since Lehigh won six in a row between Jan. 16, 2008 and Feb. 11, 2010.
"Our girls are gaining their confidence right now," Troyan said. "We've been saying this a lot, but there's so much room for us to get a lot better, which is exciting too.
"So, we just gotta keep working at it and keep working to make sure we're playing our best basketball in February."
Lehigh remains unbeaten atop the Patriot League at 5-0 and will square off with the other unbeaten squad, the Bucknell Bison, who are also 5-0 heading into an anticipated matchup at Stabler Arena Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.
Tickets for the game and any other game can be purchased here or by calling 610-7LU-GAME.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Heart + Hustle. Senior guard @h_heds did a little bit of everything on the floor tonight. She talked to @MattMarkusLV after the Mountain Hawks' sixth straight victory. #GoLehigh #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/x4KuaUexsJ
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) January 16, 2020
Team Stats
LEHIGH
NAVY
FG%
.385
.434
3FG%
.320
.227
FT%
.750
.667
RB
28
37
TO
12
19
STL
7
5
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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