Lehigh University Athletics
Saturday, February 8
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
15-7,7-4Patriot
73
vs
66
Lafayette
11-10,7-4Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lafayette
13
16
23
14
66
Lehigh
19
24
11
19
73
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Shots fall in Lehigh's 73-66 victory over Lafayette
2/8/2020 10:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — For the second straight game, it was another excellent performance by the offense, as the Lehigh women's basketball team was electric from outside, converting on 11 3-pointers en route to a 73-66 victory over archrival Lafayette Saturday night at Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks (15-7, 7-4 Patriot) were paced by sophomore Megan Walker, who finished with a career-high 23 points on seven 3-pointers and junior Mary Clougherty, who tallied 19 points including 14 in the first half.
The win snaps a three-game losing streak at Stabler Arena, extends the Mountain Hawks' win streak to two straight and gets its ninth victory in 10 games over the Leopards. The senior class finishes their careers 4-0 over Lafayette at home.
As many first quarters have gone this season, the Mountain Hawks controlled the frame from the get-go, going on an 11-2 push to open the quarter, thanks to three straight 3-pointers from Camryn Buhr and two for Walker.
Clougherty scored the quarter's final five points for Lehigh with a 3-pointer and a fast break layup with 1:19 left to give the Mountain Hawks a 19-13 lead heading into the second.
Clougherty ended up opening the second the way she ended the first with back-to-back two-point jumpers to extend the lead to 23-14 with 8:22 remaining. Walker pushed Lehigh's lead to 14 points with five points heading into the 4:54 media timeout up 28-16.
Lafayette attempted to claw back at the Lehigh lead late in the quarter, but a Mariah Sexe layup with just two seconds left gave Lehigh the 14-point lead, 43-29 heading into halftime.
The Leopards dominated the third quarter, going on a 14-1 run to open the frame to take a 45-44 lead with 5:36 left on the clock. Sarah Agnello hit a 3-pointer with 4:54 left to up the lead to four points, an 19-1 run for the Leopards. Lafayette led 50-46 at the 4:00 media timeout, after scoring 19 of the half's first 20 points.
Walker hit another 3-pointer with 3:09 left to cut the deficit to one point, 50-49 and Buhr gave the Mountain Hawks back the lead with 2:28 left, up 51-50. Clougherty hit a shot from long range to give Lehigh a 54-52 lead heading into the fourth.
Lafayette ended up out-scoring Lehigh, 23-11 in the third quarter alone, shooting 50 percent (9-for-18) from the field, including 60 percent (3-for-5) from beyond-the-arc.
It was Lehigh's turn to return the favor in the fourth quarter, starting it off on a high note with another Walker 3-pointer, her seventh of the night, to extend the lead to 57-52. Clougherty made two free throws with 6:53 left to bring the lead back up to eight points, 64-56.
With a 10-point lead at the media timeout with 5:23 left, the lead fluctuated between single and double-digits for Lehigh, but ultimately got back up to 10 points with 56 seconds left on two Cameryn Benz free throws. Drew Freeland hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to cut the deficit to seven points, but that would be the end of the threat, as Lehigh came away with a 73-66 home victory over Lafayette.
"I thought Lafayette tried to slow us down a little bit with their zone," said head coach Sue Troyan. "But I thought we kept a good pace with our passing, but obviously Megan and Mary were really big for us. They opened it up and shot really well from the perimeter. We knew coming in we were going to see a lot of zone and we knew they were going to make a run in the second half, but I thought this time our kids stayed composed and responded to the run with a run of their own."
Walker and Clougherty combined for 42 of Lehigh's 73 points on the night, as Buhr filled up the stat-sheet with 10 points and 10 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season. She was just two assists shy of recording the first triple-double in program history.
"They played really well for us," said Troyan. "And they were going to be important pieces for us. Lafayette's size inside negates some of the things we do well, but against them we were going to have to make perimeter shots and tonight we were able to do that."
Benz finished with eight points and five rebounds with a block, while Emma Grothaus had seven points, two rebounds and three assists.
For Lafayette, Natalie Kucowski dominated the glass, finishing with 22 points and 19 boards, despite the loss. The Mountain Hawks scored 23 points on 15 Lafayette turnovers, while out-scoring the Leopards, 25-0 in bench points.
"Natalie was great, and honestly a kid that we recruited as well," Troyan said. "Those are the ones that come back and bite you, but she's a great player and has really developed herself this year and has turned into one of the top players in the league."
Lehigh shot 38.5 percent (25-for-65) from the field, 35.5 percent (11-for-31) from beyond-the-arc and 75 percent (12-for-16) from the free throw line. The Mountain Hawks held the Leopards to 38.1 percent (24-for-63) shooting from the field, 33.3 percent (6-for-18) from the 3-point line, while nearly perfect from the charity stripe at 85.7 percent (12-for-14).
"There's still some work to be done," said Troyan. "Just in terms of consistency, but I think we found our identity on both sides of the ball, I think that was important.
"Now it's just continuing to gain that confidence within the identity."
The Mountain Hawks will look to keep the train moving at Holy Cross on Wednesday night, currently tied for third place in the Patriot League.
Lehigh Women's Basketball held Lafayette 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: (2/8/2020) Women's Basketball vs. Lafayette, 2/8/20
The win snaps a three-game losing streak at Stabler Arena, extends the Mountain Hawks' win streak to two straight and gets its ninth victory in 10 games over the Leopards. The senior class finishes their careers 4-0 over Lafayette at home.
As many first quarters have gone this season, the Mountain Hawks controlled the frame from the get-go, going on an 11-2 push to open the quarter, thanks to three straight 3-pointers from Camryn Buhr and two for Walker.
Clougherty scored the quarter's final five points for Lehigh with a 3-pointer and a fast break layup with 1:19 left to give the Mountain Hawks a 19-13 lead heading into the second.
Clougherty ended up opening the second the way she ended the first with back-to-back two-point jumpers to extend the lead to 23-14 with 8:22 remaining. Walker pushed Lehigh's lead to 14 points with five points heading into the 4:54 media timeout up 28-16.
Lafayette attempted to claw back at the Lehigh lead late in the quarter, but a Mariah Sexe layup with just two seconds left gave Lehigh the 14-point lead, 43-29 heading into halftime.
The Leopards dominated the third quarter, going on a 14-1 run to open the frame to take a 45-44 lead with 5:36 left on the clock. Sarah Agnello hit a 3-pointer with 4:54 left to up the lead to four points, an 19-1 run for the Leopards. Lafayette led 50-46 at the 4:00 media timeout, after scoring 19 of the half's first 20 points.
Walker hit another 3-pointer with 3:09 left to cut the deficit to one point, 50-49 and Buhr gave the Mountain Hawks back the lead with 2:28 left, up 51-50. Clougherty hit a shot from long range to give Lehigh a 54-52 lead heading into the fourth.
Lafayette ended up out-scoring Lehigh, 23-11 in the third quarter alone, shooting 50 percent (9-for-18) from the field, including 60 percent (3-for-5) from beyond-the-arc.
It was Lehigh's turn to return the favor in the fourth quarter, starting it off on a high note with another Walker 3-pointer, her seventh of the night, to extend the lead to 57-52. Clougherty made two free throws with 6:53 left to bring the lead back up to eight points, 64-56.
With a 10-point lead at the media timeout with 5:23 left, the lead fluctuated between single and double-digits for Lehigh, but ultimately got back up to 10 points with 56 seconds left on two Cameryn Benz free throws. Drew Freeland hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to cut the deficit to seven points, but that would be the end of the threat, as Lehigh came away with a 73-66 home victory over Lafayette.
"I thought Lafayette tried to slow us down a little bit with their zone," said head coach Sue Troyan. "But I thought we kept a good pace with our passing, but obviously Megan and Mary were really big for us. They opened it up and shot really well from the perimeter. We knew coming in we were going to see a lot of zone and we knew they were going to make a run in the second half, but I thought this time our kids stayed composed and responded to the run with a run of their own."
Walker and Clougherty combined for 42 of Lehigh's 73 points on the night, as Buhr filled up the stat-sheet with 10 points and 10 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season. She was just two assists shy of recording the first triple-double in program history.
"They played really well for us," said Troyan. "And they were going to be important pieces for us. Lafayette's size inside negates some of the things we do well, but against them we were going to have to make perimeter shots and tonight we were able to do that."
Benz finished with eight points and five rebounds with a block, while Emma Grothaus had seven points, two rebounds and three assists.
For Lafayette, Natalie Kucowski dominated the glass, finishing with 22 points and 19 boards, despite the loss. The Mountain Hawks scored 23 points on 15 Lafayette turnovers, while out-scoring the Leopards, 25-0 in bench points.
"Natalie was great, and honestly a kid that we recruited as well," Troyan said. "Those are the ones that come back and bite you, but she's a great player and has really developed herself this year and has turned into one of the top players in the league."
Lehigh shot 38.5 percent (25-for-65) from the field, 35.5 percent (11-for-31) from beyond-the-arc and 75 percent (12-for-16) from the free throw line. The Mountain Hawks held the Leopards to 38.1 percent (24-for-63) shooting from the field, 33.3 percent (6-for-18) from the 3-point line, while nearly perfect from the charity stripe at 85.7 percent (12-for-14).
"There's still some work to be done," said Troyan. "Just in terms of consistency, but I think we found our identity on both sides of the ball, I think that was important.
"Now it's just continuing to gain that confidence within the identity."
The Mountain Hawks will look to keep the train moving at Holy Cross on Wednesday night, currently tied for third place in the Patriot League.
Lehigh Women's Basketball held Lafayette 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
Laf
Lehigh
FG%
.381
.385
3FG%
.333
.355
FT%
.857
.750
RB
40
39
TO
15
14
STL
8
7
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
7
FTM
0
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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