Saturday, February 11
Baltimore, Md.
5:00 PM
Lehigh University
67
at
59
Loyola
Photo by: Katie McNulty
Hottinger Reaches 1,000 Point Mark in Win Over Loyola
2/11/2023 10:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BALTIMORE - The Lehigh women's basketball team pulled out a hard-fought victory over Loyola, coming away with a 67-59 win at Reitz Arena on Saturday. Senior Frannie Hottinger recorded her 1,000th career point in the first half.
"It's been a long journey," Hottinger said. "There's been a lot of great teammates to help me along the way. I would not be here without so many assists and passes from my teammates, but it's a really great accomplishment for me because I didn't know if I would ever be able to reach this."
Hottinger needed just 15 points to eclipse the mark. She finished with a team-high of 28 points and 13 rebounds, while also dishing out three assists.Â
"I'm just really excited for her," said head coach Addie Micir. "It's a huge milestone and a big accomplishment, but more importantly, we needed it tonight. She got us off and got us cooking to start. She really helped us build a lead and helped us play down the middle in the paint to start, which is great."
Lehigh had a lead for the majority of the game, but it didn't come easy for the Mountain Hawks, who started out fast in Saturday's game.Â
Lehigh had two three-pointers to start the game. Hottinger had one, and Anna Harvey had the other. After Harvey hit one just 15 seconds into the game, Loyola responded to tie things at three. That would be the only tie of the game.
The Mountain Hawks had a 20-13 lead after the first quarter. Lehigh looked like they were going to pull away, going on a 14-0 run to go up 31-11.
It was Hottinger's 1000th career point that capped the end of a Lehigh run. She scored 1,000 on a jumper with 5:35 left in the second quarter, but Loyola would go on a run of its own from there.Â
Lex Therien notched the first field goal of the second quarter for Loyola with 5:16 to play in the first half. The Greyhounds held Lehigh to just two points in the final five minutes to cut Lehigh's lead to 33-24 at halftime.Â
In the third quarter, Loyola cut the deficit to as little as two points, but Lehigh wouldn't back down from there. The Mountain Hawks had a five-point advantage heading into the final frame.Â
Harvey knocked another three-pointer down to put Lehigh up by seven with 5:03 to play, and it looked like Lehigh was going to carry the game from there, but Loyola answered with another run.Â
Taleah Dixon gave Loyola its first lead of the game with 2:51 to play. That would be the only time Loyola would hold a lead in the game.
'I think you have to give Loyola a ton of credit," Micir said. "They're a team that is scrappy. They play hard and don't give up, and that's what we said to our team. We did our job of building a lead early. They battled back, and there was a ton of composure when they took the lead there at the end. We just needed a couple of stops and a quick score, and that's exactly what we got."
Just 12 seconds later, Hottinger came down the other end and scored while drawing a foul to put Lehigh back up by one. Lily Fandre hit a jumper to give Lehigh a 57-54 lead with 1:25 to play.Â
Loyola's Cristina Garcia went down and got fouled, but only made one of two free throws. Lehigh got the ball back, and Harvey, who finished the day with three three-pointers, nailed one from beyond the arc with 50 seconds left to give Lehigh a 60-55 lead.
"Anna was big time outside down the stretch," Micir said.Â
From there, it would be a free throw shooting contest between both teams. Lehigh, the No. 1 free throw shooting team in the country, made seven free throws in the final 38 seconds to earn the victory.
Lehigh improved to 12-12 with tonight's win (8-5 PL), while Loyola fell to 2-17 (2-11).Â
The Mountain Hawks will head to Annapolis, Md., on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. battle with the Midshipmen.Â
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Â
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"It's been a long journey," Hottinger said. "There's been a lot of great teammates to help me along the way. I would not be here without so many assists and passes from my teammates, but it's a really great accomplishment for me because I didn't know if I would ever be able to reach this."
Hottinger needed just 15 points to eclipse the mark. She finished with a team-high of 28 points and 13 rebounds, while also dishing out three assists.Â
"I'm just really excited for her," said head coach Addie Micir. "It's a huge milestone and a big accomplishment, but more importantly, we needed it tonight. She got us off and got us cooking to start. She really helped us build a lead and helped us play down the middle in the paint to start, which is great."
Lehigh had a lead for the majority of the game, but it didn't come easy for the Mountain Hawks, who started out fast in Saturday's game.Â
Lehigh had two three-pointers to start the game. Hottinger had one, and Anna Harvey had the other. After Harvey hit one just 15 seconds into the game, Loyola responded to tie things at three. That would be the only tie of the game.
The Mountain Hawks had a 20-13 lead after the first quarter. Lehigh looked like they were going to pull away, going on a 14-0 run to go up 31-11.
It was Hottinger's 1000th career point that capped the end of a Lehigh run. She scored 1,000 on a jumper with 5:35 left in the second quarter, but Loyola would go on a run of its own from there.Â
Lex Therien notched the first field goal of the second quarter for Loyola with 5:16 to play in the first half. The Greyhounds held Lehigh to just two points in the final five minutes to cut Lehigh's lead to 33-24 at halftime.Â
In the third quarter, Loyola cut the deficit to as little as two points, but Lehigh wouldn't back down from there. The Mountain Hawks had a five-point advantage heading into the final frame.Â
Harvey knocked another three-pointer down to put Lehigh up by seven with 5:03 to play, and it looked like Lehigh was going to carry the game from there, but Loyola answered with another run.Â
Taleah Dixon gave Loyola its first lead of the game with 2:51 to play. That would be the only time Loyola would hold a lead in the game.
'I think you have to give Loyola a ton of credit," Micir said. "They're a team that is scrappy. They play hard and don't give up, and that's what we said to our team. We did our job of building a lead early. They battled back, and there was a ton of composure when they took the lead there at the end. We just needed a couple of stops and a quick score, and that's exactly what we got."
Just 12 seconds later, Hottinger came down the other end and scored while drawing a foul to put Lehigh back up by one. Lily Fandre hit a jumper to give Lehigh a 57-54 lead with 1:25 to play.Â
Loyola's Cristina Garcia went down and got fouled, but only made one of two free throws. Lehigh got the ball back, and Harvey, who finished the day with three three-pointers, nailed one from beyond the arc with 50 seconds left to give Lehigh a 60-55 lead.
"Anna was big time outside down the stretch," Micir said.Â
From there, it would be a free throw shooting contest between both teams. Lehigh, the No. 1 free throw shooting team in the country, made seven free throws in the final 38 seconds to earn the victory.
Lehigh improved to 12-12 with tonight's win (8-5 PL), while Loyola fell to 2-17 (2-11).Â
The Mountain Hawks will head to Annapolis, Md., on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. battle with the Midshipmen.Â
Like Lehigh Women's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.Â
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