Thursday, March 11
Lewisburg, Pa.
Lehigh University
9-5,7-5Patriot
63
at
54
Bucknell (Semifinals)
9-1,8-0Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
14
20
9
20
63
Bucknell
13
9
14
18
54
Photo by: Josh Liddick
Lehigh knocks off unbeaten Bucknell, will vie for fourth Patriot League title
3/11/2021 10:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – For the first time since 2014-15, the Lehigh women's basketball team will play for a Patriot League Championship, knocking off top-seeded and undefeated Bucknell, 63-54 Thursday night at Sojka Pavilion. The win snaps a nine-game losing streak to the Bison, including nine straight on the road. The Mountain Hawks will now face second-seeded Boston University Sunday afternoon in the title game, looking for their first Patriot League title since 2009-10.
The defense was on point for Lehigh throughout the contest, holding the Bison to under 60 points for just the second time all season and a season-low 54 points, more than 16 below their season-average. The total was Bucknell's fewest points since Feb. 1, 2020 against Boston U., also the Bison's last loss before Thursday. The Mountain Hawks held Bucknell to just 35.6 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from beyond-the-arc.
Five Mountain Hawks reached double figures led by senior guard Mary Clougherty with 13 points, Frannie Hottinger with 12, Emma Grothaus with 12, Mackenzie Kramer with 10 and Clair Steele with 10 points as well. Grothaus was dominant on both sides of the ball, securing her second double-double of the season adding a career-high 14 boards, along with three steals and two blocks.
"I'm proud of the girls. Obviously going into the game, Bucknell has had our number for a number of years and four games this year," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We talked a lot about it was probably more a mental game than a physical game. We talked about the importance of playing together, playing with toughness and I thought on the defensive end, I thought they really played tough. This is a team that has really grown over the year, over the season.
"Definitely one of our best defensive efforts this year and I thought I saw a lot of growth in terms of the team on the defensive end, on the mental end, staying together, staying focused, not getting down. They made a run at the end, they cut it down to three and they responded, big bucket there. I thought that was a lot of growth for the team."
The Mountain Hawks got the first quarter started off hot, getting out to an early 5-2 lead. It was neck-and-neck for most of the stanza, but Clougherty hit a jumper in the paint to make it 14-13 heading into the second.
The second quarter belonged almost solely to Lehigh, out-scoring the Bison 20-9. The Mountain Hawks started things off on a 6-1 run to take an eight-point advantage into the media timeout with 4:31 left. Bucknell was able to cut the lead back down to five with 3:48 to go, but Kramer scored five unanswered to push the lead back up to 10 points. She continued her hot hand with a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left to give the Mountain Hawks a 12-point halftime lead.
The game started to become tight in the fourth quarter, as the Bison led things off on an 8-4 run, cutting the Lehigh lead to just three points with 5:47 to go. But it was Clougherty coming through in the clutch once again, drilling a 3-pointer with 5:05 left to push the lead back to six at 50-44. A layup by Jamie Behar had the lead back to eight points and while Bucknell was able to come within five with 2:17 to play, the Mountain Hawks used shots from Kramer and Hottinger with under two to play to get the lead extended to nine.
The fouling game began for the Bison, as the Mountain Hawks held on for the 63-54 semifinal round victory.
Clair Steele added a team-high five assists to her 10 points on the night, while the team shot 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the field and just 25 percent (5-for-20) from beyond-the-arc, but still were able to pull out the victory. The defense was stellar, forcing 15 Bison turnovers and holding the team to just 35.6 percent from the field and 18.2 percent (4-for-22) from the 3-point line.
The Mountain Hawks were out-rebounded 39-34, but the team's bench out-scored Bucknell, 25-0 and led for all but 2:59 for the contest.
At No. 4, Lehigh is the lowest seed to qualify for a Patriot League Championship Game since 2014-15 when the Mountain Hawks played American as the sixth-seed.
Sunday's game from Case Gym against the Terriers tips off at 4 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The winner punches its ticket to the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament in San Antonio, beginning next weekend.
Sunday will be the Mountain Hawks' sixth appearance in a title game in program history and the team's first since 2015. Under Troyan, Lehigh has won three Patriot League titles, but none in 11 years.
"They've got to play together, they've got to show the toughness. We've got to be able to defend. We've proven we're a pretty good offensive team and if we want a championship, we've got to put the offense and the defense together and I thought we did that tonight honestly," said Troyan. "Bucknell is probably the premier defensive team in our league. I thought we did a good job executing against them and I thought on the defensive end, they're one of the premier offensive teams in the league too and we did one of our better jobs.
"It's just continuing to get better, use the confidence coming from this game and as Mary talked about, there's a lot of love that they have for one another and it's really about playing for one another right now."
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (3-11-2021) Women's Basketball at Bucknell, 3/11/21
The defense was on point for Lehigh throughout the contest, holding the Bison to under 60 points for just the second time all season and a season-low 54 points, more than 16 below their season-average. The total was Bucknell's fewest points since Feb. 1, 2020 against Boston U., also the Bison's last loss before Thursday. The Mountain Hawks held Bucknell to just 35.6 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from beyond-the-arc.
Five Mountain Hawks reached double figures led by senior guard Mary Clougherty with 13 points, Frannie Hottinger with 12, Emma Grothaus with 12, Mackenzie Kramer with 10 and Clair Steele with 10 points as well. Grothaus was dominant on both sides of the ball, securing her second double-double of the season adding a career-high 14 boards, along with three steals and two blocks.
"I'm proud of the girls. Obviously going into the game, Bucknell has had our number for a number of years and four games this year," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We talked a lot about it was probably more a mental game than a physical game. We talked about the importance of playing together, playing with toughness and I thought on the defensive end, I thought they really played tough. This is a team that has really grown over the year, over the season.
"Definitely one of our best defensive efforts this year and I thought I saw a lot of growth in terms of the team on the defensive end, on the mental end, staying together, staying focused, not getting down. They made a run at the end, they cut it down to three and they responded, big bucket there. I thought that was a lot of growth for the team."
The Mountain Hawks got the first quarter started off hot, getting out to an early 5-2 lead. It was neck-and-neck for most of the stanza, but Clougherty hit a jumper in the paint to make it 14-13 heading into the second.
The second quarter belonged almost solely to Lehigh, out-scoring the Bison 20-9. The Mountain Hawks started things off on a 6-1 run to take an eight-point advantage into the media timeout with 4:31 left. Bucknell was able to cut the lead back down to five with 3:48 to go, but Kramer scored five unanswered to push the lead back up to 10 points. She continued her hot hand with a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left to give the Mountain Hawks a 12-point halftime lead.
Bucknell was able to get the deficit down to five points on two separate occasions, but Lehigh kept the lead in the 10-point zone, thanks to Megan Walker's driving layup with 5:39 left. Clair Steele drew a foul in the closing seconds, drilling two foul shots to put the Mountain Hawks back up by seven after the Bison cut the gap to five.Ready to play for the ship. 😤#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/8KGQKk4x9V
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) March 12, 2021
The game started to become tight in the fourth quarter, as the Bison led things off on an 8-4 run, cutting the Lehigh lead to just three points with 5:47 to go. But it was Clougherty coming through in the clutch once again, drilling a 3-pointer with 5:05 left to push the lead back to six at 50-44. A layup by Jamie Behar had the lead back to eight points and while Bucknell was able to come within five with 2:17 to play, the Mountain Hawks used shots from Kramer and Hottinger with under two to play to get the lead extended to nine.
The fouling game began for the Bison, as the Mountain Hawks held on for the 63-54 semifinal round victory.
Clair Steele added a team-high five assists to her 10 points on the night, while the team shot 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the field and just 25 percent (5-for-20) from beyond-the-arc, but still were able to pull out the victory. The defense was stellar, forcing 15 Bison turnovers and holding the team to just 35.6 percent from the field and 18.2 percent (4-for-22) from the 3-point line.
The Mountain Hawks were out-rebounded 39-34, but the team's bench out-scored Bucknell, 25-0 and led for all but 2:59 for the contest.
At No. 4, Lehigh is the lowest seed to qualify for a Patriot League Championship Game since 2014-15 when the Mountain Hawks played American as the sixth-seed.
Sunday's game from Case Gym against the Terriers tips off at 4 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The winner punches its ticket to the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament in San Antonio, beginning next weekend.
Sunday will be the Mountain Hawks' sixth appearance in a title game in program history and the team's first since 2015. Under Troyan, Lehigh has won three Patriot League titles, but none in 11 years.
"They've got to play together, they've got to show the toughness. We've got to be able to defend. We've proven we're a pretty good offensive team and if we want a championship, we've got to put the offense and the defense together and I thought we did that tonight honestly," said Troyan. "Bucknell is probably the premier defensive team in our league. I thought we did a good job executing against them and I thought on the defensive end, they're one of the premier offensive teams in the league too and we did one of our better jobs.
"It's just continuing to get better, use the confidence coming from this game and as Mary talked about, there's a lot of love that they have for one another and it's really about playing for one another right now."
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
Buck
FG%
.444
.356
3FG%
.250
.182
FT%
.588
.615
RB
34
39
TO
14
15
STL
9
7
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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