Lehigh University Athletics
Saturday, January 16
Bethlehem, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
4-1,4-1Patriot
60
vs
68
Bucknell
5-0,5-0Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Bucknell
19
5
23
21
68
Lehigh
18
14
19
9
60
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Bucknell hands Lehigh first loss after fourth quarter run
1/16/2021 5:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Despite a strong first half showing and stout defense throughout most of the game, the Lehigh women's basketball team couldn't handle the fourth quarter run by Bucknell, as the Mountain Hawks drop their first game of the 2020-21 campaign and see their seven-game win streak dating back to last season snapped by the Bison.
The Mountain Hawks led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by six in as late as the fourth quarter, but the Bison went on a 21-9 run over the final 10 minutes of the fourth stanza to claim the victory.
"I thought in the second half we went a lot of one-on-one and didn't play a lot within our offensive system," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought our girls took a little too much ownership instead of allowing the offense to come to them, they pressed a little bit. The first half we moved the ball well, got open shots, worked the offense to get to the open player and in the second half, we just adjusted too much to one-on-ones."
Both teams coming into the outing with an unblemished 4-0 record to start the season, the first quarter started as expected, with both teams trading blows early on. The Mountain Hawks led by as many as three points on two occasions in the opening quarter, but trailed 19-18 at the first break.
In the second quarter, it was the Mountain Hawks who took off right away with seven unanswered points in the first four or so minutes, capped off by a Megan Walker 3-pointer with 5:39 to take a 25-19 lead. Mary Clougherty drained a 3-pointer with 1:51 to go in the first half to put Lehigh on a 10-2 run, leading by nine points and then after a miss by Clougherty and an offensive rebound by Emma Grothaus, the junior forward put the ball up for two points to give the Mountain Hawks an 11 point advantage with just 1:07 left.
The story of the second quarter was Lehigh's dominant defense, holding Bucknell to just five points, as the Bison shot 2-for-14 from the field and 1-for-7 from beyond-the-arc.
The third frame started with a 7-3 push from the Mountain Hawks after Walker converted on two free throws and Clougherty hit a step back jumper to make it an eight point game with 8:25 to play. Sophomore wing Frannie Hottinger hit a 3-pointer with 7:55 left to give Lehigh a nine point lead but the Bison cut it to five after Taylor O'Brien's driving layup.
Two made free throws and a turnaround jumper in the paint from Hottinger pushed the lead back to seven, but the Bison closed the gap to four points with 5:36 to play after Tessa Brugler's three-straight points on a layup and foul shot.
After another O'Brien driving layup made it just a two-point game with 4:31 left, Clougherty gave Lehigh a little bit of a cushion with a 3-pointer off the Bucknell turnover to make it a five-point advantage with 3:30 left.
The Mountain Hawks closed the quarter with a 51-47 lead after Bucknell clawed back following a 3-pointer from Abby Kapp.
With a lead of just four points with 6:24 to play in the fourth, freshman Maddie Albrecht came up clutch with a layup that gave her the basket and the foul, extending the lead to six points with 6:12 to play.
An O'Brien 3-pointer and a layup and the foul shot from Brugler tied the game at 57 as the Bison looked to take their first lead since early in the second quarter.
Lehigh's aggressive defense late in the game brought Bucknell to the line to shoot free throws and a layup with 2:54 left made it a seven point game late in the final frame. An Ally Johnson 3-pointer and a free throw by Autumn Ceppi at the tail end put the game out of reach as Bucknell escaped with the eight point win.
In her return to the floor and first game since Jan. 3, junior forward Emma Grothaus earned her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Mary Clougherty led the team with 12 points adding three rebounds and two assists.
Junior point guard Clair Steele was efficient distributing the ball again in this game, leading the way with six assists. Steele also finished with eight points and three boards.
"Clair's a gutty player and plays with a real toughness about her," said Troyan. "That's probably one of the things I love most about her. She's grit and grind and going to leave it all out on the court. She has done a really good job of getting us in our offense and finding open people. She does a lot of the intangible things well like drawing fouls, taking charges and a lot of different things that you don't see in the box score."
As a team, the Mountain Hawks shot 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field, 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from beyond-the-arc and were a near-perfect 92.3 percent (12-for-13) from the free throw line. Lehigh's defense held Bucknell to 33.3 percent (5-for-15) from long range on the game.
"You look at the defensive end for us, I thought it was one of our better defensive efforts for us so far this season," Troyan said. "We played a very good, senior-laden Bucknell team with four seniors in their starting lineup. They are a well-oiled machine from that standpoint. I thought our defense really stepped up and played well.
"It's a learning process for a lot of our girls and I think we're getting better on the defensive side of the ball and we're going to continue to need to get better moving forward."
The Bison out-rebounded Lehigh, 40-34 and led the points in the paint battle, 38-18. Throughout the contest, the lead changed 14 times and was tied on three occasions. Lehigh led Bucknell for 27:49, while the Bison led for 10:51 including the final five minutes.
The Mountain Hawks will look to re-group as they face Bucknell in a rematch at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg Sunday afternoon with tip-off set for 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (1-16-2021) Women's Basketball vs. Bucknell 1/16/21
The Mountain Hawks led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by six in as late as the fourth quarter, but the Bison went on a 21-9 run over the final 10 minutes of the fourth stanza to claim the victory.
"I thought in the second half we went a lot of one-on-one and didn't play a lot within our offensive system," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought our girls took a little too much ownership instead of allowing the offense to come to them, they pressed a little bit. The first half we moved the ball well, got open shots, worked the offense to get to the open player and in the second half, we just adjusted too much to one-on-ones."
Both teams coming into the outing with an unblemished 4-0 record to start the season, the first quarter started as expected, with both teams trading blows early on. The Mountain Hawks led by as many as three points on two occasions in the opening quarter, but trailed 19-18 at the first break.
In the second quarter, it was the Mountain Hawks who took off right away with seven unanswered points in the first four or so minutes, capped off by a Megan Walker 3-pointer with 5:39 to take a 25-19 lead. Mary Clougherty drained a 3-pointer with 1:51 to go in the first half to put Lehigh on a 10-2 run, leading by nine points and then after a miss by Clougherty and an offensive rebound by Emma Grothaus, the junior forward put the ball up for two points to give the Mountain Hawks an 11 point advantage with just 1:07 left.
The story of the second quarter was Lehigh's dominant defense, holding Bucknell to just five points, as the Bison shot 2-for-14 from the field and 1-for-7 from beyond-the-arc.
The third frame started with a 7-3 push from the Mountain Hawks after Walker converted on two free throws and Clougherty hit a step back jumper to make it an eight point game with 8:25 to play. Sophomore wing Frannie Hottinger hit a 3-pointer with 7:55 left to give Lehigh a nine point lead but the Bison cut it to five after Taylor O'Brien's driving layup.
Two made free throws and a turnaround jumper in the paint from Hottinger pushed the lead back to seven, but the Bison closed the gap to four points with 5:36 to play after Tessa Brugler's three-straight points on a layup and foul shot.
After another O'Brien driving layup made it just a two-point game with 4:31 left, Clougherty gave Lehigh a little bit of a cushion with a 3-pointer off the Bucknell turnover to make it a five-point advantage with 3:30 left.
The Mountain Hawks closed the quarter with a 51-47 lead after Bucknell clawed back following a 3-pointer from Abby Kapp.
With a lead of just four points with 6:24 to play in the fourth, freshman Maddie Albrecht came up clutch with a layup that gave her the basket and the foul, extending the lead to six points with 6:12 to play.
An O'Brien 3-pointer and a layup and the foul shot from Brugler tied the game at 57 as the Bison looked to take their first lead since early in the second quarter.
Lehigh's aggressive defense late in the game brought Bucknell to the line to shoot free throws and a layup with 2:54 left made it a seven point game late in the final frame. An Ally Johnson 3-pointer and a free throw by Autumn Ceppi at the tail end put the game out of reach as Bucknell escaped with the eight point win.
In her return to the floor and first game since Jan. 3, junior forward Emma Grothaus earned her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Mary Clougherty led the team with 12 points adding three rebounds and two assists.
Junior point guard Clair Steele was efficient distributing the ball again in this game, leading the way with six assists. Steele also finished with eight points and three boards.
"Clair's a gutty player and plays with a real toughness about her," said Troyan. "That's probably one of the things I love most about her. She's grit and grind and going to leave it all out on the court. She has done a really good job of getting us in our offense and finding open people. She does a lot of the intangible things well like drawing fouls, taking charges and a lot of different things that you don't see in the box score."
As a team, the Mountain Hawks shot 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field, 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from beyond-the-arc and were a near-perfect 92.3 percent (12-for-13) from the free throw line. Lehigh's defense held Bucknell to 33.3 percent (5-for-15) from long range on the game.
"You look at the defensive end for us, I thought it was one of our better defensive efforts for us so far this season," Troyan said. "We played a very good, senior-laden Bucknell team with four seniors in their starting lineup. They are a well-oiled machine from that standpoint. I thought our defense really stepped up and played well.
"It's a learning process for a lot of our girls and I think we're getting better on the defensive side of the ball and we're going to continue to need to get better moving forward."
The Bison out-rebounded Lehigh, 40-34 and led the points in the paint battle, 38-18. Throughout the contest, the lead changed 14 times and was tied on three occasions. Lehigh led Bucknell for 27:49, while the Bison led for 10:51 including the final five minutes.
The Mountain Hawks will look to re-group as they face Bucknell in a rematch at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg Sunday afternoon with tip-off set for 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Buck
Lehigh
FG%
.431
.317
3FG%
.333
.364
FT%
.684
.923
RB
40
34
TO
14
13
STL
5
4
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballInterview after win vs Colgate 1/10
Saturday, January 10
Interview after Bucknell win 1/3/25
Saturday, January 03
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, November 19
Season Preview - Women's Basketball
Friday, October 31
