Saturday, February 5
Boston, Mass.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
15-6,7-3Patriot
68
at
65
Boston U.
13-9,9-2Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
13
23
24
8
68
Boston U.
9
30
15
11
65
Photo by: Peter Ewen
Exceptional post-play guides Lehigh to 68-65 win over BU
2/5/2022 6:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BOSTON – A game that ended up being a nail-biter right to the finish, the Lehigh women's basketball team prevailed on the road Saturday afternoon, taking down first-place Boston U., 68-65 at Case Gym, handing the Terriers (13-9, 9-2 PL) just their second Patriot League loss of the season so far (both against Lehigh) and snapping their three-game win streak dating back to Jan. 26 against Lafayette. The Mountain Hawks (15-6, 7-3 PL) earn their second consecutive win and improve to 4-4 away from home. Playing one less game than the teams ahead of them, Lehigh is one game behind both BU and Holy Cross for first place in the league with eight games to play.
The win also marked the third straight over BU in the all-time series as the Mountain Hawks take an 11-9 lead in the series, sweeping both games during the 2021-22 regular season.
"I think our team played with a high level of confidence throughout the game, and was able to respond to the various runs they encountered," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We had a number of different players step up and give us really meaningful minutes in a total team effort win. We have a lot of moving parts right now and the success of this team is everyone's ability to step up and contribute when their number is called."
Getting the starting nod after missing the second half of her previous game due to injury, senior guard Megan Walker led Lehigh offensively in the victory, scoring a team-high 19 points on eight field goals. Sophomore Mackenzie Kramer added 11 points, while sophomore Jamie Behar poured in a season-high 10.
"Megan (Walker) had a week off following her injury against Holy Cross and we made a final decision this morning that she was good to go for the game," said Troyan. "She clearly showed that she was ready to play. Megan played with the same mental toughness she has shown throughout her career, to step up and play the way she played given limited or no practice this week, it really speaks to the senior leadership she is providing the team."
The most impressive stat of the game is regarding outside shooting, as Lehigh converted its least amount of shots beyond-the-arc (5-for-22) in a win this season, but out-scored the Terriers in the paint, 44-30.
"BU clearly made a point to defend the arc and take away our 3-point game today," Troyan said. "I thought our players did a great job of taking what the defense gave them, as they were able to attack the basket and finish at the rim while not forcing the 3-point shot."
Sydney Johnson converted on a basket to open the second and cut the Lehigh lead to two, but a 3-pointer from Kramer just seconds later pushed the Mountain Hawk advantage back to five points.
A 3-pointer from Alex Giannaros with 7:20 to go allowed BU to re-take the lead, 19-18. The Terriers proceeded to go on a 10-5 push to take a 29-23 lead at the media timeout. Fortunes turned back into Lehigh's favor as it went on a 9-5 run to tie the game back at 34 with 1:48 to go. Walker's layup at the 1:17 mark extended the lead to two, but five straight BU points to end the quarter after a jump ball had BU leading, 39-36 at the end of the first half.
Lehigh was nearly lights-out from the field through the first 20 minutes of action, shooting 50 percent (16-for-32) from the floor.
BU opened the third quarter on a 9-4 run to take a 48-42 lead with 5:36 left, but the Mountain Hawks' quick spurt of five straight points capped off by a Behar 3-pointer brought Lehigh back within one heading into the media timeout. The Mountain Hawks closed the third quarter with a six-point cushion, re-taking the lead with 2:17 to go and scoring seven of the next nine points. The quarter ended on two clutch shots from first-year Kaylee Van Eps, who drew a foul off a layup with 17 seconds to play.
The Mountain Hawks led by as many as nine points with 7:00 to go in the fourth quarter, but BU made its run, an 11-2 push to come back within two points with 52 seconds to play. After Lehigh called timeout, Kramer missed a layup with under 30 seconds to play and Sydney Johnson was sent to the line to shoot two shots with six seconds left, but converted just one of two to bring BU back within one at 66-65. Walker sunk two free throws to give Lehigh the three-point lead and the Terriers sent one last shot up to tie, but Johnson missed as time expired.
"I thought our kids really competed on the defensive end and got stops when we needed them, especially at the end of the contest," said Troyan. "There were a number of people who really stepped up throughout the game and I was most impressed by our post defense as I thought our posts played with a high level of toughness on both (Maren) Durant and (Caitlin) Weimar."
Aside from Lehigh's three leading scorers, first-year Meghan O'Brien added nine points and sophomore Anna Harvey also scored nine while making the start for Clair Steele, who was unavailable on Saturday.
BU won the rebounding battle, 44-36 while Lehigh had the edge in points in the paint (44-30), points off fast breaks (10-6) and bench points (16-10). The Terriers shot just 37.1 percent (26-for-70) from the field and were held to 33.3 percent (7-for-21) from long range and 50 percent (6-for-12) from the charity stripe.
Alex Giannaros led the Terriers with 22 points, despite getting into late foul trouble with four personals. Sydney Johnson finished with 19 points.
"They (BU) are clearly one of the best teams in our league and this was an important series to sweep," Troyan said. "I think it will have some significant implications at the end of what is going to be a highly-contested league race from top to bottom."
The Mountain Hawks return home Wednesday against Colgate at Stabler Arena, with tip-off set for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Corey Spector on the play-by-play call.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
The win also marked the third straight over BU in the all-time series as the Mountain Hawks take an 11-9 lead in the series, sweeping both games during the 2021-22 regular season.
"I think our team played with a high level of confidence throughout the game, and was able to respond to the various runs they encountered," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We had a number of different players step up and give us really meaningful minutes in a total team effort win. We have a lot of moving parts right now and the success of this team is everyone's ability to step up and contribute when their number is called."
Getting the starting nod after missing the second half of her previous game due to injury, senior guard Megan Walker led Lehigh offensively in the victory, scoring a team-high 19 points on eight field goals. Sophomore Mackenzie Kramer added 11 points, while sophomore Jamie Behar poured in a season-high 10.
"Megan (Walker) had a week off following her injury against Holy Cross and we made a final decision this morning that she was good to go for the game," said Troyan. "She clearly showed that she was ready to play. Megan played with the same mental toughness she has shown throughout her career, to step up and play the way she played given limited or no practice this week, it really speaks to the senior leadership she is providing the team."
The most impressive stat of the game is regarding outside shooting, as Lehigh converted its least amount of shots beyond-the-arc (5-for-22) in a win this season, but out-scored the Terriers in the paint, 44-30.
"BU clearly made a point to defend the arc and take away our 3-point game today," Troyan said. "I thought our players did a great job of taking what the defense gave them, as they were able to attack the basket and finish at the rim while not forcing the 3-point shot."
Lehigh opened the first quarter on a 4-0 run, but BU matched it with four straight points of its own to tie the game at 4-4 heading into the media timeout with 4:43 to play. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter as the Mountain Hawks went ahead, 11-9 on a basket for Kramer with 1:48 remaining. A layup for Anna Harvey off a steal from Behar put Lehigh up four, 13-9 heading into the second quarter.A big @PatriotLeague win for @LehighWBB as they won on the road at Boston U to sweep the season series. @MarchMadnessWBB | @ESPN_WomenHoop pic.twitter.com/h82hfVW5Zx
— Patriot League on ESPN (@PatriotLeagueTV) February 5, 2022
Sydney Johnson converted on a basket to open the second and cut the Lehigh lead to two, but a 3-pointer from Kramer just seconds later pushed the Mountain Hawk advantage back to five points.
A 3-pointer from Alex Giannaros with 7:20 to go allowed BU to re-take the lead, 19-18. The Terriers proceeded to go on a 10-5 push to take a 29-23 lead at the media timeout. Fortunes turned back into Lehigh's favor as it went on a 9-5 run to tie the game back at 34 with 1:48 to go. Walker's layup at the 1:17 mark extended the lead to two, but five straight BU points to end the quarter after a jump ball had BU leading, 39-36 at the end of the first half.
Lehigh was nearly lights-out from the field through the first 20 minutes of action, shooting 50 percent (16-for-32) from the floor.
BU opened the third quarter on a 9-4 run to take a 48-42 lead with 5:36 left, but the Mountain Hawks' quick spurt of five straight points capped off by a Behar 3-pointer brought Lehigh back within one heading into the media timeout. The Mountain Hawks closed the third quarter with a six-point cushion, re-taking the lead with 2:17 to go and scoring seven of the next nine points. The quarter ended on two clutch shots from first-year Kaylee Van Eps, who drew a foul off a layup with 17 seconds to play.
The Mountain Hawks led by as many as nine points with 7:00 to go in the fourth quarter, but BU made its run, an 11-2 push to come back within two points with 52 seconds to play. After Lehigh called timeout, Kramer missed a layup with under 30 seconds to play and Sydney Johnson was sent to the line to shoot two shots with six seconds left, but converted just one of two to bring BU back within one at 66-65. Walker sunk two free throws to give Lehigh the three-point lead and the Terriers sent one last shot up to tie, but Johnson missed as time expired.
"I thought our kids really competed on the defensive end and got stops when we needed them, especially at the end of the contest," said Troyan. "There were a number of people who really stepped up throughout the game and I was most impressed by our post defense as I thought our posts played with a high level of toughness on both (Maren) Durant and (Caitlin) Weimar."
Aside from Lehigh's three leading scorers, first-year Meghan O'Brien added nine points and sophomore Anna Harvey also scored nine while making the start for Clair Steele, who was unavailable on Saturday.
BU won the rebounding battle, 44-36 while Lehigh had the edge in points in the paint (44-30), points off fast breaks (10-6) and bench points (16-10). The Terriers shot just 37.1 percent (26-for-70) from the field and were held to 33.3 percent (7-for-21) from long range and 50 percent (6-for-12) from the charity stripe.
Alex Giannaros led the Terriers with 22 points, despite getting into late foul trouble with four personals. Sydney Johnson finished with 19 points.
"They (BU) are clearly one of the best teams in our league and this was an important series to sweep," Troyan said. "I think it will have some significant implications at the end of what is going to be a highly-contested league race from top to bottom."
The Mountain Hawks return home Wednesday against Colgate at Stabler Arena, with tip-off set for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Corey Spector on the play-by-play call.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
19 points for @walkermegan_ which included eight field goals, as Lehigh took down BU, 68-65. 🗣 pic.twitter.com/CozmAXX48g
— Lehigh Women's Basketball (@LehighWBB) February 5, 2022
Team Stats
Lehigh
BU
FG%
.460
.371
3FG%
.227
.333
FT%
.714
.500
RB
36
44
TO
12
10
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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