Sunday, January 24
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
6-2,6-2Patriot
83
vs
62
Holy Cross
4-4,4-4Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Holy Cross
13
11
21
17
62
Lehigh
24
21
17
21
83
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Lehigh edges Holy Cross, 83-62 on Hottinger's career day
1/24/2021 4:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The good times keep rolling for the Lehigh women's basketball team as the Mountain Hawks (6-2, 2-2 Central) won their second consecutive game, sweeping the Crusaders (4-4, 4-2 North) and knocking off Holy Cross, 83-62 Sunday afternoon at Stabler Arena. With dominant first and second quarters that saw Lehigh lead 21 points at halftime, the Mountain Hawks led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter to hold onto the victory.
Like Saturday's showing, the game saw another career performance out of a key member of the starting lineup as sophomore wing Frannie Hottinger notched a career-high 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting, adding seven rebounds and two steals. In two games against Holy Cross, Hottinger averaged 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, shooting 54.5 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, a day after recording a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds, senior forward Mariah Sexe followed up that day with a 16-point, nine-board effort, all while going 7-of-10 from the field. She missed out on her second career double-double by just one rebound, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the weekend.
"Having scorers like this gives us a lot of confidence on the offensive end," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We have a number of kids that are capable of putting the ball in the basket this year and a number of those players have had career-highs. We were a little more oriented to post players today and these last couple games. But it speaks to the unselfishness of the team to find the hot hand.
"This is a team that we're not concerned about how minutes each individual plays or who's going to get points or get the ball. It's about finding the open person and is just a squad that has a lot of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. We've become pretty tough to defend especially with the pace we play at."
Trailing 5-2 with 9:10 left in the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks picked things up, going on a 14-2 run in the next four minutes to lead 16-7 as Holy Cross called a timeout with 5:13 left. Lehigh out-scored the Crusaders, 24-13 in the first quarter and shot 45 percent (9-for-20) from the field.
A combination of Cara McCormack and Addisyn Cross cut down on Lehigh's lead to just seven points with 8:19 left in the second quarter, but Hottinger made sure it was short-lived after getting a layup and a foul to bring the lead back to 10 points. The second quarter was similar to the first in that the Mountain Hawks never let up. Sexe converted on a layup with 1:25 to play to lead by 18, while senior Mary Clougherty closed the quarter on a 3-pointer with four seconds left to take a 21-point lead into the locker room.
While Hottinger had 15 points and Clougherty had 13 at the end of the first half of play, the Mountain Hawks were shooting an efficient 47.2 percent (17-for-36) from the field and limiting the Holy Cross offense to just 28.6 percent (10-for-35) from the field and 9.1 percent (1-for-11) from beyond-the-arc.
Sexe opened the second half the way she started the first, a layup to give Lehigh a 23 point lead. The Mountain Hawks led by as many as 24 points in the quarter after freshman guard Mackenzie Kramer was fouled behind the 3-point line, converting on all three foul shots. The Crusaders found a breath of fresh air late in the third with seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to 15 points with 32 second left, but Sexe hit two foul shots to lead 62-45 heading into the final frame.
After Cross hit two free throws to open the fourth, junior guard Clair Steele got her first points of the day on a driving layup with 9:10 left, extending the lead back to 17 points. Avery LaBarbera had Holy Cross back within 12 points with 7:59 to play, but Hottinger scored on a jumper a little bit later to answer right back.
The Crusaders were able to claw back to a 12-point deficit on a couple occasions in the quarter, but each time Lehigh was able to answer, as the Mountain Hawks used a 9-2 run to close the game, getting a 21-point victory over Holy Cross, 83-62.
Joining Frannie Hottinger (27) and Mariah Sexe (16) in double scoring figures was Mary Clougherty with 15 points. Clougherty also added seven rebounds and seven assists to her total.
The Mountain Hawks shot 48.4 percent (30-for-62) from the field and were 88.2 percent (15-for-17) from the free throw line, while the Crusaders struggled shooting ball from long range, going just 19 percent (4-for-21).
"I thought our first half was one of the best halves on defense that we've played all season," said Troyan. "The key we've been trying to challenge our players on is trying to put those two halves together and saw some really good things on the defensive end today. This is a game of runs and it's been the game we want to play and the tempo we want to play at.
"The 20-point cushion we had in the first half certainly helped us as they made their run in the second half."
Lehigh out-rebounded Holy Cross, 42-34 and dished out 17 assists as a team. The Mountain Hawks led by as many as 24 points with 4:24 left in the third quarter and just like Saturday, led for almost the entirety of the contest, holding onto the edge for 37:21.
After the games with Bucknell next weekend were postponed, the Mountain Hawks' plans for next weekend are currently up in the air. Keep an eye out on Lehighsports.com and follow Lehigh Athletics on Twitter @LehighSports for updates throughout the week.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Gallery: (1-24-2021) WBB vs. Holy Cross, 1/24/21
Like Saturday's showing, the game saw another career performance out of a key member of the starting lineup as sophomore wing Frannie Hottinger notched a career-high 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting, adding seven rebounds and two steals. In two games against Holy Cross, Hottinger averaged 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, shooting 54.5 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, a day after recording a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds, senior forward Mariah Sexe followed up that day with a 16-point, nine-board effort, all while going 7-of-10 from the field. She missed out on her second career double-double by just one rebound, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the weekend.
"Having scorers like this gives us a lot of confidence on the offensive end," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We have a number of kids that are capable of putting the ball in the basket this year and a number of those players have had career-highs. We were a little more oriented to post players today and these last couple games. But it speaks to the unselfishness of the team to find the hot hand.
"This is a team that we're not concerned about how minutes each individual plays or who's going to get points or get the ball. It's about finding the open person and is just a squad that has a lot of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. We've become pretty tough to defend especially with the pace we play at."
This is our third weekend 🧹 of the season.
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) January 24, 2021
We're getting the hang of this!#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/m4WRDWGKqS
Trailing 5-2 with 9:10 left in the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks picked things up, going on a 14-2 run in the next four minutes to lead 16-7 as Holy Cross called a timeout with 5:13 left. Lehigh out-scored the Crusaders, 24-13 in the first quarter and shot 45 percent (9-for-20) from the field.
A combination of Cara McCormack and Addisyn Cross cut down on Lehigh's lead to just seven points with 8:19 left in the second quarter, but Hottinger made sure it was short-lived after getting a layup and a foul to bring the lead back to 10 points. The second quarter was similar to the first in that the Mountain Hawks never let up. Sexe converted on a layup with 1:25 to play to lead by 18, while senior Mary Clougherty closed the quarter on a 3-pointer with four seconds left to take a 21-point lead into the locker room.
While Hottinger had 15 points and Clougherty had 13 at the end of the first half of play, the Mountain Hawks were shooting an efficient 47.2 percent (17-for-36) from the field and limiting the Holy Cross offense to just 28.6 percent (10-for-35) from the field and 9.1 percent (1-for-11) from beyond-the-arc.
Sexe opened the second half the way she started the first, a layup to give Lehigh a 23 point lead. The Mountain Hawks led by as many as 24 points in the quarter after freshman guard Mackenzie Kramer was fouled behind the 3-point line, converting on all three foul shots. The Crusaders found a breath of fresh air late in the third with seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to 15 points with 32 second left, but Sexe hit two foul shots to lead 62-45 heading into the final frame.
After Cross hit two free throws to open the fourth, junior guard Clair Steele got her first points of the day on a driving layup with 9:10 left, extending the lead back to 17 points. Avery LaBarbera had Holy Cross back within 12 points with 7:59 to play, but Hottinger scored on a jumper a little bit later to answer right back.
The Crusaders were able to claw back to a 12-point deficit on a couple occasions in the quarter, but each time Lehigh was able to answer, as the Mountain Hawks used a 9-2 run to close the game, getting a 21-point victory over Holy Cross, 83-62.
Joining Frannie Hottinger (27) and Mariah Sexe (16) in double scoring figures was Mary Clougherty with 15 points. Clougherty also added seven rebounds and seven assists to her total.
The Mountain Hawks shot 48.4 percent (30-for-62) from the field and were 88.2 percent (15-for-17) from the free throw line, while the Crusaders struggled shooting ball from long range, going just 19 percent (4-for-21).
"I thought our first half was one of the best halves on defense that we've played all season," said Troyan. "The key we've been trying to challenge our players on is trying to put those two halves together and saw some really good things on the defensive end today. This is a game of runs and it's been the game we want to play and the tempo we want to play at.
"The 20-point cushion we had in the first half certainly helped us as they made their run in the second half."
Lehigh out-rebounded Holy Cross, 42-34 and dished out 17 assists as a team. The Mountain Hawks led by as many as 24 points with 4:24 left in the third quarter and just like Saturday, led for almost the entirety of the contest, holding onto the edge for 37:21.
After the games with Bucknell next weekend were postponed, the Mountain Hawks' plans for next weekend are currently up in the air. Keep an eye out on Lehighsports.com and follow Lehigh Athletics on Twitter @LehighSports for updates throughout the week.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
HolyCr
Lehigh
FG%
.348
.484
3FG%
.190
.286
FT%
.923
.882
RB
34
42
TO
12
14
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Pts
27
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballChasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 2
Thursday, May 15
Chasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 1
Wednesday, May 14
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, March 19
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, January 29
