Friday, January 28
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
14-6,6-3Patriot
67
vs
61
Holy Cross
13-7,7-2Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Holy Cross
12
22
10
17
61
Lehigh
21
20
15
11
67
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh thrives from deep, shutting down streaking Holy Cross, 67-61
1/28/2022 10:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team rebounded from a tough loss Wednesday to Army with a strong performance, beating Holy Cross 67-61 on Friday night at Stabler Arena on National Girls and Women in Sports Day. With the victory, the Mountain Hawks improve to 14-6 overall, 6-3 in Patriot League play, earning their 11th home victory of the season with three home games remaining. Lehigh went 15-of-35 from beyond the 3-point line, including 12 in the first half, finishing just one shy of the single-game program and Patriot League records. In addition, the win snaps the Crusaders' (13-7, 7-2 PL) five-game win streak.
Sophomore guard Mackenzie Kramer led the way with 18 points, converting on five of her nine 3-point attempts. Senior forward Emma Grothaus added 14 points of her own, going 5-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Senior guard Clair Steele scored 11 points (seven in the second half), adding eight assists, shooting 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.
"It felt good to get this one," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought a lot of people stepped up. We did a really good job of setting the tone early in the first half. We got a lot of clean looks at the basket, our kids knocked their shots down. I was really proud of our underclassmen in the second half. They really stepped up in critical moments and came through in a big-game situation, playing really well for us, especially with Megan (Walker) going down with an injury."
For the Crusaders, Bronagh Power-Cassidy led the scoring with 15 points. Holy Cross featured four players scoring double-digit points.
Senior Megan Walker started the scoring for Lehigh in the first quarter, getting open for a 3-pointer while Kramer followed suit with a 3-pointer of her own.
The Crusaders attacked inside the paint while Lehigh stayed hot from long range, shooting 9 of the first 10 shots of the game from beyond-the-arc and making six. Lehigh ended the first quarter leading 21-12, all with all 21 points off 3-pointers.
The Crusaders fought back in the second quarter, tying the game 22-22 with 7:18 left until half, but the Mountain Hawks ended the first half on a 13-2 run, leading the Crusaders 41-34. The Mountain Hawks dominated from distance, making 12-of-19 3-pointers.
Coming out of the break into the third quarter, Steele attacked the rim early with a driving layup to start the scoring for Lehigh, extending the lead to 12 points. Grothaus and first-year Kaylee Van Eps both added 3's to lead to balloon the lead over Holy Cross to 54-44.
The Mountain Hawk defense suffocated the Crusader offense, keeping them scoreless for the final 5:34 to end the third quarter. Holy Cross responded and showed a strong defensive effort, keeping Lehigh's offense scoreless for 5:04 to open the fourth quarter.
"We were better tonight, I really challenged our players coming out of the to match their toughness, which we struggled with on Wednesday," said Troyan. "We were strong on both ends of the floor tonight, showing a lot of grit and toughness. Avery (LaBarbera) was a focus of ours on the defensive end and I thought Clair (Steele) did a really great job of keeping her in check. She dropped 30 against us the last time we played them and only had five tonight.
"Again, this was a really great team win for us. Different people stepped up in different roles and the strength of this team is the depth that we have and a lot of different people can contribute in different ways."
Lehigh finished with the edge in points from turnovers (11-10), points off fast breaks (17-5) and bench points (14-8), while forcing 12 Crusader turnovers on seven steals.
As part of the NGWSD festivities, Lehigh alumna and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert '86 served as a guest coach on the sidelines and spoke at halftime. Engelbert's inspiring halftime speech encouraged young girls to stay in sports and the life lessons it can teach them.
The Mountain Hawks have a week off before heading to Boston University next Saturday on Feb. 5. at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Story by Joey Dotta '23Gallery: (1-28-2022) WBB vs. Holy Cross, 1/28/22
Sophomore guard Mackenzie Kramer led the way with 18 points, converting on five of her nine 3-point attempts. Senior forward Emma Grothaus added 14 points of her own, going 5-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Senior guard Clair Steele scored 11 points (seven in the second half), adding eight assists, shooting 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.
"It felt good to get this one," said head coach Sue Troyan. "I thought a lot of people stepped up. We did a really good job of setting the tone early in the first half. We got a lot of clean looks at the basket, our kids knocked their shots down. I was really proud of our underclassmen in the second half. They really stepped up in critical moments and came through in a big-game situation, playing really well for us, especially with Megan (Walker) going down with an injury."
For the Crusaders, Bronagh Power-Cassidy led the scoring with 15 points. Holy Cross featured four players scoring double-digit points.
Senior Megan Walker started the scoring for Lehigh in the first quarter, getting open for a 3-pointer while Kramer followed suit with a 3-pointer of her own.
The Crusaders attacked inside the paint while Lehigh stayed hot from long range, shooting 9 of the first 10 shots of the game from beyond-the-arc and making six. Lehigh ended the first quarter leading 21-12, all with all 21 points off 3-pointers.
The Crusaders fought back in the second quarter, tying the game 22-22 with 7:18 left until half, but the Mountain Hawks ended the first half on a 13-2 run, leading the Crusaders 41-34. The Mountain Hawks dominated from distance, making 12-of-19 3-pointers.
Coming out of the break into the third quarter, Steele attacked the rim early with a driving layup to start the scoring for Lehigh, extending the lead to 12 points. Grothaus and first-year Kaylee Van Eps both added 3's to lead to balloon the lead over Holy Cross to 54-44.
The Mountain Hawk defense suffocated the Crusader offense, keeping them scoreless for the final 5:34 to end the third quarter. Holy Cross responded and showed a strong defensive effort, keeping Lehigh's offense scoreless for 5:04 to open the fourth quarter.
Overall, Lehigh shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the floor, shot 42.6 percent (15-for-35) from 3-point range and went 12-of-17 from the charity stripe. The Mountain Hawks held Holy Cross to just 37.3 percent (25-for-67) from the field and 20 percent (3-for-15) from distance. The Crusaders converted on all eight of their free throw attempts.3-point party! 🥳🎥#GoLehigh | #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/BAJ42FO0Kh
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) January 29, 2022
"We were better tonight, I really challenged our players coming out of the to match their toughness, which we struggled with on Wednesday," said Troyan. "We were strong on both ends of the floor tonight, showing a lot of grit and toughness. Avery (LaBarbera) was a focus of ours on the defensive end and I thought Clair (Steele) did a really great job of keeping her in check. She dropped 30 against us the last time we played them and only had five tonight.
"Again, this was a really great team win for us. Different people stepped up in different roles and the strength of this team is the depth that we have and a lot of different people can contribute in different ways."
Lehigh finished with the edge in points from turnovers (11-10), points off fast breaks (17-5) and bench points (14-8), while forcing 12 Crusader turnovers on seven steals.
As part of the NGWSD festivities, Lehigh alumna and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert '86 served as a guest coach on the sidelines and spoke at halftime. Engelbert's inspiring halftime speech encouraged young girls to stay in sports and the life lessons it can teach them.
The Mountain Hawks have a week off before heading to Boston University next Saturday on Feb. 5. at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Story by Joey Dotta '23
Team Stats
HolyCr
Lehigh
FG%
.373
.364
3FG%
.200
.429
FT%
1.000
.706
RB
40
38
TO
12
14
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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