Sunday, November 10
Evanston, Ill.
3:00 PM ET
Lehigh University
2-1,0-0Patriot
85
at
68
Northwestern University
0-2,0-0Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
17
30
24
14
85
Northwestern
17
14
22
15
68
Photo by: Ricky Bassman
Lehigh Downs Northwestern 85-68 In First-Ever B1G Win
11/10/2024 6:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. - Lehigh women's basketball took down Northwestern 85-68 at Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday afternoon, capturing its first win over a power four opponent since defeating Mississippi State in 2010 and its first win over a Big Ten team in program history. The Mountain Hawks made history behind a fantastic shooting performance, going 46.8% from the field.
Lehigh recorded 25 assists on 29 made field goals. Senior Colleen McQuillen finished with a career-high 10 assists.
"The message to the team was the same as it was headed into Michigan" said head coach Addie Micir. " These are winnable games, and we didn't love our response in the third quarter to Michigan. The theme of the day was respond. That was with our body language, that was after mistakes and also it was to respond that when we build a lead, keep going. I thought that the team did an excellent job of that. We wanted to rebound. We wanted to run and play with pace, and we wanted to slow Northwestern down, and we did that."
Lehigh also hit 18 three-pointers, the second-most in program history after knocking down 19 at Pitt last season. Not only did Lehigh make 18 three-pointers, but the Mountain Hawks were also effective from downtown, going 54.5% from deep.
Junior forward Lily Fandre had a career-high day, scoring 26 points behind a career-high six three-pointers. She finished the day, going 8-of-14 from the field with four rebounds and three assists.
"You know coming off that loss, our main goal was to respond, and I really think we came out working, like share it and shoot it, our motto, so we really just wanted to share it and shoot it," Fandre said.
Senior guard Ella Stemmer tallied 18 points after going 6-of-8 from the field with a season-high five three-pointers. Fifth-year Maddie Albrecht also finished in double figures for the third straight game as she finished with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Albrecht corralled a game-high eight rebounds.
Despite the 18-point lead for Lehigh, Northwestern controlled the pace of the game to start. Northwestern's Kayla Jones scored a layup with 6:22 left in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a seven-point lead, their largest lead of the game, but that would be their largest lead of the night. Lehigh outscored Northwestern 13-6 the final six minutes and both teams were tied at 17 heading into the second quarter.
The Mountain Hawks had their best shooting performance in the second quarter, shooting 61.5% from the field. Lehigh outscored Northwestern 30-14 in the second quarter to take a 47-31 lead after the first 20 minutes.
The Wildcats trimmed Lehigh's lead to 10 with 1:52 remaining in the third quarter, but the Mountain Hawks closed out the quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 71-53 lead heading into the final frame. Northwestern's 10-point deficit would be the fewest points it would trail by for the remainder of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Lehigh continued to put its foot on the gas pedal. McQuillen knocked down a three-pointer with 7:27 remaining in regulation to put Lehigh up 24 points, which would be the largest lead of the game for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh held a 35-33 advantage in rebounds on Saturday. Defensively, Lehigh forced Northwestern into 28-of-62 shooting (45.2%).
The Mountain Hawks will close out their three-game road trip next Sunday against Brown in Providence, R.I., with game time set for 12 p.m.
Lehigh recorded 25 assists on 29 made field goals. Senior Colleen McQuillen finished with a career-high 10 assists.
"The message to the team was the same as it was headed into Michigan" said head coach Addie Micir. " These are winnable games, and we didn't love our response in the third quarter to Michigan. The theme of the day was respond. That was with our body language, that was after mistakes and also it was to respond that when we build a lead, keep going. I thought that the team did an excellent job of that. We wanted to rebound. We wanted to run and play with pace, and we wanted to slow Northwestern down, and we did that."
Lehigh also hit 18 three-pointers, the second-most in program history after knocking down 19 at Pitt last season. Not only did Lehigh make 18 three-pointers, but the Mountain Hawks were also effective from downtown, going 54.5% from deep.
Junior forward Lily Fandre had a career-high day, scoring 26 points behind a career-high six three-pointers. She finished the day, going 8-of-14 from the field with four rebounds and three assists.
"You know coming off that loss, our main goal was to respond, and I really think we came out working, like share it and shoot it, our motto, so we really just wanted to share it and shoot it," Fandre said.
Senior guard Ella Stemmer tallied 18 points after going 6-of-8 from the field with a season-high five three-pointers. Fifth-year Maddie Albrecht also finished in double figures for the third straight game as she finished with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Albrecht corralled a game-high eight rebounds.
Despite the 18-point lead for Lehigh, Northwestern controlled the pace of the game to start. Northwestern's Kayla Jones scored a layup with 6:22 left in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a seven-point lead, their largest lead of the game, but that would be their largest lead of the night. Lehigh outscored Northwestern 13-6 the final six minutes and both teams were tied at 17 heading into the second quarter.
The Mountain Hawks had their best shooting performance in the second quarter, shooting 61.5% from the field. Lehigh outscored Northwestern 30-14 in the second quarter to take a 47-31 lead after the first 20 minutes.
The Wildcats trimmed Lehigh's lead to 10 with 1:52 remaining in the third quarter, but the Mountain Hawks closed out the quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 71-53 lead heading into the final frame. Northwestern's 10-point deficit would be the fewest points it would trail by for the remainder of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Lehigh continued to put its foot on the gas pedal. McQuillen knocked down a three-pointer with 7:27 remaining in regulation to put Lehigh up 24 points, which would be the largest lead of the game for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh held a 35-33 advantage in rebounds on Saturday. Defensively, Lehigh forced Northwestern into 28-of-62 shooting (45.2%).
The Mountain Hawks will close out their three-game road trip next Sunday against Brown in Providence, R.I., with game time set for 12 p.m.
Team Stats
Lehigh
NU
FG%
.468
.452
3FG%
.545
.231
FT%
.900
.563
RB
35
33
TO
15
16
STL
8
11
Game Leaders
Pts
26
FGM
8
3FGM
6
FTM
4
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballChasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 2
Thursday, May 15
Chasing Greatness: The Road to the Patriot League Title - Part 1
Wednesday, May 14
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, March 19
Lehigh Sports Central: Women's Basketball
Wednesday, January 29
