Sunday, February 21
Bethlehem, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
60
vs
70
Lafayette
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lafayette claims victory over Lehigh in 100th all-time meeting
2/21/2021 7:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Despite cutting the deficit to seven points late in the fourth quarter, the push was too little, too late for the Lehigh women's basketball team, falling to Lafayette 70-60 on Sunday afternoon at Stabler Arena on Education Day presented by Red Robin.
The Leopards (3-6, 1-4 Central) got the wire-to-wire victory, never trailing throughout the contest and taking the 100th all-time matchup against the Mountain Hawks (6-5, 2-5 Central).
Senior guard Mary Clougherty and junior guard Megan Walker both led the way for Lehigh with 14 points each, as Walker recorded three 3-pointers.
"It probably wasn't our best effort today, but there's nothing we can really compare it to in terms of hitting our stride before going into the pause," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We didn't have control over our two-week pause. Coming out, it was pretty ugly for us and for 40 minutes we didn't shoot the ball very well.
"I thought we competed better in the second half than in the first two quarters. I thought it took a couple of quarters to get our feet under us and get back into a rhythm systematically of how we wanted to run our offense and defense."
The Leopards came out of the gate strong with five points right off the bat and got the lead out to eight points with 5:24 left. Junior guard Clair Steele converted on a 3-point jumper off the fast break to bring the Mountain Hawks within five at 14-9 coming out of the media timeout, but back-to-back shots from beyond-the-arc for Natalie Kucowski had the Leopards leading 20-9 with 3:16 to play. Clougherty hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to close the gap to six points, 20-14 heading into the second quarter.
Following a Lafayette turnover, Steele turned that opportunity into a positive for Lehigh, scoring from downtown with 7:25 to cut the Leopards' lead to two points, now trailing just 22-20. Lafayette went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 30-20 causing Troyan to spend a timeout.
Clougherty's floating jumper from just outside the paint with under a minute to play cut Lafayette's lead back to single digits at nine points, but Jess Booth hit a floating jumper of her own with 15 seconds left to put the Leopards up by 11, 38-27 going into the first break.
Gallery: (2-21-2021) Lehigh WBB vs. Lafayette 2/21/2021
The second quarter belonged to Lafayette, out-scoring Lehigh 18-13 but also out-shooting them as well, going 50.3 percent (8-of-15) from the field, while the Mountain Hawks managed to only shoot 28.6 percent (4-for-14) in the frame.
Naomi Ganpo didn't waste much time at the start of the third quarter to put Lafayette up by 13 points with 9:42 left after a turnaround jump shot gave her four points for the contest so far. Booth scored from beyond with 6:07 left to put the Leopards up by 17 points, their largest lead of the game to that point.
With a 16-point advantage and 2:48 left to play in the third, Walker hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 13 and freshman Mackenzie Kramer followed that up with a 3-pointer of her own, causing the Leopards to spend a timeout leading, 53-41 with 2:00 left on the clock. Booth got the Lafayette lead back to 16 points with under a minute to go, but Walker had the last laugh for Lehigh, getting a 3-pointer to fall to trail 57-46 heading into the final stanza.
Like Ganpo at the start of the third, Walker didn't waste much time at the beginning of the fourth quarter after she was fouled from beyond, going to foul line and converting on all three shots to bring the Mountain Hawks within eight points.
Lafayette gained some separation and led by 12 points heading into the 3:56 media timeout, but Clougherty came back in the clutch to hit a 3 with 3:44 left in regulation to bring the deficit back to single digits at nine points again.
The Mountain Hawks were able to cut the gap to seven points on two occasions, but the Leopards were able to hang on for the 70-60 victory on the road.
To go along with her 14 points, Mary Clougherty also added seven rebounds. Clair Steele also finished in double-digit scoring with 10 points, adding four rebounds, three assists and four steals. Mackenzie Kramer scored eight points with three rebounds.
The story of the game for Lafayette was Natalie Kucowski, who at halftime, led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds. She went on to finish with 27 points and 19 boards, going 10-for-16 from the field to record the 50th double-double of her career so far.
Playing for the first time in 21 days, the Mountain Hawks struggled shooting the ball for most of the contest, shooting 31.1 percent (19-for-61) from the field and 28.6 percent (10-for-35) from the 3-point line. Lehigh was near perfect from the charity stripe, only missing two shots for an 85.7 percent (12-for-14) average.
The Leopards shot 46.0 percent (29-for-63) from the field and just 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from downtown. Lafayette out-scored Lehigh in the paint, 44-12 in the contest, while the Mountain Hawks got the better of the opposition from points off turnovers, 16-5.
Lehigh will look to right the ship on Monday night at Lafayette in the final central division contest of the regular season. The Mountain Hawks have dropped three straight games and will look to avoid falling to a .500 overall record against the Leopards, who have won two of their last three games.
"We just have to be really focused and leave this game behind us, honestly," Troyan said. "We can't dwell on the loss and it's good to get that game out of our system. Hopefully we are able to rebound and the great thing we told the girls is that we're able to run it right back tomorrow.
"Obviously it's always more challenging at their place, but we've got a group of strong seniors and leaders on this team that can rebound off of this."
Monday's contest tips off at 7 p.m. from the Kirby Sports Center in Easton and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
The Leopards (3-6, 1-4 Central) got the wire-to-wire victory, never trailing throughout the contest and taking the 100th all-time matchup against the Mountain Hawks (6-5, 2-5 Central).
Senior guard Mary Clougherty and junior guard Megan Walker both led the way for Lehigh with 14 points each, as Walker recorded three 3-pointers.
"It probably wasn't our best effort today, but there's nothing we can really compare it to in terms of hitting our stride before going into the pause," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We didn't have control over our two-week pause. Coming out, it was pretty ugly for us and for 40 minutes we didn't shoot the ball very well.
"I thought we competed better in the second half than in the first two quarters. I thought it took a couple of quarters to get our feet under us and get back into a rhythm systematically of how we wanted to run our offense and defense."
The Leopards came out of the gate strong with five points right off the bat and got the lead out to eight points with 5:24 left. Junior guard Clair Steele converted on a 3-point jumper off the fast break to bring the Mountain Hawks within five at 14-9 coming out of the media timeout, but back-to-back shots from beyond-the-arc for Natalie Kucowski had the Leopards leading 20-9 with 3:16 to play. Clougherty hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to close the gap to six points, 20-14 heading into the second quarter.
Following a Lafayette turnover, Steele turned that opportunity into a positive for Lehigh, scoring from downtown with 7:25 to cut the Leopards' lead to two points, now trailing just 22-20. Lafayette went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 30-20 causing Troyan to spend a timeout.
Clougherty's floating jumper from just outside the paint with under a minute to play cut Lafayette's lead back to single digits at nine points, but Jess Booth hit a floating jumper of her own with 15 seconds left to put the Leopards up by 11, 38-27 going into the first break.
The second quarter belonged to Lafayette, out-scoring Lehigh 18-13 but also out-shooting them as well, going 50.3 percent (8-of-15) from the field, while the Mountain Hawks managed to only shoot 28.6 percent (4-for-14) in the frame.
Naomi Ganpo didn't waste much time at the start of the third quarter to put Lafayette up by 13 points with 9:42 left after a turnaround jump shot gave her four points for the contest so far. Booth scored from beyond with 6:07 left to put the Leopards up by 17 points, their largest lead of the game to that point.
With a 16-point advantage and 2:48 left to play in the third, Walker hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 13 and freshman Mackenzie Kramer followed that up with a 3-pointer of her own, causing the Leopards to spend a timeout leading, 53-41 with 2:00 left on the clock. Booth got the Lafayette lead back to 16 points with under a minute to go, but Walker had the last laugh for Lehigh, getting a 3-pointer to fall to trail 57-46 heading into the final stanza.
Like Ganpo at the start of the third, Walker didn't waste much time at the beginning of the fourth quarter after she was fouled from beyond, going to foul line and converting on all three shots to bring the Mountain Hawks within eight points.
Lafayette gained some separation and led by 12 points heading into the 3:56 media timeout, but Clougherty came back in the clutch to hit a 3 with 3:44 left in regulation to bring the deficit back to single digits at nine points again.
The Mountain Hawks were able to cut the gap to seven points on two occasions, but the Leopards were able to hang on for the 70-60 victory on the road.
To go along with her 14 points, Mary Clougherty also added seven rebounds. Clair Steele also finished in double-digit scoring with 10 points, adding four rebounds, three assists and four steals. Mackenzie Kramer scored eight points with three rebounds.
The story of the game for Lafayette was Natalie Kucowski, who at halftime, led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds. She went on to finish with 27 points and 19 boards, going 10-for-16 from the field to record the 50th double-double of her career so far.
Playing for the first time in 21 days, the Mountain Hawks struggled shooting the ball for most of the contest, shooting 31.1 percent (19-for-61) from the field and 28.6 percent (10-for-35) from the 3-point line. Lehigh was near perfect from the charity stripe, only missing two shots for an 85.7 percent (12-for-14) average.
The Leopards shot 46.0 percent (29-for-63) from the field and just 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from downtown. Lafayette out-scored Lehigh in the paint, 44-12 in the contest, while the Mountain Hawks got the better of the opposition from points off turnovers, 16-5.
Lehigh will look to right the ship on Monday night at Lafayette in the final central division contest of the regular season. The Mountain Hawks have dropped three straight games and will look to avoid falling to a .500 overall record against the Leopards, who have won two of their last three games.
"We just have to be really focused and leave this game behind us, honestly," Troyan said. "We can't dwell on the loss and it's good to get that game out of our system. Hopefully we are able to rebound and the great thing we told the girls is that we're able to run it right back tomorrow.
"Obviously it's always more challenging at their place, but we've got a group of strong seniors and leaders on this team that can rebound off of this."
Monday's contest tips off at 7 p.m. from the Kirby Sports Center in Easton and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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