Monday, February 22
Easton, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
7-5,7-5Patriot
71
at
57
Lafayette
3-7,3-7Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
22
15
14
20
71
Lafayette
16
8
19
14
57
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Mountain Hawks topple Lafayette on the road, 71-57 to earn series win
2/22/2021 11:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. – Overcoming a 10-point loss on Sunday, the Lehigh women's basketball team got right back to work, out-scoring Lafayette, 20-14 in the fourth quarter to come away with the 71-57 edge over the Leopards at Kirby Sports Center Monday night. The win pushes the Mountain Hawks' record to 7-5 overall with a 3-5 record in central division play heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
Four Lehigh players scored in double-figures led by Emma Grothaus' 17 points, while freshman Mackenzie Kramer scored 16 and both sophomore Frannie Hottinger and freshman Jamie Behar added 11 points.
Lehigh's defense did a bang-up job against the Leopards despite another inhuman-like outing from Natalie Kucowski. The Mountain Hawks held Lafayette to just 11.1 percent (2-for-18) from beyond-the-arc and forced 16 Leopard turnovers.
"Yesterday was definitely a game of getting the rust off, our freshmen had two practices under their belt in 21 days and our upperclassmen had four in 18 days," said head coach Sue Troyan. "It probably showed a little bit, I thought tonight we challenged them to compete. I don't think we competed hard yesterday and I thought we allowed them to do some things on the defensive end. We played much better team defense today and did a lot better job of sharing the ball on the offensive end.
"We're at our best when we play unselfishly and our goal is 20 assists per game. There was just so much flow in what they did tonight and they looked for each other. Our girls really showed who they were tonight."
Lafayette opened the first quarter on a 10-5 run, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Kramer changed Lehigh's fortune and put them in the lead. A 15-0 run capped off by five consecutive Lehigh 3-pointers had the Mountain Hawks leading by 10, 20-10 with 2:16 left in the first. A 6-2 Lafayette run after that point, cut the gap to six, 22-16 at the end of the first frame.
Back-to-back buckets from Hottinger and Kramer had Lehigh up 11 right out of the gate and a Behar jumper in the paint with 4:56 left extended the lead to 14 causing the Leopards to burn a timeout.
Clair Steele's 3-pointer with 1:38 left in the second had the Mountain Hawks leading by 17, but the Leopards scored four points to close out the quarter trailing 37-24.
Lehigh shot the ball much better overall than on Sunday in the first half alone, shooting 37.5 percent (12-for-32) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from the 3-point line. 13 of the Mountain Hawks' 37 first half points were scored off of turnovers as the Leopards turned the ball over nine times through the first 20 minutes.
Gallery: (2-22-2021) Lehigh WBB at Lafayette, 2/22/2021
Looking to close the gap and stop Lehigh's momentum, the Leopards were able to get the deficit down to eight points with 5:42 left in the third quarter, causing the Mountain Hawks to call time. Mary Clougherty drilled two 3-pointers in a span of two or so minutes to get the lead back to 12 with 2:23 to play, but the Leopards were able to cut the gap to six points, 49-43 with 33 seconds to go.
A Kramer second chance layup had Lehigh leading by eight heading into the final stanza.
Lafayette made things interesting early in the fourth quarter, with a 9-3 run to get within two points of Lehigh with 5:33 left, but Kramer hit a 3-pointer to push Lehigh's lead back to give with 5:21 to go. Two points was the closest the Leopards got to overtaking the lead and free throws late in the game off fouls proved to be the difference maker as the Mountain Hawks came away with the 14 point, 71-57 win on the road.
In addition to Grothaus' 17 points, she also added four rebounds to go along with four steals on the defensive end. Kramer had six rebounds and five assists with 16 points. Mariah Sexe led the way for the Mountain Hawks on the glass with seven boards, also with two blocks to her name.
"Kenzie is a very composed kid," Troyan said. "She has been in four quarantines this fall and none of them because she had COVID, but because of the people around her. I give her a lot of credit for a kid that loves basketball and is so passionate about it. Every day she was out, she would much rather be on the court. She's a gym rat, got a 4.0 in the fall, so she's a really bright student as well.
"You really haven't seen all that she can do on the court for us, because once she has the opportunity to practice every day and get into a rhythm, she's going to be something really special here."
The Mountain Hawks shot 38.3 percent (23-for-60) from the field, 39.4 percent (13-for-33) from beyond-the-arc and were 92.3 percent (12-for-13) from the free throw line.
Lafayette was led once again by Natalie Kucowski, who picked up her 51st career double-double by pouring in 26 points with 17 rebounds, four assists and five blocks. Drew Freeland added 11 points with six assists.
The Leopards shot 39.1 percent (25-for-64) from the field, 11.1 percent (2-for-18) from beyond and just 50 percent (5-for-10) from the charity stripe.
Lehigh out-scored Lafayette, 19-9 in points off turnovers, 25-6 in bench points and led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter. One lead early in the first quarter for Leopards denied Lehigh from taking the wire-to-wire victory.
The schedule for the upcoming weekend is still to be determined with the Patriot League Quarterfinals set for March 7.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Four Lehigh players scored in double-figures led by Emma Grothaus' 17 points, while freshman Mackenzie Kramer scored 16 and both sophomore Frannie Hottinger and freshman Jamie Behar added 11 points.
Lehigh's defense did a bang-up job against the Leopards despite another inhuman-like outing from Natalie Kucowski. The Mountain Hawks held Lafayette to just 11.1 percent (2-for-18) from beyond-the-arc and forced 16 Leopard turnovers.
"Yesterday was definitely a game of getting the rust off, our freshmen had two practices under their belt in 21 days and our upperclassmen had four in 18 days," said head coach Sue Troyan. "It probably showed a little bit, I thought tonight we challenged them to compete. I don't think we competed hard yesterday and I thought we allowed them to do some things on the defensive end. We played much better team defense today and did a lot better job of sharing the ball on the offensive end.
"We're at our best when we play unselfishly and our goal is 20 assists per game. There was just so much flow in what they did tonight and they looked for each other. Our girls really showed who they were tonight."
Lafayette opened the first quarter on a 10-5 run, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Kramer changed Lehigh's fortune and put them in the lead. A 15-0 run capped off by five consecutive Lehigh 3-pointers had the Mountain Hawks leading by 10, 20-10 with 2:16 left in the first. A 6-2 Lafayette run after that point, cut the gap to six, 22-16 at the end of the first frame.
Back-to-back buckets from Hottinger and Kramer had Lehigh up 11 right out of the gate and a Behar jumper in the paint with 4:56 left extended the lead to 14 causing the Leopards to burn a timeout.
Clair Steele's 3-pointer with 1:38 left in the second had the Mountain Hawks leading by 17, but the Leopards scored four points to close out the quarter trailing 37-24.
Lehigh shot the ball much better overall than on Sunday in the first half alone, shooting 37.5 percent (12-for-32) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from the 3-point line. 13 of the Mountain Hawks' 37 first half points were scored off of turnovers as the Leopards turned the ball over nine times through the first 20 minutes.
Looking to close the gap and stop Lehigh's momentum, the Leopards were able to get the deficit down to eight points with 5:42 left in the third quarter, causing the Mountain Hawks to call time. Mary Clougherty drilled two 3-pointers in a span of two or so minutes to get the lead back to 12 with 2:23 to play, but the Leopards were able to cut the gap to six points, 49-43 with 33 seconds to go.
A Kramer second chance layup had Lehigh leading by eight heading into the final stanza.
Lafayette made things interesting early in the fourth quarter, with a 9-3 run to get within two points of Lehigh with 5:33 left, but Kramer hit a 3-pointer to push Lehigh's lead back to give with 5:21 to go. Two points was the closest the Leopards got to overtaking the lead and free throws late in the game off fouls proved to be the difference maker as the Mountain Hawks came away with the 14 point, 71-57 win on the road.
In addition to Grothaus' 17 points, she also added four rebounds to go along with four steals on the defensive end. Kramer had six rebounds and five assists with 16 points. Mariah Sexe led the way for the Mountain Hawks on the glass with seven boards, also with two blocks to her name.
"Kenzie is a very composed kid," Troyan said. "She has been in four quarantines this fall and none of them because she had COVID, but because of the people around her. I give her a lot of credit for a kid that loves basketball and is so passionate about it. Every day she was out, she would much rather be on the court. She's a gym rat, got a 4.0 in the fall, so she's a really bright student as well.
"You really haven't seen all that she can do on the court for us, because once she has the opportunity to practice every day and get into a rhythm, she's going to be something really special here."
The Mountain Hawks shot 38.3 percent (23-for-60) from the field, 39.4 percent (13-for-33) from beyond-the-arc and were 92.3 percent (12-for-13) from the free throw line.
Lafayette was led once again by Natalie Kucowski, who picked up her 51st career double-double by pouring in 26 points with 17 rebounds, four assists and five blocks. Drew Freeland added 11 points with six assists.
The Leopards shot 39.1 percent (25-for-64) from the field, 11.1 percent (2-for-18) from beyond and just 50 percent (5-for-10) from the charity stripe.
Lehigh out-scored Lafayette, 19-9 in points off turnovers, 25-6 in bench points and led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter. One lead early in the first quarter for Leopards denied Lehigh from taking the wire-to-wire victory.
The schedule for the upcoming weekend is still to be determined with the Patriot League Quarterfinals set for March 7.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
Laf
FG%
.383
.391
3FG%
.394
.111
FT%
.923
.500
RB
36
43
TO
11
16
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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