Saturday, January 2
Easton, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
1-0,1-0Patriot
81
at
75
Lafayette
0-1,0-1Patriot
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Lehigh
14
17
19
18
13
81
Lafayette
14
22
18
14
7
75
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh tops Lafayette in thrilling OT victory, 81-75 to open season
1/2/2021 4:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. — Not too shabby of a start. Playing for the first time in 299 days and using an 11-2 run in the final 3:55 of the contest, the Lehigh women's basketball started the 2020-21 campaign on a high note, an 81-75 victory over archrival Lafayette on the road in overtime.
Four Mountain Hawks finished in double scoring figures led by senior guard Mary Clougherty who finished just a point shy of a career-high with 23 points. The season-opening win, the third straight for Lehigh, ups its record to 1-0 overall and 1-0 in the Central mini-conference.
"It felt pretty good to be out there and to just play again," said head coach Sue Troyan following the victory. "Honestly, the first two quarters it looked like we hadn't played for 10 months. Usually in January, you have 10-15 games under your belt from a non-league schedule. Took a couple quarters for us to get there.
"I thought we played much better through the third and fourth quarter into overtime. We executed much better and were a little sluggish early in the game. I thought that was a combination of nerves and for our kids, we're working on a lot of things with the rotations because this is a new team in a lot of ways. All-in-all, I thought we adjusted pretty well late in the game."
Lehigh took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a layup by sophomore Frannie Hottinger, but it was all Leopards in the first part of the frame, leading 9-4 with 3:42 to play in the quarter. With under a minute left, junior Emma Grothaus converted on a shot in the paint to give the Mountain Hawks a 12-11 lead, their only lead of the game until the late stages of the contest. Hottinger hit a shot at the first quarter buzzer to tie the game at 14.
The Mountain Hawks continued the back-and-forth affair with the Leopards into the second quarter and while they were able to keep things close throughout, they were unable to re-take the lead. 3-pointers by Clougherty and Grothaus had Lehigh in business, but trailing Lafayette 36-31 at the half.
Lehigh got the scoring started first in the third quarter off a layup from senior forward Mariah Sexe, cutting the deficit to three points. The Leopards took their largest lead of the game after a layup with 6:15 to play in the frame, a nine-point, 44-35 advantage. Three straight baskets, all from Grothaus, had Lehigh trailing by only four points with 5:25 to play.
With 1:44 to go, Grothaus fed the pretty pass to freshman guard Maddie Albrecht for her first career points, cutting the Lafayette lead back down to three points. Another freshman made her mark early, as Mackenzie Kramer was fouled behind the arc with six seconds left on the clock. She converted on all three shots from the foul line, to cut the Leopards' lead down to 54-50 heading into the final regulation period.
Who else but Clougherty would give the Mountain Hawks their first lead of the game since the first quarter, as she laid the ball in with 6:27 left in the fourth to give Lehigh a 57-56 advantage. With a tie ballgame at 57, Hottinger converted on one of the biggest shots of her life, a 3-pointer with 5:32 left, as Lehigh took a three-point lead over the Leopards.
It seemed that Lafayette was going to take control of the game late in the fourth quarter after free throws put them up six with 2:27 left, but the Mountain Hawks would not be denied after two successful free throws by Hottinger and junior Clair Steele who had one of the plays of the game, a steal on the defensive end and a three-point play on the offensive end to cut Lafayette's lead back to 66-65.
Clougherty swished a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to tie the game at 68, which would be the score at the end of regulation, as the two teams got ready to head to overtime together for the first time since 1998. Lehigh was going to OT for the first time since beating Merrimack on the road, 72-68 last season.
Lafayette got off and running with a made 3-pointer with 4:37 to play, but Steele's jumper with a 4:16 left made it a one-point game again.
From that point forward, it became the Mary Clougherty show, as the senior notched five points in under a minute off a 3-pointer and jumper in the paint to give the Mountain Hawks a 77-75 lead with 1:30 left. Great defense from Lehigh allowed the offense to continue to get the ball back to the point of Lafayette fouling, as junior Megan Walker converted on three free throws to ice the game, securing the six-point come-from-behind victory.
As mentioned before, Clougherty led all Lehigh scorers with 23 points, adding five rebounds and four assists. She finished with five 3-pointers, also leading her teammates. Three other Lehigh players scored in double figures with Grothaus (15), Steele (a career-high 15) and Hottinger (13).
"I'm excited for those four," said Troyan. "We have many different weapons who are capable of scoring and we saw that today. Frannie had a quiet double-double there, Emma was strong and I thought this was one of Clair's better games at point guard."
Grothaus also added six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals to her stat-line, while Hottinger recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 boards.
Steele was a defensive nightmare for Lafayette with four steals on the afternoon, to go along with her career-high day for points, three assists and three boards.
At the end of the day, Lehigh's defense pulled through, forcing 27 Lafayette turnovers, including seven from Preseason Player of the Year Natalie Kucowski, who finished with 16 points and 21 rebounds.
Lehigh shot 35.5 percent (27-for-76) from the field and 24.3 percent (9-for-37) from beyond, but it was late in the game where it mattered most as the Mountain Hawks still managed to come out victorious. That, and converted late foul shots, where Lehigh shot 78.3 percent (18-for-23) from the free throw line.
Lehigh's bench out-scored Lafayette, 31-17 with 33 points off turnovers, 17 second chance points and 15 points off fast breaks. The lead changed six times and was tied nine times.
The Mountain Hawks will look for the weekend sweep of the Leopards on Sunday at Stabler Arena, where Lehigh hosts its archrivals at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Matt Markus and Matt Kerr on the call.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Gallery: (1-2-2021) Lehigh WBB at Lafayette (1/2/21)
Four Mountain Hawks finished in double scoring figures led by senior guard Mary Clougherty who finished just a point shy of a career-high with 23 points. The season-opening win, the third straight for Lehigh, ups its record to 1-0 overall and 1-0 in the Central mini-conference.
"It felt pretty good to be out there and to just play again," said head coach Sue Troyan following the victory. "Honestly, the first two quarters it looked like we hadn't played for 10 months. Usually in January, you have 10-15 games under your belt from a non-league schedule. Took a couple quarters for us to get there.
"I thought we played much better through the third and fourth quarter into overtime. We executed much better and were a little sluggish early in the game. I thought that was a combination of nerves and for our kids, we're working on a lot of things with the rotations because this is a new team in a lot of ways. All-in-all, I thought we adjusted pretty well late in the game."
Lehigh took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a layup by sophomore Frannie Hottinger, but it was all Leopards in the first part of the frame, leading 9-4 with 3:42 to play in the quarter. With under a minute left, junior Emma Grothaus converted on a shot in the paint to give the Mountain Hawks a 12-11 lead, their only lead of the game until the late stages of the contest. Hottinger hit a shot at the first quarter buzzer to tie the game at 14.
The Mountain Hawks continued the back-and-forth affair with the Leopards into the second quarter and while they were able to keep things close throughout, they were unable to re-take the lead. 3-pointers by Clougherty and Grothaus had Lehigh in business, but trailing Lafayette 36-31 at the half.
Lehigh got the scoring started first in the third quarter off a layup from senior forward Mariah Sexe, cutting the deficit to three points. The Leopards took their largest lead of the game after a layup with 6:15 to play in the frame, a nine-point, 44-35 advantage. Three straight baskets, all from Grothaus, had Lehigh trailing by only four points with 5:25 to play.
With 1:44 to go, Grothaus fed the pretty pass to freshman guard Maddie Albrecht for her first career points, cutting the Lafayette lead back down to three points. Another freshman made her mark early, as Mackenzie Kramer was fouled behind the arc with six seconds left on the clock. She converted on all three shots from the foul line, to cut the Leopards' lead down to 54-50 heading into the final regulation period.
What a pass! What a finish! 💪
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) January 2, 2021
Maddie Albrecht gets her first career bucket off the fancy pass from Grothaus.
Watch live on ESPN+: https://t.co/EQaGMxT4y7#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/As3Gb4QqgG
Who else but Clougherty would give the Mountain Hawks their first lead of the game since the first quarter, as she laid the ball in with 6:27 left in the fourth to give Lehigh a 57-56 advantage. With a tie ballgame at 57, Hottinger converted on one of the biggest shots of her life, a 3-pointer with 5:32 left, as Lehigh took a three-point lead over the Leopards.
It seemed that Lafayette was going to take control of the game late in the fourth quarter after free throws put them up six with 2:27 left, but the Mountain Hawks would not be denied after two successful free throws by Hottinger and junior Clair Steele who had one of the plays of the game, a steal on the defensive end and a three-point play on the offensive end to cut Lafayette's lead back to 66-65.
The "Steele" and finish.
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) January 2, 2021
What a play by the junior to get the swipe and get the three-point play.
Watch live on ESPN+: https://t.co/EQaGMxT4y7 pic.twitter.com/1WYfIyZa0D
Clougherty swished a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to tie the game at 68, which would be the score at the end of regulation, as the two teams got ready to head to overtime together for the first time since 1998. Lehigh was going to OT for the first time since beating Merrimack on the road, 72-68 last season.
Lafayette got off and running with a made 3-pointer with 4:37 to play, but Steele's jumper with a 4:16 left made it a one-point game again.
From that point forward, it became the Mary Clougherty show, as the senior notched five points in under a minute off a 3-pointer and jumper in the paint to give the Mountain Hawks a 77-75 lead with 1:30 left. Great defense from Lehigh allowed the offense to continue to get the ball back to the point of Lafayette fouling, as junior Megan Walker converted on three free throws to ice the game, securing the six-point come-from-behind victory.
As mentioned before, Clougherty led all Lehigh scorers with 23 points, adding five rebounds and four assists. She finished with five 3-pointers, also leading her teammates. Three other Lehigh players scored in double figures with Grothaus (15), Steele (a career-high 15) and Hottinger (13).
"I'm excited for those four," said Troyan. "We have many different weapons who are capable of scoring and we saw that today. Frannie had a quiet double-double there, Emma was strong and I thought this was one of Clair's better games at point guard."
Grothaus also added six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals to her stat-line, while Hottinger recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 boards.
Steele was a defensive nightmare for Lafayette with four steals on the afternoon, to go along with her career-high day for points, three assists and three boards.
At the end of the day, Lehigh's defense pulled through, forcing 27 Lafayette turnovers, including seven from Preseason Player of the Year Natalie Kucowski, who finished with 16 points and 21 rebounds.
Lehigh shot 35.5 percent (27-for-76) from the field and 24.3 percent (9-for-37) from beyond, but it was late in the game where it mattered most as the Mountain Hawks still managed to come out victorious. That, and converted late foul shots, where Lehigh shot 78.3 percent (18-for-23) from the free throw line.
Lehigh's bench out-scored Lafayette, 31-17 with 33 points off turnovers, 17 second chance points and 15 points off fast breaks. The lead changed six times and was tied nine times.
The Mountain Hawks will look for the weekend sweep of the Leopards on Sunday at Stabler Arena, where Lehigh hosts its archrivals at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Matt Markus and Matt Kerr on the call.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
Laf
FG%
.355
.389
3FG%
.243
.333
FT%
.783
.667
RB
43
59
TO
15
27
STL
12
10
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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