Tuesday, March 4
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
13-17, 5-13PL
59
vs
49
Colgate
8-22, 4-14PL
1
2
F
COLGATE
19
30
49
Lehigh
21
38
59
Mountain Hawks hold off Colgate to secure spot in quarterfinals Thursday
3/4/2014 9:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The No. 8 seed Lehigh women's basketball team started the second half on a 28-9 run and held off No. 9 Colgate down the stretch to capture a 59-49 win in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament Tuesday evening at Stabler Arena. Junior Sarah Williams scored 13 points during that stretch to help the Mountain Hawks secure a spot in Thursday's quarterfinals at top-seeded Navy.
"We had a really strong second half," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We got into a little bit of a lull where Colgate put a lot of pressure on us, but were able to overcome it. Now we get to go play three-time defending champion Navy.
"I think we probably got some nerves out in this game," continued Troyan. "There will be a lot of pressure on Navy so hopefully we can make it a great game."
Williams finished the game with a career high-tying 16 points, while junior Katie O'Reilly also chipped in 16, seven of which came from the free throw line. O'Reilly also pulled down a season-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Kerry Kinek was limited to three points, but grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
"We knew our guard play would be very important this game because they were probably going to double and triple team Kerry after what she did on Saturday," said Troyan. "Katie and Sarah really did a great job for us."
Mariah Jones led the Raiders with 12 points, followed by Lauryn Kobiela with 11. Randyll Butler added eight points and pulled down ten boards.
The Mountain Hawks shot 4-for-7 from downtown in the second half after going 0-for-5 in the first half. The Raiders finished just 8.7 percent (2-for-23) from three-point range. Lehigh finished the game shooting 38 percent (19-for-50) from the floor, highlighted by a 55 percent (11-for-20) showing in the second half. Lehigh went 17-for-27 from the charity stripe.
A Kinek jumper put Lehigh on the board first as the Mountain Hawks eventually worked their way to an 8-2 lead with buckets from three other players. Colgate strung together an 8-2 run of its own over the next seven minutes to tie the game at ten with 9:16 to play.
A pair of Lehigh free throws and a layup from freshman Kiernan McCloskey put Lehigh ahead 14-10 two minutes later, but Colgate eventually took off on a 9-1 run that spanned three minutes and featured five points from Kobiela.
With under three minutes left in the half, sophomore Elizabeth Sharlow hit back-to-back layups that were followed by a pair of free throws to give the Mountain Hawks a 21-19 lead heading into halftime.
An O'Reilly layup started the scoring in the second half and sparked a 14-5 Lehigh run that spanned the first 4:40 of the half and was comprised of ten points from Williams. The Mountain Hawks shot 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line during the stretch that earned Lehigh a 35-24 advantage with 16:31 on the clock.
Following a layup from Colgate's Butler, the Mountain Hawks continued their dominant stretch with a 13-2 run over the next five minutes that saw baskets from five different players including three-pointers from Williams, O'Reilly and sophomore Amina Affini.
With 8:17 left on the clock, a jumper from the Raiders' Kelly Reid sparked a 14-3 Colgate run as the Raiders eventually closed the gap to nine at 51-42 with 3:40 to play. Two minutes later, a three-pointer from Jones was followed by a Kobiela layup that put Colgate within six, 53-47, with 1:31 on the clock.
The Mountain Hawks converted six of their eight free throw attempts in the final minute to hold off the Raiders and punch their ticket to Thursday's quarterfinals.
The Mountain Hawks will take on Navy in Annapolis, Md. Thursday at 7 p.m. The game can be viewed for free on the Patriot League Network with audio coverage on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM in the Lehigh Valley.
Team Stats
COLGATE
LEHIGH
FG%
.303
.380
3FG%
.087
.333
FT%
.500
.630
RB
41
49
TO
12
22
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
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