Wednesday, December 1
Philadelphia, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
5-3,0-0Patriot
60
at
65
Villanova
3-3,0-0Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
17
17
13
13
60
Villanova
17
11
8
29
65
Photo by: Morgan Weindel
Wildcats' tough defense stifles Lehigh in five-point defeat
12/1/2021 9:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
VILLANOVA, Pa. – After leading by nine points after the first three quarters of play, Villanova used a stiff press defense, out-scoring the Lehigh women's basketball team, 29-13 in the fourth quarter to get the 65-60 win Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion. The Mountain Hawks (5-3) led by as many as 13 points with 3:02 left in the third, but were held to just 11 shots in the final frame, dropping their second consecutive game.
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Senior Emma Grothaus scored 16 points with eight rebounds to lead the team, while Frannie Hottinger (12 points), Mackenzie Kramer (10) and Megan Walker (10) all finished in double figures while Walker tallied a career-high six assists in senior Clair Steele's absence.
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"Obviously, we didn't do a great job tonight of handling their pressure," said head coach Sue Troyan. "Without Clair (Steele) for us, we had a younger set of point guards out there. Give Villanova a lot of credit, they earned the win. They did a good job of turning us over and not allowing us to get comfortable offensively in the fourth quarter and really put the pressure on us. That's an area that we need to get better at."
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The first quarter was evenly fought between the two programs, both unwilling to give an inch. Lehigh scored first on a bucket for Megan Walker and led by as many as five points with 4:21 to play ahead of the first media timeout. The Mountain Hawks gained ground on two foul shots for Hottinger and a basket each for Walker and Grothaus, but the Wildcats tied the game at 17-17 off a Brooke Mullin jumper to conclude the first 10 minutes of play. Despite Lehigh shooting an efficient 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from the field in the first quarter, Villanova shot a touch better, going 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from the floor.
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The Wildcats controlled play through the first five minutes of the second quarter, although they were only able to take a two-point advantage with 5:52 remaining. Lehigh turned a two-point deficit into a four-point swing and four-point lead following a big 3-pointer from Walker with 4:42 left. Coming out of the under-4 media timeout, the Mountain Hawks' lead inflated to eight points following back-to-back buckets from Grothaus to take a 31-23 lead with 2:21 remaining on the clock. A 3-pointer from Ella Stemmer gave Lehigh its largest lead of the quarter at nine points, but a Lucy Olsen 3-point jumper brought Villanova back within six points heading into the locker room.
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It was a grand start to the third quarter and second half for the Mountain Hawks, using a 6-1 run right out of the gate to take a 10-point, 40-30 lead with 7:21 remaining in the contest. Kenzie Gardler cut it to eight on a jumper for the Wildcats, but a key layup from Grothaus and a clutch Anna Harvey 3-pointer from the left wing extended Lehigh's edge to 13 points, 45-32. Villanova was able to come back within single digits with 46 seconds left in the third stanza, but a pull-up jumper from Kramer allowed Lehigh to lead by 11 heading into the fourth quarter.
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Villanova converted on five straight points to open the fourth, following a 3-pointer and a layup off a turnover, as the Wildcats clawed back within six points at 47-41 with 9:25 to go. A 10-4 Nova run reduced the Lehigh lead to two points at 51-49 with 6:23 to play.
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At the 6:00 mark in the fourth, Walker nailed a big 3-point shot to extend the Mountain Hawk lead back to five points at 54-49. The Wildcats cut the deficit back to just three points heading into the game's final media timeout with 4:59 to go.
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Lior Garzon tied the ballgame back up at 54-54 with a 3-pointer off Grothaus' lost ball turnover with 3:44 on the clock, while Villanova re-took the lead for the first time since the 5:52 mark of the second quarter on a Garzon driving layup following another turnover for the Mountain Hawks.
As Lehigh and Villanova continued to trade paint and baskets as the final minutes of the half dwindled down, Kramer showed her prowess with a 3-pointer and a jumper late to give the Mountain Hawks back the lead. Coming out of a 30-second timeout, Garzon gave Villanova the 62-60 lead on a crucial driving layup with 21 seconds on the clock.
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Held up by Villanova's press defense and intense coverage in the waning seconds of the game, Lehigh had no other choice but to foul, as the Wildcats converted on their chances at the foul line, drilling three baskets to hold on for the 65-60 win.
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"I don't know that we need to go back to the drawing board, but we had a lot of different personnel in there for us tonight with Clair out," said Troyan. "With a different set of guards against a high-caliber team, most teams don't press Clair because she's a tough one to break down. Villanova went to our weakness tonight in terms of our younger guards and they succeeded."
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As mentioned earlier, four Mountain Hawks finished in double-figures led by Emma Grothaus' 16 points and eight rebounds. Lehigh tallied assists on 14 of its 23 field goals for the game lead by six for Megan Walker and two each for Meghan O'Brien, Anna Harvey and Ella Stemmer.
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The Mountain Hawks shot 39.0 percent (23-for-59) from the field and 30.4 percent (7-for-23) from beyond-the-arc, while going 7-for-10 from the foul line against Villanova. The Wildcats out-rebounded Lehigh, 44-34 while having the edge in points off turnovers (18-9) and points in the paint (38-28). The Mountain Hawks had an advantage in points off fast breaks (8-7), bench points (8-6) and led for 28:25 while Nova had the lead for just over three minutes of action.
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"I give our team a lot of credit tonight, Villanova is a good team," Troyan said. "It's going to be frustrating for our girls because it's a game we should have won, honestly had we handled the pressure better. It's just something we need to learn from going forward."
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Lucy Olsen led Villanova with 22 points, adding seven rebounds, while Brooke Mullin poured in 16 points and Brianna Herilhy finished with eight points and a game-high 12 boards.
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Lehigh will return home on Saturday against Binghamton at 2 p.m. for the final contest before winter break. The matchup will be streamed live from Stabler Arena on ESPN+ (subscription required).
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Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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ÂGallery: (12-1-2021) WBB at Villanova, 12/1/21
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Senior Emma Grothaus scored 16 points with eight rebounds to lead the team, while Frannie Hottinger (12 points), Mackenzie Kramer (10) and Megan Walker (10) all finished in double figures while Walker tallied a career-high six assists in senior Clair Steele's absence.
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"Obviously, we didn't do a great job tonight of handling their pressure," said head coach Sue Troyan. "Without Clair (Steele) for us, we had a younger set of point guards out there. Give Villanova a lot of credit, they earned the win. They did a good job of turning us over and not allowing us to get comfortable offensively in the fourth quarter and really put the pressure on us. That's an area that we need to get better at."
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The first quarter was evenly fought between the two programs, both unwilling to give an inch. Lehigh scored first on a bucket for Megan Walker and led by as many as five points with 4:21 to play ahead of the first media timeout. The Mountain Hawks gained ground on two foul shots for Hottinger and a basket each for Walker and Grothaus, but the Wildcats tied the game at 17-17 off a Brooke Mullin jumper to conclude the first 10 minutes of play. Despite Lehigh shooting an efficient 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from the field in the first quarter, Villanova shot a touch better, going 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from the floor.
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The Wildcats controlled play through the first five minutes of the second quarter, although they were only able to take a two-point advantage with 5:52 remaining. Lehigh turned a two-point deficit into a four-point swing and four-point lead following a big 3-pointer from Walker with 4:42 left. Coming out of the under-4 media timeout, the Mountain Hawks' lead inflated to eight points following back-to-back buckets from Grothaus to take a 31-23 lead with 2:21 remaining on the clock. A 3-pointer from Ella Stemmer gave Lehigh its largest lead of the quarter at nine points, but a Lucy Olsen 3-point jumper brought Villanova back within six points heading into the locker room.
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It was a grand start to the third quarter and second half for the Mountain Hawks, using a 6-1 run right out of the gate to take a 10-point, 40-30 lead with 7:21 remaining in the contest. Kenzie Gardler cut it to eight on a jumper for the Wildcats, but a key layup from Grothaus and a clutch Anna Harvey 3-pointer from the left wing extended Lehigh's edge to 13 points, 45-32. Villanova was able to come back within single digits with 46 seconds left in the third stanza, but a pull-up jumper from Kramer allowed Lehigh to lead by 11 heading into the fourth quarter.
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Villanova converted on five straight points to open the fourth, following a 3-pointer and a layup off a turnover, as the Wildcats clawed back within six points at 47-41 with 9:25 to go. A 10-4 Nova run reduced the Lehigh lead to two points at 51-49 with 6:23 to play.
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At the 6:00 mark in the fourth, Walker nailed a big 3-point shot to extend the Mountain Hawk lead back to five points at 54-49. The Wildcats cut the deficit back to just three points heading into the game's final media timeout with 4:59 to go.
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Lior Garzon tied the ballgame back up at 54-54 with a 3-pointer off Grothaus' lost ball turnover with 3:44 on the clock, while Villanova re-took the lead for the first time since the 5:52 mark of the second quarter on a Garzon driving layup following another turnover for the Mountain Hawks.
As Lehigh and Villanova continued to trade paint and baskets as the final minutes of the half dwindled down, Kramer showed her prowess with a 3-pointer and a jumper late to give the Mountain Hawks back the lead. Coming out of a 30-second timeout, Garzon gave Villanova the 62-60 lead on a crucial driving layup with 21 seconds on the clock.
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Held up by Villanova's press defense and intense coverage in the waning seconds of the game, Lehigh had no other choice but to foul, as the Wildcats converted on their chances at the foul line, drilling three baskets to hold on for the 65-60 win.
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"I don't know that we need to go back to the drawing board, but we had a lot of different personnel in there for us tonight with Clair out," said Troyan. "With a different set of guards against a high-caliber team, most teams don't press Clair because she's a tough one to break down. Villanova went to our weakness tonight in terms of our younger guards and they succeeded."
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As mentioned earlier, four Mountain Hawks finished in double-figures led by Emma Grothaus' 16 points and eight rebounds. Lehigh tallied assists on 14 of its 23 field goals for the game lead by six for Megan Walker and two each for Meghan O'Brien, Anna Harvey and Ella Stemmer.
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The Mountain Hawks shot 39.0 percent (23-for-59) from the field and 30.4 percent (7-for-23) from beyond-the-arc, while going 7-for-10 from the foul line against Villanova. The Wildcats out-rebounded Lehigh, 44-34 while having the edge in points off turnovers (18-9) and points in the paint (38-28). The Mountain Hawks had an advantage in points off fast breaks (8-7), bench points (8-6) and led for 28:25 while Nova had the lead for just over three minutes of action.
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"I give our team a lot of credit tonight, Villanova is a good team," Troyan said. "It's going to be frustrating for our girls because it's a game we should have won, honestly had we handled the pressure better. It's just something we need to learn from going forward."
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Lucy Olsen led Villanova with 22 points, adding seven rebounds, while Brooke Mullin poured in 16 points and Brianna Herilhy finished with eight points and a game-high 12 boards.
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Lehigh will return home on Saturday against Binghamton at 2 p.m. for the final contest before winter break. The matchup will be streamed live from Stabler Arena on ESPN+ (subscription required).
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Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Team Stats
Lehigh
VU
FG%
.390
.385
3FG%
.304
.316
FT%
.700
.818
RB
44
34
TO
20
10
STL
6
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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