Sunday, March 14
Boston, Mass.
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
10-5,7-5Patriot
64
at
54
Boston U. (Championship Game)
12-3,10-2Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
23
8
16
17
64
Boston U.
13
16
10
15
54
Photo by: Boston University Athletics
Mountain Hawks clinch fourth Patriot League title with win over Boston U.
3/14/2021 9:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lehigh to play in NCAA Tournament for first time since 2010
BOSTON – For the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2010, the Lehigh women's basketball team has captured the Patriot League Championship, defeating second-seeded Boston University, 64-54 Sunday afternoon at Case Gym. The win punches the Mountain Hawks' ticket into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time as well. Lehigh, who upset top-seeded and previously unbeaten Bucknell on Thursday night came prepared to do the same, replicating success and coming through with the historic victory.
At No. 4, Mountain Hawks are the lowest seed to run the gamut and win a Patriot League title since Bucknell (No. 5) in 2008.
"I'm just really proud of the team. I'm so happy for them. I was excited for them just to get to play in a championship game and I thought they came out and really executed the game plan on the offensive and defensive end. I couldn't be more proud," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I've talked a lot about what they've endured through the season, what's been by far the hardest season probably of coaching and for players of playing. Really challenging. Lot of ups and downs, lot of highs, lot of lows and their resiliency through all of it has been unbelievable.
"There were times in the season where we really questioned 'should we be doing this?' It always came back to what they wanted and they always said they wanted to play and they wanted to compete for a championship. To get to this point and to compete and win is very deserving for what they have endured."
Frannie Hottinger took over when the team needed her most, scoring a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting with four rebounds. Junior Emma Grothaus played 36 minutes, scoring 12 points with eight rebounds, an assist and two steals en route to being named the Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player. Grothaus and Hottinger were Lehigh's two All-Tournament team honorees.
The first quarter belonged almost solely to Lehigh, leading the Terriers 23-13 at the first break. With a two-point advantage at 15-13 with 3:16 to play, the Mountain Hawks went on an 8-0 run to close the quarter to lead by 10 at the break.
After four straight points from Grothaus in the opening two minutes of the second quarter to push the Lehigh lead to 11 points, 27-16, the Terriers took a timeout. Frannie Hottinger hit a 3-pointer with 7:36 left to extend the lead to 12, the Mountain Hawks' largest of the game to that point, but an 11-1 run to end the half, capped by an Emily Esposito 3-pointer at the buzzer had BU within striking distance, 31-29 heading into the locker room.
The third quarter was played neck-and-neck for most of it, as the Terriers took the lead with 8:46 left to play. The Mountain Hawks were able to keep BU at bay, eventually able to get the lead back out to eight points to close the third following back-to-back free throws from Mary Clougherty. Freshman Jamie Behar had a strong third, with two consecutive 3-pointers to turn the game from one possession to two.
Maren Durant scored on a layup to cut the deficit to six points to open the fourth quarter with 9:34 left on the clock. Hottinger got Lehigh's lead back out to eight with 7:21 left, but it was junior Megan Walker who took over on many occasions, extending Lehigh's lead to 11 with 7:04 to play on her 3-point shot. Trailing by 11, the Terriers went on an 8-0 run to trail, 54-51 with 4:22 to play.
After a 30-second timeout by Lehigh, the big push of the game came for the Mountain Hawks started by Megan Walker with a layup to push the lead to five points with 2:57 to go. She hit another shot with 2:08 to go up by seven and then Hottinger followed that up with a clutch shot with 1:12 remaining as Lehigh took a 60-51 lead. The fouling game then began for the Terriers with Lehigh converting on four foul shots to come away with the 64-54 victory.
Three Mountain Hawks, Hottinger (21), Grothaus (12) and Walker (10) scored in double figures with Grothaus leading the way with eight rebounds. Jamie Behar scored eight points off the bench with four rebounds while Mary Clougherty scored seven points with six boards. Clair Steele finished with five assists.
As a team, the Mountain Hawks shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) from the field and 78.6 percent (11-for-14) from the free throw line.
The defense shined just like it did against Bucknell, holding the Terriers to just 32.9 percent (23-for-70) from the field and 20 percent (5-for-25) from beyond-the-arc.
"Looking back at the last two games, we really switched up defensively what we did against Bucknell and what we did against BU. Both coaches [Trevor Woodruff and Marisa Moseley] are outstanding X's and O's coaches, they prepare their team well and they execute well," said Troyan. "We went in on the defensive end just saying if we play straight man-to-man, we're not going to be able to match up with them, so we decided to really throw a lot of different looks at them.
"We reviewed a lot of film over the last few days. My associate head coach Glenn Rigney did a phenomenal job and while we only had two days to prepare, we put in basically a whole new defensive scheme that started in zone and then on the first pass went to man. We showed a 1-3-1 look, a 3-2 look, and a 2-3 look and it took them out of their comfort level of executing what they wanted to execute and I thought they just never got comfortable in their offensive sets. They were running their zone stuff against man. We mixed up what we were doing and I thought that really kept them off balance."
Lehigh scored 16 points off turnovers and seven second chance points, leading for 33:24 while BU led for only 3:25.
The Mountain Hawks await the NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show on Monday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN, where it will reveal Lehigh's opponent in San Antonio.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Gallery: (3-14-2021) WBB at Boston U.- PL Title Game, 3/14/21
At No. 4, Mountain Hawks are the lowest seed to run the gamut and win a Patriot League title since Bucknell (No. 5) in 2008.
"I'm just really proud of the team. I'm so happy for them. I was excited for them just to get to play in a championship game and I thought they came out and really executed the game plan on the offensive and defensive end. I couldn't be more proud," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I've talked a lot about what they've endured through the season, what's been by far the hardest season probably of coaching and for players of playing. Really challenging. Lot of ups and downs, lot of highs, lot of lows and their resiliency through all of it has been unbelievable.
"There were times in the season where we really questioned 'should we be doing this?' It always came back to what they wanted and they always said they wanted to play and they wanted to compete for a championship. To get to this point and to compete and win is very deserving for what they have endured."
Frannie Hottinger took over when the team needed her most, scoring a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting with four rebounds. Junior Emma Grothaus played 36 minutes, scoring 12 points with eight rebounds, an assist and two steals en route to being named the Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player. Grothaus and Hottinger were Lehigh's two All-Tournament team honorees.
The first quarter belonged almost solely to Lehigh, leading the Terriers 23-13 at the first break. With a two-point advantage at 15-13 with 3:16 to play, the Mountain Hawks went on an 8-0 run to close the quarter to lead by 10 at the break.
After four straight points from Grothaus in the opening two minutes of the second quarter to push the Lehigh lead to 11 points, 27-16, the Terriers took a timeout. Frannie Hottinger hit a 3-pointer with 7:36 left to extend the lead to 12, the Mountain Hawks' largest of the game to that point, but an 11-1 run to end the half, capped by an Emily Esposito 3-pointer at the buzzer had BU within striking distance, 31-29 heading into the locker room.
The third quarter was played neck-and-neck for most of it, as the Terriers took the lead with 8:46 left to play. The Mountain Hawks were able to keep BU at bay, eventually able to get the lead back out to eight points to close the third following back-to-back free throws from Mary Clougherty. Freshman Jamie Behar had a strong third, with two consecutive 3-pointers to turn the game from one possession to two.
Maren Durant scored on a layup to cut the deficit to six points to open the fourth quarter with 9:34 left on the clock. Hottinger got Lehigh's lead back out to eight with 7:21 left, but it was junior Megan Walker who took over on many occasions, extending Lehigh's lead to 11 with 7:04 to play on her 3-point shot. Trailing by 11, the Terriers went on an 8-0 run to trail, 54-51 with 4:22 to play.
After a 30-second timeout by Lehigh, the big push of the game came for the Mountain Hawks started by Megan Walker with a layup to push the lead to five points with 2:57 to go. She hit another shot with 2:08 to go up by seven and then Hottinger followed that up with a clutch shot with 1:12 remaining as Lehigh took a 60-51 lead. The fouling game then began for the Terriers with Lehigh converting on four foul shots to come away with the 64-54 victory.
Three Mountain Hawks, Hottinger (21), Grothaus (12) and Walker (10) scored in double figures with Grothaus leading the way with eight rebounds. Jamie Behar scored eight points off the bench with four rebounds while Mary Clougherty scored seven points with six boards. Clair Steele finished with five assists.
As a team, the Mountain Hawks shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) from the field and 78.6 percent (11-for-14) from the free throw line.
The defense shined just like it did against Bucknell, holding the Terriers to just 32.9 percent (23-for-70) from the field and 20 percent (5-for-25) from beyond-the-arc.
"Looking back at the last two games, we really switched up defensively what we did against Bucknell and what we did against BU. Both coaches [Trevor Woodruff and Marisa Moseley] are outstanding X's and O's coaches, they prepare their team well and they execute well," said Troyan. "We went in on the defensive end just saying if we play straight man-to-man, we're not going to be able to match up with them, so we decided to really throw a lot of different looks at them.
"We reviewed a lot of film over the last few days. My associate head coach Glenn Rigney did a phenomenal job and while we only had two days to prepare, we put in basically a whole new defensive scheme that started in zone and then on the first pass went to man. We showed a 1-3-1 look, a 3-2 look, and a 2-3 look and it took them out of their comfort level of executing what they wanted to execute and I thought they just never got comfortable in their offensive sets. They were running their zone stuff against man. We mixed up what we were doing and I thought that really kept them off balance."
Lehigh scored 16 points off turnovers and seven second chance points, leading for 33:24 while BU led for only 3:25.
The Mountain Hawks await the NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show on Monday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN, where it will reveal Lehigh's opponent in San Antonio.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
BU
FG%
.411
.329
3FG%
.304
.200
FT%
.786
1.000
RB
39
43
TO
9
12
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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