
Photo by: Colgate Athletics
Mountain Hawks roll to 72-52 win at Colgate to begin second season
1/2/2022 5:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lehigh women's basketball team led by just six points at halftime, but went on to out-score Colgate by 14 in the second half to come away with a 72-52 victory Sunday afternoon at Cotterell Court. The win is the Mountain Hawks' (9-3, 1-0 PL) fourth in a row, while the Raiders (2-11, 0-2 PL) have dropped six straight outings, as Lehigh opens Patriot League play with a victory for a fifth straight year.
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Lehigh was led by three players scoring in double figures with senior forward Emma Grothaus scoring a game-high 17 points, while senior guard Megan Walker added 16 and junior guard Anna Harvey finished with a career-high 13 points. Grothaus was also on top of her game defensively, registering a season-high five blocks and four steals to go along with her seven boards as well.
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The Mountain Hawks struggled shooting the ball in the first half, being held to just four made 3-pointers through the first 20 minutes of play, but had five in the second half finishing 9-for-29. The team shot efficiently in the final two quarters as well, going 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) from the field in the victory.
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"This was an important game to get back on track coming off of a 10-day break from playing and adjusting to a new rotation of players as we get players back from illness," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We took advantage of getting to the foul line in the first half when we weren't shooting the ball particularly well. I thought our team adjusted well in the second half with a stronger shot selection and higher shooting percentage. It took us about a half to get back in our flow of playing together."
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Despite a shaky second quarter, the Mountain Hawks and Raiders still played to a 22-16 first 10 minutes of play on high-volume shooting. Walker and Harvey each split the team's four 3-pointers in the first with two each as the latter gave Lehigh a six-point lead heading into the second.
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Colgate scored the first basket of the second quarter on a Morgan Frank jumper at 8:32 mark, but both teams failed to score for the following three minutes as first year Kaylee Van Eps ended the drought with a layup on the fast break at with 5:14 to play. Grothaus followed a Raider miss with a layup with 4:21 to go, extending the Lehigh lead to eight points at 26-18.
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Sophomore Jamie Behar scored with 2:13 on the clock to give the Mountain Hawks their largest lead of the game to that point at 10 points, but two 3-pointers for Colgate trimmed the lead to just six points, 32-26 heading into the locker room.
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The story of the first half (besides Lehigh's second quarter shooting woes), was Colgate's fouling as the team committed seven personal fouls while the Mountain Hawks had none, but was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. That alone kept them in front despite going just 23.5 percent (4-for-17) and 0-for-8 from deep in the quarter.
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Lehigh made adjustments and shot much more efficiently in the third quarter, starting things off with sophomore Mackenzie Kramer's first basket of the contest with 9:26 to go. Two free throws from Alexa Brodie and a jumper from Morgan Frank trimmed the deficit to four points, but Walker answered back with her third 3-pointer of the game to take a 37-30 lead. After Colgate pulled back within five with a layup at the 7:46 mark, the Mountain Hawks went on an 8-0 run to lead by 13, 45-32 with 5:16 on the clock, forcing the Raiders to spend a timeout.
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With 3:36 left, Jenna Paul pulled Colgate back to within single-digits, but five points in the final 1:35 for Walker had Lehigh leading, 53-40 by the end of the third quarter. Van Eps gave Lehigh its largest lead of the contest at 16 points after a 3-pointer off the feed from Harvey with 8:09 to play, starting the fourth quarter scoring. Four straight Raider points brought the team back within 12, but Grothaus swished a 3-pointer with 6:40 to go to take a 59-44 lead.
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"I thought Emma played as complete a game on both sides of the ball as she has played all year," said Troyan." "She used her size, athleticism and skill to be a dominant force on both ends of the floor and she also brought important leadership to our team with her voice and her play." All bets were off once Sophia Diehl converted on a free throw to cut the gap to 13 points with 5:12 to play as the Mountain Hawks answered with 11 straight points capped by a 3-pointer for first year Ella Stemmer to take a 24-point, 72-48 lead with 1:32 left. Colgate scored four points to trim the advantage to 20, but Lehigh held on for the 72-52 victory.
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Besides the three-headed monster of Grothaus, Walker and Harvey, two-time reigning Patriot League Player of the Week Kramer scored eight points with four assists and failed to hit a 3-pointer for the first time this season. Junior Frannie Hottinger returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 18 and tallied three rebounds with two points, snapping her double-digit scoring streak of 14 straight games dating back to the conclusion of the 2020-21 season. Â
First year Meghan O'Brien tallied five boards, three assists and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench, while Van Eps had seven points in 13 minutes and sophomore Maddie Albrecht registered six rebounds in eight minutes of action.
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The 3-point shot has been the centerpiece of Lehigh's offense so far this season and while some had struggles against Colgate, Walker stepped up and continued to follow through on her shot, which kept the Raiders at bay and the Mountain Hawks in the driver's seat.
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"Megan (Walker) is the model of consistency in our program," Troyan said. "She plays hard and fulfills her role on both ends of the floor and took advantage of the open looks she was given.Â
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"Teams are going to have to pick and choose who they want to take away in our offensive system and Colgate spent a lot of energy taking Kenzie (Kramer) out of the offense and other players stepped up and provided the offense like Megan and Anna did today. One of the strongest attributes to our offensive system is that we rely on all five players on the floor to be an offensive threat."
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Lehigh out-rebounded Colgate, 36-31 and had the edge in points off turnovers (13-6), points in the paint (34-20), second-chance points (12-0), points off fast breaks (12-2) and bench points (16-14). The Mountain Hawks only trailed for 53 seconds in the first quarter and committed just 12 turnovers while forcing 15 on nine steals.
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The win is Lehigh's third straight over Colgate and now have won six of the last seven matchups. The Mountain Hawks have now claimed five straight games over the Raiders at Cotterell Court dating back to Feb. 22, 2017.
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Lehigh hosts Army West Point on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on Salute to Service, presented by Weis Markets. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) and also aired live on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM. Tickets can be purchased through LehighTickets.com or by calling the box office at 610-7LU-GAME.
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"It's going to be a battle with two teams who like to play up-tempo styles and shoot 3's," said Troyan. "I expect a fun, engaging and high-scoring game with the team who is more committed to the defensive end likely coming out the victor."
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Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
ÂGallery: (1-2-2022) WBB at Colgate, 1/2/22
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Lehigh was led by three players scoring in double figures with senior forward Emma Grothaus scoring a game-high 17 points, while senior guard Megan Walker added 16 and junior guard Anna Harvey finished with a career-high 13 points. Grothaus was also on top of her game defensively, registering a season-high five blocks and four steals to go along with her seven boards as well.
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The Mountain Hawks struggled shooting the ball in the first half, being held to just four made 3-pointers through the first 20 minutes of play, but had five in the second half finishing 9-for-29. The team shot efficiently in the final two quarters as well, going 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) from the field in the victory.
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"This was an important game to get back on track coming off of a 10-day break from playing and adjusting to a new rotation of players as we get players back from illness," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We took advantage of getting to the foul line in the first half when we weren't shooting the ball particularly well. I thought our team adjusted well in the second half with a stronger shot selection and higher shooting percentage. It took us about a half to get back in our flow of playing together."
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Despite a shaky second quarter, the Mountain Hawks and Raiders still played to a 22-16 first 10 minutes of play on high-volume shooting. Walker and Harvey each split the team's four 3-pointers in the first with two each as the latter gave Lehigh a six-point lead heading into the second.
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Colgate scored the first basket of the second quarter on a Morgan Frank jumper at 8:32 mark, but both teams failed to score for the following three minutes as first year Kaylee Van Eps ended the drought with a layup on the fast break at with 5:14 to play. Grothaus followed a Raider miss with a layup with 4:21 to go, extending the Lehigh lead to eight points at 26-18.
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Sophomore Jamie Behar scored with 2:13 on the clock to give the Mountain Hawks their largest lead of the game to that point at 10 points, but two 3-pointers for Colgate trimmed the lead to just six points, 32-26 heading into the locker room.
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The story of the first half (besides Lehigh's second quarter shooting woes), was Colgate's fouling as the team committed seven personal fouls while the Mountain Hawks had none, but was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. That alone kept them in front despite going just 23.5 percent (4-for-17) and 0-for-8 from deep in the quarter.
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Lehigh made adjustments and shot much more efficiently in the third quarter, starting things off with sophomore Mackenzie Kramer's first basket of the contest with 9:26 to go. Two free throws from Alexa Brodie and a jumper from Morgan Frank trimmed the deficit to four points, but Walker answered back with her third 3-pointer of the game to take a 37-30 lead. After Colgate pulled back within five with a layup at the 7:46 mark, the Mountain Hawks went on an 8-0 run to lead by 13, 45-32 with 5:16 on the clock, forcing the Raiders to spend a timeout.
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With 3:36 left, Jenna Paul pulled Colgate back to within single-digits, but five points in the final 1:35 for Walker had Lehigh leading, 53-40 by the end of the third quarter. Van Eps gave Lehigh its largest lead of the contest at 16 points after a 3-pointer off the feed from Harvey with 8:09 to play, starting the fourth quarter scoring. Four straight Raider points brought the team back within 12, but Grothaus swished a 3-pointer with 6:40 to go to take a 59-44 lead.
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"I thought Emma played as complete a game on both sides of the ball as she has played all year," said Troyan." "She used her size, athleticism and skill to be a dominant force on both ends of the floor and she also brought important leadership to our team with her voice and her play." All bets were off once Sophia Diehl converted on a free throw to cut the gap to 13 points with 5:12 to play as the Mountain Hawks answered with 11 straight points capped by a 3-pointer for first year Ella Stemmer to take a 24-point, 72-48 lead with 1:32 left. Colgate scored four points to trim the advantage to 20, but Lehigh held on for the 72-52 victory.
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Besides the three-headed monster of Grothaus, Walker and Harvey, two-time reigning Patriot League Player of the Week Kramer scored eight points with four assists and failed to hit a 3-pointer for the first time this season. Junior Frannie Hottinger returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 18 and tallied three rebounds with two points, snapping her double-digit scoring streak of 14 straight games dating back to the conclusion of the 2020-21 season. Â
First year Meghan O'Brien tallied five boards, three assists and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench, while Van Eps had seven points in 13 minutes and sophomore Maddie Albrecht registered six rebounds in eight minutes of action.
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The 3-point shot has been the centerpiece of Lehigh's offense so far this season and while some had struggles against Colgate, Walker stepped up and continued to follow through on her shot, which kept the Raiders at bay and the Mountain Hawks in the driver's seat.
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"Megan (Walker) is the model of consistency in our program," Troyan said. "She plays hard and fulfills her role on both ends of the floor and took advantage of the open looks she was given.Â
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"Teams are going to have to pick and choose who they want to take away in our offensive system and Colgate spent a lot of energy taking Kenzie (Kramer) out of the offense and other players stepped up and provided the offense like Megan and Anna did today. One of the strongest attributes to our offensive system is that we rely on all five players on the floor to be an offensive threat."
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Lehigh out-rebounded Colgate, 36-31 and had the edge in points off turnovers (13-6), points in the paint (34-20), second-chance points (12-0), points off fast breaks (12-2) and bench points (16-14). The Mountain Hawks only trailed for 53 seconds in the first quarter and committed just 12 turnovers while forcing 15 on nine steals.
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The win is Lehigh's third straight over Colgate and now have won six of the last seven matchups. The Mountain Hawks have now claimed five straight games over the Raiders at Cotterell Court dating back to Feb. 22, 2017.
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Lehigh hosts Army West Point on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on Salute to Service, presented by Weis Markets. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) and also aired live on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM. Tickets can be purchased through LehighTickets.com or by calling the box office at 610-7LU-GAME.
Â
"It's going to be a battle with two teams who like to play up-tempo styles and shoot 3's," said Troyan. "I expect a fun, engaging and high-scoring game with the team who is more committed to the defensive end likely coming out the victor."
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Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Team Stats
Lehigh
Colg
FG%
.426
.404
3FG%
.310
.444
FT%
.846
.750
RB
36
31
TO
12
15
STL
9
5
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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