Tuesday, December 21
Washington, D.C.
1:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
8-3,0-0Patriot
70
at
57
George Washington
6-6,0-0Atlantic 10
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
18
19
18
15
70
George Washington
17
14
15
11
57
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Mountain Hawks make statement in 70-57 victory over Colonials
12/21/2021 5:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WASHINGTON – The Lehigh women's basketball team closed out non-league play with a statement victory on Tuesday afternoon, topping George Washington 70-57 at the Charles E. Smith Center. The Mountain Hawks (8-3) were led by sophomore guard Mackenzie Kramer's career-high 31 points on a career-high seven 3-pointers, a 12-point, 20-rebound double-double for senior forward Emma Grothaus, as well as a crucial 8-0 run by senior Megan Walker alone in the fourth quarter that sealed the victory.
Notably, Grothaus became the 28th player in program history to reach the 500-career rebound plateau. Now at 504, she is in tie with Alexis Bevington '00 for 24th all-time. Her 20 rebounds against the Colonials are the most by a Mountain Hawk since Lexi Martins set the single season program record for rebounds in a game at 23 vs. NJIT on Nov. 19, 2015.
The win for Lehigh is its third straight and first on the road this season, heading into the Patriot League portion of the schedule with a ton of momentum.
GW scored first to kick off the game, but Lehigh struck back and led 11-8 heading into the media timeout with 5:54 to play following a 3-pointer for Kramer and a layup for Anna Harvey off a turnover. The Colonials thought they were going to head into the second quarter with a one-point lead after a layup with 47 seconds left, but Grothaus powered through with a second-chance layup with four seconds left to put Lehigh ahead, 18-17 after the first 10 minutes.
The Mountain Hawks opened the second quarter on an 8-2 push, taking a seven-point, 26-19 lead at the 6:00 mark after Walker drilled a second chance 3-pointer. After the media timeout, Lehigh used a fast break bucket from first year Meghan O'Brien to go ahead by nine points with 5:37 left. GW got as close as five points with 2:26 to go and the Mountain Hawks headed into the locker room with a six-point advantage at 37-31.
Kramer led the way with 15 points in the first half alone, converting on four 3-pointers on five attempts. Lehigh shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) from the field while going 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from beyond-the-arc.
O'Brien gave Lehigh an 11-point lead on a layup with 8:13 left in the final quarter, but an 8-0 GW run brought it back within three points with 4:11 to go.
Kramer led all scorers with 31 points with three rebounds and three assists. Grothaus scored 12 points to go along with her 20 rebounds, while Walker finished with 16 points, six rebounds and a career-high five steals. Harvey led Lehigh with six assists in her second straight start, as the team accumulated 14 assists on 24 made field goals.
The Mountain Hawks shot 43.6 percent (24-for-55) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from long range. They also shot 80 percent (12-for-15) from the free throw line. Lehigh held GW to 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field and 36.8 percent (7-for-19) from the 3-point line. The Colonials were just 10-for-18 from the charity stripe.
Lehigh led the points in the paint battle (24-16) and also had the edge in fast break points (13-5).
Kyara Frames led GW with 14 points, while Faith Blethen added 10. Taylor Webster led the Colonials with 10 rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks take an eight-day break for the holidays before returning to Stabler Arena on Dec. 30, hosting American at 2 p.m. in the Patriot League opener. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Notably, Grothaus became the 28th player in program history to reach the 500-career rebound plateau. Now at 504, she is in tie with Alexis Bevington '00 for 24th all-time. Her 20 rebounds against the Colonials are the most by a Mountain Hawk since Lexi Martins set the single season program record for rebounds in a game at 23 vs. NJIT on Nov. 19, 2015.
The win for Lehigh is its third straight and first on the road this season, heading into the Patriot League portion of the schedule with a ton of momentum.
GW scored first to kick off the game, but Lehigh struck back and led 11-8 heading into the media timeout with 5:54 to play following a 3-pointer for Kramer and a layup for Anna Harvey off a turnover. The Colonials thought they were going to head into the second quarter with a one-point lead after a layup with 47 seconds left, but Grothaus powered through with a second-chance layup with four seconds left to put Lehigh ahead, 18-17 after the first 10 minutes.
The Mountain Hawks opened the second quarter on an 8-2 push, taking a seven-point, 26-19 lead at the 6:00 mark after Walker drilled a second chance 3-pointer. After the media timeout, Lehigh used a fast break bucket from first year Meghan O'Brien to go ahead by nine points with 5:37 left. GW got as close as five points with 2:26 to go and the Mountain Hawks headed into the locker room with a six-point advantage at 37-31.
Kramer led the way with 15 points in the first half alone, converting on four 3-pointers on five attempts. Lehigh shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) from the field while going 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from beyond-the-arc.
Harvey opened the second half with a layup to put the Mountain Hawks up by eight points, but the Colonials were able to claw back, trailing by five points with 6:02 left in the quarter. GW cut the gap to as little as four points with 1:44 to play, but Lehigh used nine straight points from Kramer to lead 55-46 going into the final stanza.Oh my goodness gracious. How is this even possible?!@MackenzieK23 up to a career-high 2️⃣6️⃣ with a career-high tying sixth 3-pointer of the game.#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs | #PLTop3 pic.twitter.com/DyP9lJzYqT
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) December 21, 2021
O'Brien gave Lehigh an 11-point lead on a layup with 8:13 left in the final quarter, but an 8-0 GW run brought it back within three points with 4:11 to go.
From that point forward, it became Megan Walker's game, scoring eight in a row including two buckets off her own steals to push the Mountain Hawk lead back to 11 points with 2:08 to go.Lots of good stuff on this play. The 500th career rebound for @EmmaGrothaus and a gorgeous long pass from @MackenzieK23 to @33megob.#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/oDJ7ENAwJY
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) December 21, 2021
Kramer scored each of Lehigh's final two baskets to allow the Mountain Hawks to march away with a 13-point win over George Washington.HYPE US UP, @walkermegan_!
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) December 21, 2021
ANOTHER steal and layup makes it an 8-0 run for just the senior! Lehigh extends its lead.#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/nhYwQ4kTNf
Kramer led all scorers with 31 points with three rebounds and three assists. Grothaus scored 12 points to go along with her 20 rebounds, while Walker finished with 16 points, six rebounds and a career-high five steals. Harvey led Lehigh with six assists in her second straight start, as the team accumulated 14 assists on 24 made field goals.
The Mountain Hawks shot 43.6 percent (24-for-55) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from long range. They also shot 80 percent (12-for-15) from the free throw line. Lehigh held GW to 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field and 36.8 percent (7-for-19) from the 3-point line. The Colonials were just 10-for-18 from the charity stripe.
Lehigh led the points in the paint battle (24-16) and also had the edge in fast break points (13-5).
Kyara Frames led GW with 14 points, while Faith Blethen added 10. Taylor Webster led the Colonials with 10 rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks take an eight-day break for the holidays before returning to Stabler Arena on Dec. 30, hosting American at 2 p.m. in the Patriot League opener. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
GWU
FG%
.436
.317
3FG%
.417
.368
FT%
.800
.556
RB
46
33
TO
21
11
STL
9
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
31
FGM
10
3FGM
7
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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