Sunday, November 15
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
81
vs
51
Kutztown
Mountain Hawks use strong second half to earn 81-51 victory over Kutztown
11/15/2015 4:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team held onto a slim four-point lead over Kutztown heading into halftime before outscoring the Golden Bears 45-19 in the second half to earn an 81-51 victory Sunday afternoon inside Stabler Arena. The win marks the third-straight year that Lehigh has started its season 2-0.
"We really picked up the intensity in the second half and played much better," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We didn't play very well on the defensive end and didn't execute well offensively in the first half. We were much more focused and into the game in the second half and I'm proud of the way they came out of the lockerroom."
Senior Kerry Kinek scored a game-high 21 points, while junior Lexi Martins tallied her second-straight double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Amina Affini scored a career-high 15 points, while classmate Elizabeth Sharlow dished a team-best four assists to go along with nine rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 50.8 percent (31-for-61) from the field, highlighted by a second-half clip of 64.3 percent (18-for-28). Lehigh was a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line. The Moutain Hawks held the Golden Bears to a 30.4 percent (21-for-69) shooting percentage and 22.7 percent (5-for-22) mark from downtown. Lehigh held a 48-30 rebound advantage.
Kutztown put the first five points on the board and kept Lehigh scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. A three-pointer from Affini was followed by a Kinek layup to knot the score at five with five minutes to play in the opening quarter. The Golden Bears used an 8-4 run to jump ahead 13-9, but a pair of Lehigh layups ended the quarter and tied the score at 13-13.
The teams exchanged baskets in the opening five minutes of the second quarter until a Martins layup sparked a 9-2 Lehigh run that turned a 21-20 deficit into a 29-23 lead and took 3:16 off the clock. Lehigh took its largest lead yet at 34-27 following a pair of Martins free throws, but the Golden Bears answered with five points from Natalya Lee to trim the Mountain Hawk advantage to 34-32 with 26 seconds remaining in the half. A last-second Kutztown foul sent Affini to the line and she converted both attempts to end the half and give Lehigh a 36-32 halftime lead.
An Affini layup opened the second half scoring and ignited a strong offensive third quarter for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh outscored the Golden Bears 25-8 during the term and shot 9-for-12 from the field and 7-for-7 from the free throw line during the stanza. Kinek scored ten points during the quarter and Lehigh held Kutztown to 4-for-16 from the field as Lehigh took a commanding 61-40 lead.
The Golden Bears scored nine of the fourth quarter's first 16 points, but a jumper from junior Kayla Burton ignited a 13-2 game-ending run for the Mountain Hawks as Lehigh cruised to an 81-51 victory.
The Mountain Hawks return to action Thursday when Lehigh heads to NJIT for its first road game of the season. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
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