Monday, March 7
Lewisburg, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
19-11,11-7Patriot
53
at
56
Bucknell (Quarterfinals)
22-8,12-6Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
17
14
14
8
53
Bucknell
14
9
15
18
56
Photo by: Morgan Weindel
Late struggles doom Mountain Hawks in Quarterfinal loss to Bucknell
3/7/2022 10:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Marred by a fourth quarter Bucknell comeback, the Lehigh women's basketball team led by eight points at the half but were out-scored 18-8 in the final stanza, falling to the Bison, 56-53 Wednesday evening in the Patriot League Quarterfinals at Sojka Pavilion. The Mountain Hawks' (19-11, 11-7 PL) season ends in the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2018, failing to successfully defend their Patriot League title from last season.
"We didn't shoot really well in the fourth quarter," said head coach Sue Troyan. "Give Bucknell credit; I thought they defended really well and went to a switching defense on everything. They didn't give us a lot of open looks at the basket and most of our shots were rushed. Again, credit to their defense.
"We shot the ball well [in the first half]. The other aspect of it was Frannie [Hottinger] played really well in the first half. She got in foul trouble in the third quarter and we had to sit her out to protect her and then picking up her fourth and fifth fouls pretty early in the fourth quarter just hurt us down the stretch because she was a factor early in the game that gave us the lead."
Senior forward Emma Grothaus had a team-high 13 points with 13 rebounds in her final Lehigh game, tallying her 10th double-double of the season. Junior wing Frannie Hottinger scored 11 points with five rebounds before fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter, while senior guard Megan Walker had five points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
The Mountain Hawks shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) from the field as a team and 29.2 percent (7-for-24) from beyond-the-arc. Lehigh went 50 percent (4-for-8) from the free throw line, all coming in the fourth quarter.
Three Bucknell players scored in double-figures led by Isabella King's game-high 19 points, while Cecelia Collins and Carly Krsul both added 10. Taylor O'Brien finished with nine points and eight rebounds as the Bison shot 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-for-23) from long distance.
"She's [King] been playing well," Troyan said. "We knew that coming into the game. The focus honestly was to play a little more zone. I don't think we did a great job of identifying her that zone and she was one of the key factors that we needed to find. Give her credit, she knocked down open shots and had time to shoot it."
The first quarter started with a 4-0 run from Bucknell over the first two minutes, as Clair Steele halted the push with a 3-pointer with 7:21 to go. A Frannie Hottinger layup extended the Mountain Hawks lead to four with 2:53 to go, leading by three, 17-14 at the first break following another Hottinger jumper.
After the Bison cut the deficit back to one via an Emma Shaffer layup with 7:26 left, the run began for Lehigh with a 3-pointer from Grothaus with 6:21 left on the clock. That sparked a 7-0 run to take an eight-point, 26-18 cushion. The Mountain Hawks went ahead by as many as 10 points to end the second quarter thanks to a jumper from Mackenzie Kramer in the paint, as Lehigh entered the halftime break with a 31-23 advantage.
Walker sunk Lehigh's first basket of the second half with 9:07 left in the fourth quarter to get the Mountain Hawks back to a 33-23 edge, but King sunk a triple to cut the deficit back to seven. Kramer gave Lehigh a 10-point lead halfway through the frame, but the Bison scored eight straight to cut the Lehigh lead to two, 40-38 with 1:23 left. A 3-pointer from Grothaus and a jumper from Clair Steele with 18 seconds to play pushed the lead back out to seven, 45-38 entering the final 10 minutes.
Four straight points to open the fourth quarter courtesy of O'Brien cut the Lehigh lead back to three points and a King 3-pointer got Bucknell back to within two points with 7:57 on the clock.
Two field goals in the final seven minutes of the contest were the difference as the Bison held on for the three-point win and advance to the semifinals, where they will host eighth-seeded Navy Thursday night with a trip to the Patriot League Championship Game on the line.
Lehigh had the advantage in points in the paint (26-22) and out-rebounded the Bison, 44-39.
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Gallery: (3-7-2022) Lehigh WBB at Bucknell, 3/7/2022
"We didn't shoot really well in the fourth quarter," said head coach Sue Troyan. "Give Bucknell credit; I thought they defended really well and went to a switching defense on everything. They didn't give us a lot of open looks at the basket and most of our shots were rushed. Again, credit to their defense.
"We shot the ball well [in the first half]. The other aspect of it was Frannie [Hottinger] played really well in the first half. She got in foul trouble in the third quarter and we had to sit her out to protect her and then picking up her fourth and fifth fouls pretty early in the fourth quarter just hurt us down the stretch because she was a factor early in the game that gave us the lead."
Senior forward Emma Grothaus had a team-high 13 points with 13 rebounds in her final Lehigh game, tallying her 10th double-double of the season. Junior wing Frannie Hottinger scored 11 points with five rebounds before fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter, while senior guard Megan Walker had five points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
The Mountain Hawks shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) from the field as a team and 29.2 percent (7-for-24) from beyond-the-arc. Lehigh went 50 percent (4-for-8) from the free throw line, all coming in the fourth quarter.
Three Bucknell players scored in double-figures led by Isabella King's game-high 19 points, while Cecelia Collins and Carly Krsul both added 10. Taylor O'Brien finished with nine points and eight rebounds as the Bison shot 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-for-23) from long distance.
"She's [King] been playing well," Troyan said. "We knew that coming into the game. The focus honestly was to play a little more zone. I don't think we did a great job of identifying her that zone and she was one of the key factors that we needed to find. Give her credit, she knocked down open shots and had time to shoot it."
The first quarter started with a 4-0 run from Bucknell over the first two minutes, as Clair Steele halted the push with a 3-pointer with 7:21 to go. A Frannie Hottinger layup extended the Mountain Hawks lead to four with 2:53 to go, leading by three, 17-14 at the first break following another Hottinger jumper.
After the Bison cut the deficit back to one via an Emma Shaffer layup with 7:26 left, the run began for Lehigh with a 3-pointer from Grothaus with 6:21 left on the clock. That sparked a 7-0 run to take an eight-point, 26-18 cushion. The Mountain Hawks went ahead by as many as 10 points to end the second quarter thanks to a jumper from Mackenzie Kramer in the paint, as Lehigh entered the halftime break with a 31-23 advantage.
Walker sunk Lehigh's first basket of the second half with 9:07 left in the fourth quarter to get the Mountain Hawks back to a 33-23 edge, but King sunk a triple to cut the deficit back to seven. Kramer gave Lehigh a 10-point lead halfway through the frame, but the Bison scored eight straight to cut the Lehigh lead to two, 40-38 with 1:23 left. A 3-pointer from Grothaus and a jumper from Clair Steele with 18 seconds to play pushed the lead back out to seven, 45-38 entering the final 10 minutes.
Four straight points to open the fourth quarter courtesy of O'Brien cut the Lehigh lead back to three points and a King 3-pointer got Bucknell back to within two points with 7:57 on the clock.
Two field goals in the final seven minutes of the contest were the difference as the Bison held on for the three-point win and advance to the semifinals, where they will host eighth-seeded Navy Thursday night with a trip to the Patriot League Championship Game on the line.
Lehigh had the advantage in points in the paint (26-22) and out-rebounded the Bison, 44-39.
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
Buck
FG%
.368
.317
3FG%
.292
.348
FT%
.500
.500
RB
44
39
TO
17
9
STL
3
11
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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