Thursday, November 19
Newark, N.J.
5 p.m.
Lehigh University
3-0
75
at
47
NJIT
0-2
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
19
24
16
16
75
NJIT
13
14
12
8
47
Martins collects school and league record 23 rebounds in 75-47 win at NJIT
11/19/2015 7:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NEWARK, N.J. – Junior Lexi Martins set a new school and Patriot League record with 23 rebounds and added a game-high 19 points as the Lehigh women's basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 75-47 win over NJIT Thursday night at Fleisher Athletic Center. The Mountain Hawks held a commanding 47-22 edge on the glass and limited the Highlanders to 34 percent shooting to move to 3-0 for the second consecutive season.
Martins broke the school and Patriot League record of 22 set by teammate Kerry Kinek at Bucknell on February 20, 2013. Kinek scored 14 points and added nine rebounds while sophomore Quincy Mann also hit for double figures with 15.
The Mountain Hawks shot 54.7 percent from the field, including 7-of-21 from beyond the three point line. Lehigh also limited NJIT to just 2-of-15 from beyond the arc.
"I was pleased with our defensive effort," Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan said. "We really challenged our players after breaking down film from the weekend. After our first two games I felt like we could make a stronger commitment on the defensive end and I thought they did that in this game. They really came out and set the tone on the defensive end and rebounded the ball well. NJIT ran some different things at us defensively but we took advantage of the offensive opportunities that we had."
Lehigh started strong as four points apiece from Martins and Mann carried the Mountain Hawks to a 10-2 lead just over four minutes into the opening period. The lead grew to as much as ten but eight Mountain Hawk turnovers allowed NJIT to trail by just six at 19-13 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, the Highlanders tried to chip away early, getting within 23-22 with just under three minutes played in the period, but the Mountain Hawks picked things up. A quick five point spurt from Mann put Lehigh up 30-23 and the Mountain Hawks eventually closed the half on a 20-5 spurt capped by a buzzer-beating layup from Mann to give Lehigh a 43-27 lead at the break.
Lehigh shot 56.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and limited NJIT to just 35.3 percent. The Mountain Hawks also dominated the glass by a 25-11 margin in the first half. Martins secured her third consecutive double-double to open the season in 16 first-half minutes with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Mann added 12 points while senior Kerry Kinek chipped in with eight points and seven boards.
Midway through the third quarter Lehigh led 50-37 as Kinek worked into double figures and Martins reached 15 points and 15 boards. The Mountain Hawks closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 59-39 after three quarters.
Lehigh's advantage grew as big as 30 points with 2:30 to play. Martins tied Kinek's record with an offensive rebound with 3:33 to play and was one of three Mountain Hawks attacking the defensive glass when she pulled down a Tatianna Torres miss on the next NJIT possession.
"It was a great team effort and obviously a great individual effort too," Troyan said of her team's and Martins' rebounding. "To see Lexi really getting after board and getting offensive rebounds and really made a lot of offensive opportunities for herself. They were playing us in a way where we weren't really getting the ball inside a lot but we capitalized off misses and going to the offensive boards."
Leah Horton was the only Highlander in double figures with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
The Mountain Hawks will visit Delaware State Monday night with game time set for 7 p.m. from Dover, Del. Audio coverage will be available on WLVR-FM (91.3) beginning at 6:45 p.m. Lehigh will then return home for a four-game homestand the begins with a Nov. 25 game against St. Peter's and included the Christmas City Classic (Nov. 28-29) and the annual Education Day game against Saint Joseph's on Dec. 2.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
NJIT
FG%
.547
.339
3FG%
.333
.133
FT%
.625
.500
RB
47
22
TO
20
11
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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