Wednesday, January 19
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
12-5,4-2Patriot
99
vs
65
Navy
5-12,2-5Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Navy
15
21
16
13
65
Lehigh
24
25
34
16
99
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh breaks Stabler scoring record in wire-to-wire 99-65 win over Navy
1/19/2022 8:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – It was another historic night at Stabler Arena, as the Lehigh women's basketball team rolled to a dominant wire-to-wire 99-65 victory over Navy Wednesday evening. The Mountain Hawks' (12-5, 4-2 PL) 99 points is the second-most scored in a game in program history, the most since 1977, the most ever scored by a women's team at Stabler Arena and the most points scored by a Lehigh team in Patriot League play.
Senior Megan Walker led the way with a season-high 22 points, one off her career-high with eight made field goals on 14 attempts. She also grabbed seven rebounds with two assists. Senior Emma Grothaus scored 17 points with seven boards, while first year Ella Stemmer notched a career-high 15 for the second straight game and first year Meghan O'Brien scored a career-high 13 points with five rebounds. Both Clair Steele and Mackenzie Kramer each tallied six assists, 12 of the Mountain Hawks' 24 on 40 made field goals.
Lehigh shot 47.1 percent (40-for-70) from the field and were 40.6 percent (13-for-32) from deep in the contest. One of the top teams in the nation for this category, it also finished the game a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
"I thought tonight was one of our most complete offensive games we've played all year," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We talked before the game that we needed to put together a complete effort on both ends of the floor in order to win this one. We took what Navy gave us on the offensive end tonight. We had 54 points in the paint and our posts and guards did a really great job of driving and finishing. We also did a really great job of finding our open players on the perimeter."
The first half was a blistering effort by the Mountain Hawks, who poured in a combined 49 points between the first two quarters.
The first 10 minutes were completely controlled by Lehigh, scoring the first five points and going on an 11-3 run to open the frame, causing Navy to spend a 30-second timeout. Five straight points for the Midshipmen capped by a 3-pointer for Sydne Watts had Navy back within two points with 5:15 to go, but the Mountain Hawks were able to jump ahead by nine points at the end of the first, leading 24-15. Lehigh shot 52.6 percent (10-for-19) in the first quarter alone, led by six points for Walker and four for first year Kaylee Van Eps off the bench.
Navy scored the first two baskets of the second quarter to trim the Lehigh lead back to five points, but a 10-4 run over the next minute had the Mountain Hawks back up by 11 at 34-23 with 7:20 to go following a 3-pointer from Kramer. The Midshipmen got back within eight points with 5:47 to play, but Lehigh took a 10-point advantage into the media timeout. Lehigh out-scored Navy 11-8 for the remainder of the quarter, as the Mountain Hawks took a 49-36 lead into the locker room.
Lehigh put on a show from the field in the first half, shooting an even 60 percent (21-for-35) from the floor and 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from beyond-the-arc.
The third quarter has statistically been the Mountain Hawks' best all season long and they showed it once again on Wednesday, out-scoring the Mids, 34-16 in the frame. Lehigh was just 2-of-9 from deep, but shot 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Navy scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 25 points, but a Jamie Behar trey with 7:22 left pushed the Mountain Hawks back up by 28.
Like she did in the first quarter at Loyola, Stemmer took over in the latter half of the fourth stanza, scoring 10 straight points on four made baskets to put the Mountain Hawks ahead, 96-64. With 1:56 to play, it was sophomore Maggie Brown that upped Lehigh's scoring total to 99 points, the most in Stabler Arena history and the second most in program history as the Mountain Hawks held on for the 99-65 final.
The Mountain Hawks finished with the edge in nearly every single stat category, leading the way in points off turnovers (15-6), points in the paint (54-28), second chance points (14-12), points off fast breaks (27-11) and bench points (36-14). Lehigh also out-rebounded Navy 39-36 and had just seven turnovers while dishing out 24 assists. The defense forced 12 turnovers by the Midshipmen while stealing the ball five times with six blocks, led by a pair for sophomore Jackie Vargas-Bines.
Lehigh led the entire way, never giving up the advantage while leading by as many as 35 points with 1:56 to go in the fourth quarter.
"We say this a lot, but we are at our best when all five players out on the floor look at themselves as an offensive threat," Troyan said. "We've got a lot of different weapons that can score in a lot of different ways. We've got a lot of depth to what we do and it's fun to see people emerging. There's been an adjustment for us when Frannie (Hottinger) went out with an injury and different people have had to step up in different roles.
"Ella (Stemmer) has done such a great job on the offensive end, Jamie (Behar) had a great game today off the bench. Our bench play is going to be very important for us as we get into February. We've got more depth than most teams in our league and we need to use that to our advantage. Our kids have been looking at this as an opportunity to step up and it's neat to see that."
For Navy, Jennifer Coleman lived up to her billing, scoring a game-high 26 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists, just three shy of her first career triple-double. Only Sydne Watts (15 points) joined Coleman in double-figures on the night as the Midshipmen shot 36.2 percent (25-for-69) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-for-16) from downtown.
Boston University returns to Stabler on Saturday as the two teams tip off at 2 p.m. in a rematch of last season's Patriot League Championship game. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required). Tickets can be purchased online at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME.
Lehigh Women's Basketball held Navy to under 40 percent shooting. Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Gallery: (1-19-2022) WBB vs. Navy, 1/19/22
Senior Megan Walker led the way with a season-high 22 points, one off her career-high with eight made field goals on 14 attempts. She also grabbed seven rebounds with two assists. Senior Emma Grothaus scored 17 points with seven boards, while first year Ella Stemmer notched a career-high 15 for the second straight game and first year Meghan O'Brien scored a career-high 13 points with five rebounds. Both Clair Steele and Mackenzie Kramer each tallied six assists, 12 of the Mountain Hawks' 24 on 40 made field goals.
Lehigh shot 47.1 percent (40-for-70) from the field and were 40.6 percent (13-for-32) from deep in the contest. One of the top teams in the nation for this category, it also finished the game a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
"I thought tonight was one of our most complete offensive games we've played all year," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We talked before the game that we needed to put together a complete effort on both ends of the floor in order to win this one. We took what Navy gave us on the offensive end tonight. We had 54 points in the paint and our posts and guards did a really great job of driving and finishing. We also did a really great job of finding our open players on the perimeter."
The first half was a blistering effort by the Mountain Hawks, who poured in a combined 49 points between the first two quarters.
The first 10 minutes were completely controlled by Lehigh, scoring the first five points and going on an 11-3 run to open the frame, causing Navy to spend a 30-second timeout. Five straight points for the Midshipmen capped by a 3-pointer for Sydne Watts had Navy back within two points with 5:15 to go, but the Mountain Hawks were able to jump ahead by nine points at the end of the first, leading 24-15. Lehigh shot 52.6 percent (10-for-19) in the first quarter alone, led by six points for Walker and four for first year Kaylee Van Eps off the bench.
Navy scored the first two baskets of the second quarter to trim the Lehigh lead back to five points, but a 10-4 run over the next minute had the Mountain Hawks back up by 11 at 34-23 with 7:20 to go following a 3-pointer from Kramer. The Midshipmen got back within eight points with 5:47 to play, but Lehigh took a 10-point advantage into the media timeout. Lehigh out-scored Navy 11-8 for the remainder of the quarter, as the Mountain Hawks took a 49-36 lead into the locker room.
Lehigh put on a show from the field in the first half, shooting an even 60 percent (21-for-35) from the floor and 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from beyond-the-arc.
Grothaus scored the Mountain Hawks' first bucket out of the break to give the team 15-point lead and Lehigh scored 13 of the next 22 points to lead by 19 points with 5:46 to go in the third quarter. Out of the media timeout with 4:23 to play, the Mountain Hawks took care of business, going out in front on a 15-5 run for the remainder of the stanza, leading by 31 points, 83-52 after 30 minutes of action.9️⃣9️⃣ reasons why you should watch this minute-long highlight reel. 😎🎥 pic.twitter.com/q4KAOXcdAv
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) January 20, 2022
The third quarter has statistically been the Mountain Hawks' best all season long and they showed it once again on Wednesday, out-scoring the Mids, 34-16 in the frame. Lehigh was just 2-of-9 from deep, but shot 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Navy scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 25 points, but a Jamie Behar trey with 7:22 left pushed the Mountain Hawks back up by 28.
Like she did in the first quarter at Loyola, Stemmer took over in the latter half of the fourth stanza, scoring 10 straight points on four made baskets to put the Mountain Hawks ahead, 96-64. With 1:56 to play, it was sophomore Maggie Brown that upped Lehigh's scoring total to 99 points, the most in Stabler Arena history and the second most in program history as the Mountain Hawks held on for the 99-65 final.
The Mountain Hawks finished with the edge in nearly every single stat category, leading the way in points off turnovers (15-6), points in the paint (54-28), second chance points (14-12), points off fast breaks (27-11) and bench points (36-14). Lehigh also out-rebounded Navy 39-36 and had just seven turnovers while dishing out 24 assists. The defense forced 12 turnovers by the Midshipmen while stealing the ball five times with six blocks, led by a pair for sophomore Jackie Vargas-Bines.
Lehigh led the entire way, never giving up the advantage while leading by as many as 35 points with 1:56 to go in the fourth quarter.
"We say this a lot, but we are at our best when all five players out on the floor look at themselves as an offensive threat," Troyan said. "We've got a lot of different weapons that can score in a lot of different ways. We've got a lot of depth to what we do and it's fun to see people emerging. There's been an adjustment for us when Frannie (Hottinger) went out with an injury and different people have had to step up in different roles.
"Ella (Stemmer) has done such a great job on the offensive end, Jamie (Behar) had a great game today off the bench. Our bench play is going to be very important for us as we get into February. We've got more depth than most teams in our league and we need to use that to our advantage. Our kids have been looking at this as an opportunity to step up and it's neat to see that."
For Navy, Jennifer Coleman lived up to her billing, scoring a game-high 26 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists, just three shy of her first career triple-double. Only Sydne Watts (15 points) joined Coleman in double-figures on the night as the Midshipmen shot 36.2 percent (25-for-69) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-for-16) from downtown.
Boston University returns to Stabler on Saturday as the two teams tip off at 2 p.m. in a rematch of last season's Patriot League Championship game. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required). Tickets can be purchased online at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME.
Lehigh Women's Basketball held Navy to under 40 percent shooting. Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Navy
Lehigh
FG%
.362
.571
3FG%
.375
.406
FT%
.818
1.000
RB
36
39
TO
12
7
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F/C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballSeason Preview - Women's Basketball
Friday, October 31
Chasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 2
Thursday, May 15
Chasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 1
Wednesday, May 14
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, March 19
