Lehigh University Athletics
Wednesday, February 12
Worcester, Mass.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
15-8,7-5Patriot
62
at
65
Holy Cross
14-9,7-5Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
8
28
17
9
62
Holy Cross
12
10
22
21
65
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Crusaders' second half rally dooms Lehigh in Worcester
2/12/2020 10:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WORCESTER, Mass. — Watching a 24-point lead with 4:37 left in the third quarter vanish, the Lehigh women's basketball team was out-scored 21-9 in the final quarter, as Holy Cross rallied to a home victory, 65-62 at the Hart Center Wednesday night.
The loss for Lehigh is its first in two games as the Mountain Hawks (15-8, 7-5 Patriot) drop their second to Holy Cross this year, getting swept in the season series.
Lehigh got two large efforts from key seniors Cameryn Benz and Camryn Buhr, both putting up double-double numbers in the loss. Benz finished with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Buhr added 13 points to go along with 10 boards. For both players, it was their fifth double-doubles of the 2019-20 season so far.
"We didn't stay composed honestly," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We fell apart on the defensive end, didn't do a good job of contesting. We sent them to the foul line, gave them open shots and struggled on the offensive side of the ball.
"Kind of a combination of everything in the last 15 minutes."
After trailing by four points at the end of the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks took complete control of the second quarter, out-scoring Holy Cross, 28-10 in the frame heading into the locker room. Lehigh had shot 55 percent (11-for-20) from the field and 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from beyond-the-arc to conclude the first half, led by Megan Walker with eight first half points.
The Mountain Hawks opened the third quarter on an 11-3 run, capped off by a Mary Clougherty jumper with 4:37 left heading into the media timeout. The 49-25 lead proved to be the largest lead of the game for Lehigh and was also the beginning of the Holy Cross run for the rest of the night.
"We thought our run really was a continuation of our last couple games," said Troyan. "They looked so good, but honestly we didn't respond well. When things got tight and they made their run, we fell apart on both ends of the floor. Didn't execute well on the offensive end, didn't execute well on the offensive end."
Trailing by 22 points with 3:09 left in the third, Lauren Manis hit a 3-point jumper for the Crusaders to cut the deficit to 19 points. From there, Holy Cross went on a 12-2 run to head into the fourth quarter trailing by just nine points after Madalyn Smith hit a jumper from long range.
The Mountain Hawks shot just 15 percent (3-for-20) from the field in that third quarter, while Holy Cross was electric, converting on seven of its 12 shot attempts for a mark of 58.3 percent from the field.
Buhr made a jumper with 9:47 to go to extend Lehigh's lead to 11 points to open the fourth, but the Crusaders went on to out-score the Mountain Hawks, 9-3 in the next three minutes to cut the lead to five points with 6:40 left.
With a seven-point lead with 3:50 left, Benz drew a foul on Manis, who got the and-1, and ended up getting the three-point play to cut the Lehigh lead to just four points.
Holy Cross ended up going on an 8-1 run in the final 3:50 of the ballgame, setting up a last-chance Mary Clougherty 3-point attempt in the closing seconds to no avail, the Crusaders escaping with the 65-62 victory.
Aside from Benz and Buhr, who led the team offensively, Clougherty finished with 10 points in nearly 17 minutes off the bench, her third straight game scoring in double-figures. Emma Grothaus had eight points with three rebounds and Walker had eight points with two rebounds and two assists.
The Mountain Hawks shot 34.7 percent (25-for-72) from the floor and 33.3 percent (8-for-24) from beyond-the-arc, while getting just four of 10 free throw attempts for 40 percent.
"Missed layups and free throws will come back to haunt us," Troyan said. "Left a lot of points out there both from the field and from the foul line.
"We just need to learn from this game, get better and every game is going to be like this so we need to make sure we find our confidence and be able to execute down the stretch."
Lehigh turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 16 Crusader points, but forced 16 Holy Cross turnovers resulting in 15 points. The lead changed six times throughout the course of the night with four ties, while the Mountain Hawks led for 27:40, just 4:58 for Holy Cross.
Now at 7-5, the loss puts Lehigh in a tie for fifth place with Holy Cross as both Boston U. and Lafayette won its respective games on Wednesday to get to 8-4 in the Patriot League.
The Mountain Hawks return to Stabler Arena Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. to host Army West Point on Play-4-Kay day. Cancer survivors can get a free ticket to the game using the Promo Code: "LUSURVIVOR" here. The game will also be broadcast live on Service Electric 2 Sports, as well as on Lehighsports.com with Matt Markus on the play-by-play call.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Gallery: (2/12/2020) Women's Basketball @ Holy Cross, 2/12/20
The loss for Lehigh is its first in two games as the Mountain Hawks (15-8, 7-5 Patriot) drop their second to Holy Cross this year, getting swept in the season series.
Lehigh got two large efforts from key seniors Cameryn Benz and Camryn Buhr, both putting up double-double numbers in the loss. Benz finished with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Buhr added 13 points to go along with 10 boards. For both players, it was their fifth double-doubles of the 2019-20 season so far.
"We didn't stay composed honestly," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We fell apart on the defensive end, didn't do a good job of contesting. We sent them to the foul line, gave them open shots and struggled on the offensive side of the ball.
"Kind of a combination of everything in the last 15 minutes."
After trailing by four points at the end of the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks took complete control of the second quarter, out-scoring Holy Cross, 28-10 in the frame heading into the locker room. Lehigh had shot 55 percent (11-for-20) from the field and 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from beyond-the-arc to conclude the first half, led by Megan Walker with eight first half points.
The Mountain Hawks opened the third quarter on an 11-3 run, capped off by a Mary Clougherty jumper with 4:37 left heading into the media timeout. The 49-25 lead proved to be the largest lead of the game for Lehigh and was also the beginning of the Holy Cross run for the rest of the night.
"We thought our run really was a continuation of our last couple games," said Troyan. "They looked so good, but honestly we didn't respond well. When things got tight and they made their run, we fell apart on both ends of the floor. Didn't execute well on the offensive end, didn't execute well on the offensive end."
Trailing by 22 points with 3:09 left in the third, Lauren Manis hit a 3-point jumper for the Crusaders to cut the deficit to 19 points. From there, Holy Cross went on a 12-2 run to head into the fourth quarter trailing by just nine points after Madalyn Smith hit a jumper from long range.
The Mountain Hawks shot just 15 percent (3-for-20) from the field in that third quarter, while Holy Cross was electric, converting on seven of its 12 shot attempts for a mark of 58.3 percent from the field.
Buhr made a jumper with 9:47 to go to extend Lehigh's lead to 11 points to open the fourth, but the Crusaders went on to out-score the Mountain Hawks, 9-3 in the next three minutes to cut the lead to five points with 6:40 left.
With a seven-point lead with 3:50 left, Benz drew a foul on Manis, who got the and-1, and ended up getting the three-point play to cut the Lehigh lead to just four points.
Holy Cross ended up going on an 8-1 run in the final 3:50 of the ballgame, setting up a last-chance Mary Clougherty 3-point attempt in the closing seconds to no avail, the Crusaders escaping with the 65-62 victory.
Aside from Benz and Buhr, who led the team offensively, Clougherty finished with 10 points in nearly 17 minutes off the bench, her third straight game scoring in double-figures. Emma Grothaus had eight points with three rebounds and Walker had eight points with two rebounds and two assists.
The Mountain Hawks shot 34.7 percent (25-for-72) from the floor and 33.3 percent (8-for-24) from beyond-the-arc, while getting just four of 10 free throw attempts for 40 percent.
"Missed layups and free throws will come back to haunt us," Troyan said. "Left a lot of points out there both from the field and from the foul line.
"We just need to learn from this game, get better and every game is going to be like this so we need to make sure we find our confidence and be able to execute down the stretch."
Lehigh turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 16 Crusader points, but forced 16 Holy Cross turnovers resulting in 15 points. The lead changed six times throughout the course of the night with four ties, while the Mountain Hawks led for 27:40, just 4:58 for Holy Cross.
Now at 7-5, the loss puts Lehigh in a tie for fifth place with Holy Cross as both Boston U. and Lafayette won its respective games on Wednesday to get to 8-4 in the Patriot League.
The Mountain Hawks return to Stabler Arena Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. to host Army West Point on Play-4-Kay day. Cancer survivors can get a free ticket to the game using the Promo Code: "LUSURVIVOR" here. The game will also be broadcast live on Service Electric 2 Sports, as well as on Lehighsports.com with Matt Markus on the play-by-play call.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
HolyCr
FG%
.347
.387
3FG%
.333
.333
FT%
.400
.556
RB
45
47
TO
15
16
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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