Thursday, January 2
Lewisburg, Pa.
6:00 PM
Lehigh University
10-3,1-0Patriot
65
at
53
Bucknell University
5-7,0-1Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
25
18
8
14
65
Bucknell
14
9
17
13
53
Lehigh Downs Bucknell 65-53 in Patriot League Opener
1/2/2025 9:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. Lehigh picked up a 65-53 win over Bucknell in the Patriot League opener Thursday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Mountain Hawks also won their fourth straight game to improve to 10-3. The Bison dropped to 5-7 (0-1 PL).Â
"I love how we started," said head coach Addie Micir. "We wanted to get off to a good start here and build a lead, and I thought we did that. In the third quarter, they came out and executed really well, and I want to give credit to them. That's something that Bucknell is going to bring is execution. I'm really proud of how we responded, and I thought we had some really big moments down the stretch with Maddie taking it in transition and Ella grabbing her own rebound. Those are what seniors need to do to win games on the road."
Lehigh started off the gate fast, holding a 25-14 lead after the first 10 minutes. Lehigh had its best shooting performance of the night in the first quarter, shooting a whopping 66.7% after going 8-of-12 from the field.Â
The Mountain Hawks continued to push the pace in the second quarter, holding a 43-23 lead at halftime.Â
Bucknell started the second half on a 6-0 run after Reese Zemitis knocked down two triples to pull within 14 points and the Bison would continue to chip at Lehigh's lead. Isabella King knocked down a jump shot with 4:50 to play in the game to cut Lehigh's lead to four, but Lehigh responded with a 7-0 run.
"We had everybody take a deep breath, exhale and smile because we had a lead and we wanted to play like it," Micir said. "When this team plays loose and plays fun, good things happen."
Fifth-year senior wing Maddie Albrecht had the first five points of the 7-0 run, and junior forward Lily Fandre knocked down two free throws. The Mountain Hawks remained in control from there.
Albrecht had a game-high 17 points after going 7-of-12 from the field. She also grabbed four rebounds and recorded two steals. Senior guard Ella Stemmer also finished in double figures, recording 12 points of her own, including a three-pointer to seal the game that she knocked down with 30 seconds to play.Â
Senior forward Meghan O'Brien was one point away from finishing in double figures as she tallied nine points. O'Brien also recorded a game-high of seven rebounds and three assists.
Lehigh shot 21-of-53 (41.5%) from the field on Thursday and 5-of-17 (29.4%) from beyond the arc. The Bison shot 20-of-49 from the field (40.8%) and 4-of-18 (22.2%) from long range. Lehigh held a 31-27 advantage in rebounds. The Mountain Hawks also held a 9-6 advantage in offensive rebounds.Â
Ashley Sofilkanich led the way for Bucknell with 15 points.Â
Next up, Lehigh will host Loyola on Sunday at 2 p.m. Sunday's game will air on ESPN+.
"I love how we started," said head coach Addie Micir. "We wanted to get off to a good start here and build a lead, and I thought we did that. In the third quarter, they came out and executed really well, and I want to give credit to them. That's something that Bucknell is going to bring is execution. I'm really proud of how we responded, and I thought we had some really big moments down the stretch with Maddie taking it in transition and Ella grabbing her own rebound. Those are what seniors need to do to win games on the road."
Lehigh started off the gate fast, holding a 25-14 lead after the first 10 minutes. Lehigh had its best shooting performance of the night in the first quarter, shooting a whopping 66.7% after going 8-of-12 from the field.Â
The Mountain Hawks continued to push the pace in the second quarter, holding a 43-23 lead at halftime.Â
Bucknell started the second half on a 6-0 run after Reese Zemitis knocked down two triples to pull within 14 points and the Bison would continue to chip at Lehigh's lead. Isabella King knocked down a jump shot with 4:50 to play in the game to cut Lehigh's lead to four, but Lehigh responded with a 7-0 run.
"We had everybody take a deep breath, exhale and smile because we had a lead and we wanted to play like it," Micir said. "When this team plays loose and plays fun, good things happen."
Fifth-year senior wing Maddie Albrecht had the first five points of the 7-0 run, and junior forward Lily Fandre knocked down two free throws. The Mountain Hawks remained in control from there.
Albrecht had a game-high 17 points after going 7-of-12 from the field. She also grabbed four rebounds and recorded two steals. Senior guard Ella Stemmer also finished in double figures, recording 12 points of her own, including a three-pointer to seal the game that she knocked down with 30 seconds to play.Â
Senior forward Meghan O'Brien was one point away from finishing in double figures as she tallied nine points. O'Brien also recorded a game-high of seven rebounds and three assists.
Lehigh shot 21-of-53 (41.5%) from the field on Thursday and 5-of-17 (29.4%) from beyond the arc. The Bison shot 20-of-49 from the field (40.8%) and 4-of-18 (22.2%) from long range. Lehigh held a 31-27 advantage in rebounds. The Mountain Hawks also held a 9-6 advantage in offensive rebounds.Â
Ashley Sofilkanich led the way for Bucknell with 15 points.Â
Next up, Lehigh will host Loyola on Sunday at 2 p.m. Sunday's game will air on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Lehigh
Buck
FG%
.415
.408
3FG%
.294
.222
FT%
.941
.818
RB
31
27
TO
11
17
STL
11
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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