Sunday, November 21
Bethlehem, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
4-1,0-0Patriot
85
vs
64
Merrimack
1-3,0-0NEC
1
2
3
4
F
Merrimack
11
24
9
20
64
Lehigh
19
17
27
22
85
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Another scorching third quarter pays off in Lehigh's 85-64 win over Merrimack
11/21/2021 5:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Through the first five games of the 2021-22 season, it can be surely said that the Lehigh women's basketball team is a second half team – even more in the third quarter – as the Mountain Hawks (4-1) steamrolled to yet another impressive victory, a wire-to-wire 85-64 win over Merrimack Sunday afternoon at Stabler Arena. Junior wing Frannie Hottinger and sophomore guard Mackenzie Kramer each put in a game-high 17 points, while seniors Emma Grothaus and Megan Walker scored 11 and 10 points each, respectively.
Lehigh led by just one point heading into the locker room at halftime and used a 27-9 run in the third quarter to lead by 19 heading into the final stanza.
"I thought they (Merrimack) came out and were really, really aggressive," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought we were a little flat coming out of the first half, honestly. I didn't think our defensive intensity was great and our offensive execution wasn't great either. We really challenged our team to come out and set a tone.
"In the first three minutes of the third quarter, I thought they did a really good job with that, really took that to heart. They clamped down on the defensive end and made it a lot tougher for them and executed on the offensive end much better. We shared the ball and really emphasized to them to play within the system and run our motion offense. There was a lot less one-on-one stuff in the third and fourth quarters and more of the way we play."
A 9-2 run started the first quarter for the Mountain Hawks heading into the first media timeout and that lead became an eight-point cushion at 16-8 with 1:47 left on the clock. Kate Mager drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five points with 1:05 left. After Merrimack turned the ball over on a bad pass and a steal for Grothaus, Kramer hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left to take a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Mountain Hawks saw their 11-point lead in the second quarter (following a Jamie Behar 3-pointer) dwindle all the way down to just one point with 5:54 to go after the Warriors went on a 12-2 push. A 7-0 run brought Lehigh back to an eight-point lead at 31-23 with 4:12 left, but Merrimack scored 12 of the next 17 points to close the half trailing Lehigh by one, 36-35.
Lehigh began the third quarter in similar fashion as the first, scoring each of the first 11 points to take a 47-35 advantage into the media timeout with 6:58 to go.
Frannie Hottinger converted on a layup with 5:42 to go, capping a 16-2 run that resulted in Lehigh's largest lead of the game to that point – a 15-point margin and a 54-39 edge.
Merrimack battled back with a Kate Mager 3-pointer with 2:53 to play, but the Mountain Hawks scored the final seven points of the quarter with a 3 from Kramer, a second chance layup for Grothaus and two free throws for Hottinger to lead 63-44 heading into the last quarter after out-scoring the Warriors 27-9 in the frame.
Freshman Kaylee Van Eps saw some good action to start the fourth quarter, scoring the first four points of the fourth to give Lehigh a 67-46 lead. An 11-1 push saw the Mountain Hawks pull ahead by a game-high 25 points at 72-47 with 6:44 to play after the Grothaus basket.
The Warriors were able to cut the deficit to as little as 19 points at the late stages of the fourth quarter, but Lehigh used a 3-pointer for Maddie Albrecht and a layup from a turnover in the paint for Maggie Brown to run away with the 85-64 final.
Lehigh out-rebounded Merrimack, 42-35 overall with seven boards each for Hottinger and Grothaus to lead the way. Clair Steele tallied a career-high nine assists as the Mountain Hawks had 35 field goals on 25 assists as a team. Defensively, Grothaus shined with five steals and two blocked in addition to her 11 points and seven rebounds. Kramer scored 15 of her 17 points on 3-pointers with a career-high five, capping off an impressive overall week with stellar performances against Seton Hall and Merrimack.
"If you look at our box score, everybody but one player scored a point today," Troyan said. "I think that speaks to their talent level and to how we play. I told the team that the thing I liked most is that we had 25 assists and cut our turnovers down. We had nine turnovers in the first half and four in the second. This was a team that did a really nice job in the second half in terms of sharing the basketball."
Lehigh shot 47.3 percent (35-for-74) from the field and 35.7 percent (10-for-28) from beyond-the-arc in the contest, going 83.3 percent (5-for-6) from the free throw line. The defense held Merrimack to 43.1 percent (25-for-58) from the floor and just 30 percent (6-for-20) from beyond, while Warriors converted on just eight of their 15 free throw attempts.
The Mountain Hawks scored 24 points off 19 Merrimack turnovers and the way in paint points, 44-32. Lehigh also had the edge in second chance points (11-7), fast break points (13-6) and bench points (24-8). It never trailed in the contest, leading from the opening tip-off and getting out to as many as 25 points with 6:44 to play in the fourth quarter.
The three-year hiatus of the Christmas City Classic presented by SureStay PLUS Hotel by Best Western Lehigh Valley Hotel and Conference Center officially comes to an end next weekend as Lehigh hosts Rider, Missouri and Columbia in the two-day event. The Mountain Hawks open the tourney with Rider at 1 p.m. at Stabler Arena on Saturday, streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
"We're definitely excited for the weekend to come," said Troyan. "This past weekend made a long weekend for us with a game Friday, Lehigh-Lafayette football on Saturday and today, which is probably why we came out a little slow in the first half. But it will be good for them to get off their feet and have a day off tomorrow as well as Thursday.
"We'll have three good practices going into the tournament. We're excited to have really talented opponents next weekend. We open up with Rider but Columbia is one of the top teams in the Mid-Major poll, in the Ivy League and just beat Clemson. And we'll also have Missouri here. Really good competition in our tournament, which should be really fun for the upcoming weekend. There will be some well-deserved rest in the next coming days for our kids and we'll get back at it on Tuesday."
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Lehigh led by just one point heading into the locker room at halftime and used a 27-9 run in the third quarter to lead by 19 heading into the final stanza.
"I thought they (Merrimack) came out and were really, really aggressive," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought we were a little flat coming out of the first half, honestly. I didn't think our defensive intensity was great and our offensive execution wasn't great either. We really challenged our team to come out and set a tone.
"In the first three minutes of the third quarter, I thought they did a really good job with that, really took that to heart. They clamped down on the defensive end and made it a lot tougher for them and executed on the offensive end much better. We shared the ball and really emphasized to them to play within the system and run our motion offense. There was a lot less one-on-one stuff in the third and fourth quarters and more of the way we play."
A 9-2 run started the first quarter for the Mountain Hawks heading into the first media timeout and that lead became an eight-point cushion at 16-8 with 1:47 left on the clock. Kate Mager drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five points with 1:05 left. After Merrimack turned the ball over on a bad pass and a steal for Grothaus, Kramer hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left to take a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Mountain Hawks saw their 11-point lead in the second quarter (following a Jamie Behar 3-pointer) dwindle all the way down to just one point with 5:54 to go after the Warriors went on a 12-2 push. A 7-0 run brought Lehigh back to an eight-point lead at 31-23 with 4:12 left, but Merrimack scored 12 of the next 17 points to close the half trailing Lehigh by one, 36-35.
Despite being out-scored 24-17 in the second frame, the Mountain Hawks still shot 43.8 percent (7-for-16) from the field but shot just 25 percent (2-for-8) from 3-point land. Merrimack shot an efficient 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from the field in the second quarter.Capping off a fantastic weekend with another dominant effort. 😤🎥#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/5kqsrs9shN
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) November 21, 2021
Lehigh began the third quarter in similar fashion as the first, scoring each of the first 11 points to take a 47-35 advantage into the media timeout with 6:58 to go.
Frannie Hottinger converted on a layup with 5:42 to go, capping a 16-2 run that resulted in Lehigh's largest lead of the game to that point – a 15-point margin and a 54-39 edge.
Merrimack battled back with a Kate Mager 3-pointer with 2:53 to play, but the Mountain Hawks scored the final seven points of the quarter with a 3 from Kramer, a second chance layup for Grothaus and two free throws for Hottinger to lead 63-44 heading into the last quarter after out-scoring the Warriors 27-9 in the frame.
Freshman Kaylee Van Eps saw some good action to start the fourth quarter, scoring the first four points of the fourth to give Lehigh a 67-46 lead. An 11-1 push saw the Mountain Hawks pull ahead by a game-high 25 points at 72-47 with 6:44 to play after the Grothaus basket.
The Warriors were able to cut the deficit to as little as 19 points at the late stages of the fourth quarter, but Lehigh used a 3-pointer for Maddie Albrecht and a layup from a turnover in the paint for Maggie Brown to run away with the 85-64 final.
Lehigh out-rebounded Merrimack, 42-35 overall with seven boards each for Hottinger and Grothaus to lead the way. Clair Steele tallied a career-high nine assists as the Mountain Hawks had 35 field goals on 25 assists as a team. Defensively, Grothaus shined with five steals and two blocked in addition to her 11 points and seven rebounds. Kramer scored 15 of her 17 points on 3-pointers with a career-high five, capping off an impressive overall week with stellar performances against Seton Hall and Merrimack.
"If you look at our box score, everybody but one player scored a point today," Troyan said. "I think that speaks to their talent level and to how we play. I told the team that the thing I liked most is that we had 25 assists and cut our turnovers down. We had nine turnovers in the first half and four in the second. This was a team that did a really nice job in the second half in terms of sharing the basketball."
Lehigh shot 47.3 percent (35-for-74) from the field and 35.7 percent (10-for-28) from beyond-the-arc in the contest, going 83.3 percent (5-for-6) from the free throw line. The defense held Merrimack to 43.1 percent (25-for-58) from the floor and just 30 percent (6-for-20) from beyond, while Warriors converted on just eight of their 15 free throw attempts.
The Mountain Hawks scored 24 points off 19 Merrimack turnovers and the way in paint points, 44-32. Lehigh also had the edge in second chance points (11-7), fast break points (13-6) and bench points (24-8). It never trailed in the contest, leading from the opening tip-off and getting out to as many as 25 points with 6:44 to play in the fourth quarter.
The three-year hiatus of the Christmas City Classic presented by SureStay PLUS Hotel by Best Western Lehigh Valley Hotel and Conference Center officially comes to an end next weekend as Lehigh hosts Rider, Missouri and Columbia in the two-day event. The Mountain Hawks open the tourney with Rider at 1 p.m. at Stabler Arena on Saturday, streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
"We're definitely excited for the weekend to come," said Troyan. "This past weekend made a long weekend for us with a game Friday, Lehigh-Lafayette football on Saturday and today, which is probably why we came out a little slow in the first half. But it will be good for them to get off their feet and have a day off tomorrow as well as Thursday.
"We'll have three good practices going into the tournament. We're excited to have really talented opponents next weekend. We open up with Rider but Columbia is one of the top teams in the Mid-Major poll, in the Ivy League and just beat Clemson. And we'll also have Missouri here. Really good competition in our tournament, which should be really fun for the upcoming weekend. There will be some well-deserved rest in the next coming days for our kids and we'll get back at it on Tuesday."
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Merri
Lehigh
FG%
.431
.473
3FG%
.300
.357
FT%
.533
.833
RB
35
42
TO
19
13
STL
7
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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