Lehigh University Athletics
Saturday, January 25
Easton, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
13-6,5-3Patriot
53
at
61
Lafayette
9-9,5-3Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
23
7
9
14
53
Lafayette
13
9
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61
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Sloppy second half at Lafayette results in third straight loss for Lehigh
1/25/2020 6:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. — The Lehigh women's basketball team struggled from the second quarter on, out-scored 48-30 during that timeframe after initially taking a 10-point advantage at the end of the first quarter, falling to archrival Lafayette, 61-53 at the Kirby Sports Center Saturday afternoon. The loss is the Mountain Hawks' (13-6, 5-3 Patriot) third straight after starting the league slate off 5-0.
The loss also marks Lehigh's first against the Leopards since the 2014-15 season, snapping an eight-game win streak. Lehigh and Lafayette are now tied for fourth in the Patriot League with a 5-3 record.
It was about as good of a start as you could have asked for in the first quarter for Lehigh, getting out to as much as five points with 5:50 to play after a Megan Walker 3-pointer. The Mountain Hawks led 14-9 heading into the media timeout with 4:35 remaining. Lehigh ended the first quarter on a 9-2 run, leading 23-13 over the Leopards to end the frame after a Mary Clougherty shot from long range.
The Mountain Hawks shot their best all over the floor in the first quarter, shooting 50 percent (9-for-18) from the field and 83.3 percent (5-for-6) from the 3-point line after nailing three consecutive buckets from distance to open the contest.
The second quarter began Lehigh's downfall, after Lafayette opened the quarter with a shot in the paint to cut the deficit to eight points. Clair Steele made a basket with 9:13 left, which proved to be important, as it represented Lehigh's final field goal of the second quarter. Meagan Eripret hit two free throws to put the Mountain Hawks up by 14, their largest lead of the game with 4:21 remaining. The Leopards ended up scoring the final five points of the quarter, trailing Lehigh, 30-22 heading into the locker room.
Lehigh ended up being held scoreless for the final 4:21 of the second quarter and without that elusive field goal make since the nine-minute mark. Lehigh went 1-for-12 in that span to end the half. Despite struggling to convert on offense, both teams' defenses held their ends of the bargains as Lafayette held a 9-7 scoring advantage in that second quarter.
Natalie Kucowski had two buckets to open the third quarter in a span of about 20 seconds with a steal mixed in to cut the Lehigh lead down to four points, 30-26 with 8:59 to play. A Drew Freeland basket on the fast break after a third Kucowski steal with 7:43 left, cut the Lehigh lead to two points, 30-28, forcing the Mountain Hawks to call a timeout.
Lafayette tied the ball game up at 30 with 7:09 remaining in the third, going on a 13-0 run since the conclusion of the second quarter, coming all the way back after trailing 30-17.
Camryn Buhr finally scored the Mountain Hawks' first field goal in over 13 minutes at the 6:41 mark in the third quarter to increase Lehigh's lead to 32-30. The Leopards out-scored Lehigh, 19-9 in the third quarter to head into the final period with a two-point, 41-39 advantage.
The fourth quarter began with a 3-pointer from Walker to put the Mountain Hawks back up by one point, 42-41, but the Leopards answered back with a field goal with 8:35 left to re-take the lead. A Drew Freeland basket with 4:49 left gave Lafayette a three-point, 48-45 lead heading into the media timeout. After Lafayette took a 52-51 lead with 2:04 remaining, Walker drew a foul and went to the line to make one of the two free throws and tie the game at 52. The Leopards ended the game on a 7-2 run after a flurry of Lehigh fouls, taking the first of two Rivalry games this season, 61-53.
"We struggled on the offensive end today, struggled on the perimeter," said head coach Sue Troyan. "Give Lafayette credit on their zone, we just didn't get a lot of clean looks inside or outside. Their zone gave us a lot of trouble honestly."
Three Lehigh players scored in double-figures, led by Cameryn Benz, who scored 14 points and added four rebounds. Megan Walker had 10 points, going 3-for-6 from beyond-the-arc, while Emma Grothaus had 10 points, three rebounds, an assist and also drew seven fouls. Camryn Buhr missed out on a double-double by a point, getting nine points to go along with her 10 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
The Mountain Hawks shot just 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-for-19) from beyond and 47.8 percent (11-for-23) from the free throw line. Lehigh scored 18 points on 17 Lafayette turnovers, had 13 second chance points, but only had two fast break points. The Mountain Hawks' bench out-scored the Leopards, 18-13.
"We struggled to knock down perimeter shots, but I thought our posts did a pretty good job of trying to get inside," said Troyan. "It was hard to go inside against them, but we definitely need to be more consistent."
There were 12 lead changes throughout the game with six ties, as Lehigh led by as many as 14 points near the end of the second quarter, before the Leopards stormed back.
Lafayette shot 40.4 percent (21-for-52) overall from the field, 35.7 percent (5-for-14) from beyond and 73.7 percent (14-for-19) from the free throw line. Drew Freeland led the way with 17 points and six rebounds, while Natalie Kucowski filled up the statsheet with 15 points, 11 boards, three steals and four blocks in 28 minutes.
"Lafayette made its shots, give them credit," Troyan said. "They needed to make shots down the stretch, they made them and we struggled to make stops at that point as well."
For another outing, the Mountain Hawks were out-rebounded by the opposition, this time in favor of Lafayette, 41-33.
"Our rebounding has been a point of emphasis in practice and coming into this game," said Troyan. "The importance of rebounding and that was probably the difference in the game too. The rebounding and the missed foul shots. We left a lot of points at the line as well."
The loss is Lehigh's third straight of the year, the team's longest skid so far this season and longest since dropping three straight Feb. 9-16, 2019. The defeat also marks Lehigh's first league defeat on the road and the first loss on the road since falling to Minnesota on Dec. 21.
"We need to get better in a lot of facets," Troyan said. "Definitely our zone offensive work has got to be better, knocking down perimeter shots and be ready to shoot the ball.
"I thought probably the lack of confidence showed on the foul line as well."
The Mountain Hawks return home to Stabler Arena on Wednesday evening to host American. Lehigh escaped Bender Arena earlier this season with a 64-63 victory over the Eagles. Wednesday's game tips off at 6 p.m.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (1/25/2020) Women's Basketball at Lafayette, 1/25/20
The loss also marks Lehigh's first against the Leopards since the 2014-15 season, snapping an eight-game win streak. Lehigh and Lafayette are now tied for fourth in the Patriot League with a 5-3 record.
It was about as good of a start as you could have asked for in the first quarter for Lehigh, getting out to as much as five points with 5:50 to play after a Megan Walker 3-pointer. The Mountain Hawks led 14-9 heading into the media timeout with 4:35 remaining. Lehigh ended the first quarter on a 9-2 run, leading 23-13 over the Leopards to end the frame after a Mary Clougherty shot from long range.
The Mountain Hawks shot their best all over the floor in the first quarter, shooting 50 percent (9-for-18) from the field and 83.3 percent (5-for-6) from the 3-point line after nailing three consecutive buckets from distance to open the contest.
The second quarter began Lehigh's downfall, after Lafayette opened the quarter with a shot in the paint to cut the deficit to eight points. Clair Steele made a basket with 9:13 left, which proved to be important, as it represented Lehigh's final field goal of the second quarter. Meagan Eripret hit two free throws to put the Mountain Hawks up by 14, their largest lead of the game with 4:21 remaining. The Leopards ended up scoring the final five points of the quarter, trailing Lehigh, 30-22 heading into the locker room.
Lehigh ended up being held scoreless for the final 4:21 of the second quarter and without that elusive field goal make since the nine-minute mark. Lehigh went 1-for-12 in that span to end the half. Despite struggling to convert on offense, both teams' defenses held their ends of the bargains as Lafayette held a 9-7 scoring advantage in that second quarter.
Natalie Kucowski had two buckets to open the third quarter in a span of about 20 seconds with a steal mixed in to cut the Lehigh lead down to four points, 30-26 with 8:59 to play. A Drew Freeland basket on the fast break after a third Kucowski steal with 7:43 left, cut the Lehigh lead to two points, 30-28, forcing the Mountain Hawks to call a timeout.
Lafayette tied the ball game up at 30 with 7:09 remaining in the third, going on a 13-0 run since the conclusion of the second quarter, coming all the way back after trailing 30-17.
Camryn Buhr finally scored the Mountain Hawks' first field goal in over 13 minutes at the 6:41 mark in the third quarter to increase Lehigh's lead to 32-30. The Leopards out-scored Lehigh, 19-9 in the third quarter to head into the final period with a two-point, 41-39 advantage.
The fourth quarter began with a 3-pointer from Walker to put the Mountain Hawks back up by one point, 42-41, but the Leopards answered back with a field goal with 8:35 left to re-take the lead. A Drew Freeland basket with 4:49 left gave Lafayette a three-point, 48-45 lead heading into the media timeout. After Lafayette took a 52-51 lead with 2:04 remaining, Walker drew a foul and went to the line to make one of the two free throws and tie the game at 52. The Leopards ended the game on a 7-2 run after a flurry of Lehigh fouls, taking the first of two Rivalry games this season, 61-53.
"We struggled on the offensive end today, struggled on the perimeter," said head coach Sue Troyan. "Give Lafayette credit on their zone, we just didn't get a lot of clean looks inside or outside. Their zone gave us a lot of trouble honestly."
Three Lehigh players scored in double-figures, led by Cameryn Benz, who scored 14 points and added four rebounds. Megan Walker had 10 points, going 3-for-6 from beyond-the-arc, while Emma Grothaus had 10 points, three rebounds, an assist and also drew seven fouls. Camryn Buhr missed out on a double-double by a point, getting nine points to go along with her 10 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
The Mountain Hawks shot just 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-for-19) from beyond and 47.8 percent (11-for-23) from the free throw line. Lehigh scored 18 points on 17 Lafayette turnovers, had 13 second chance points, but only had two fast break points. The Mountain Hawks' bench out-scored the Leopards, 18-13.
"We struggled to knock down perimeter shots, but I thought our posts did a pretty good job of trying to get inside," said Troyan. "It was hard to go inside against them, but we definitely need to be more consistent."
There were 12 lead changes throughout the game with six ties, as Lehigh led by as many as 14 points near the end of the second quarter, before the Leopards stormed back.
Lafayette shot 40.4 percent (21-for-52) overall from the field, 35.7 percent (5-for-14) from beyond and 73.7 percent (14-for-19) from the free throw line. Drew Freeland led the way with 17 points and six rebounds, while Natalie Kucowski filled up the statsheet with 15 points, 11 boards, three steals and four blocks in 28 minutes.
"Lafayette made its shots, give them credit," Troyan said. "They needed to make shots down the stretch, they made them and we struggled to make stops at that point as well."
For another outing, the Mountain Hawks were out-rebounded by the opposition, this time in favor of Lafayette, 41-33.
"Our rebounding has been a point of emphasis in practice and coming into this game," said Troyan. "The importance of rebounding and that was probably the difference in the game too. The rebounding and the missed foul shots. We left a lot of points at the line as well."
The loss is Lehigh's third straight of the year, the team's longest skid so far this season and longest since dropping three straight Feb. 9-16, 2019. The defeat also marks Lehigh's first league defeat on the road and the first loss on the road since falling to Minnesota on Dec. 21.
"We need to get better in a lot of facets," Troyan said. "Definitely our zone offensive work has got to be better, knocking down perimeter shots and be ready to shoot the ball.
"I thought probably the lack of confidence showed on the foul line as well."
The Mountain Hawks return home to Stabler Arena on Wednesday evening to host American. Lehigh escaped Bender Arena earlier this season with a 64-63 victory over the Eagles. Wednesday's game tips off at 6 p.m.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
Laf
FG%
.327
.404
3FG%
.316
.357
FT%
.478
.737
RB
33
41
TO
12
17
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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