Thursday, December 17
Lawrence Township, N.J.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
6-4
60
at
61
Rider
3-5
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Lehigh University
9
10
23
17
1
60
Rider University
10
15
16
18
2
61
Lehigh drops 61-60 overtime battle at Rider
12/17/2015 9:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, N.J. – The Lehigh women's basketball team overcame a slow start to take a second-half lead at Rider Thursday night, but the Broncs forced overtime and then scored the only field goal of the extra frame to capture a 61-60 victory. Lehigh falls to 6-4 with the loss, while Rider improves to 3-5.
"I'm disappointed in the way we came out and think we probably lost the game in the first half because we came out sluggishly and didn't execute well offensively," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We had chances to win it in the second half, but weren't able to convert. I give Rider a lot of credit because they made the shots they needed to."
Senior Kerry Kinek led Lehigh with 18 points and sophomore Quinci Mann followed with 17, 15 of which came in the second half. Senior Elizabeth Sharlow chipped in 12 points. Junior Lexi Martins pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.
Lehigh finished the game shooting 36.6 percent (26-for-71) from the field, 26.3 percent (5-for-19) from three-point range and just 3-for-8 from the free throw line. The Broncs show 35 percent (21-for-60) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-for-18) from downtown and 63.6 percent (14-for-22) from the charity stripe. Rider held a 47-42 rebound advantage, marking just the second time this season that Lehigh was outrebounded.
The Broncs got out to a quick 8-0 lead as Lehigh started the game 0-for-11 from the field until a layup from Sharlow put Lehigh on the board with 4:08 to play in the opening quarter. The Mountain Hawks converted three of their next seven attempts thanks to baskets from Sharlow, Martins and sophomore Bernadette Devaney as Lehigh was able to pull within one at 10-9 at the conclusion of the opening term.
Lehigh got off to another slow start in the second quarter as Rider stretched its lead to 14-9 with just over six minutes to play in the first half. A layup from Mann was quickly followed by a pair of Kinek buckets as Lehigh was able to pull back within one at 16-15 with five minutes left on the second-quarter clock. The Mountain Hawks were down by just two at 21-19 with 2:18 on the clock, but the Broncs closed the half on a 4-0 run to carry a 25-19 lead into halftime.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Mann opened the second-half scoring to tie the game at 25 less than a minute into the third quarter. The Broncs were back up by four 30 seconds later, but four points from Kinek knotted the score once again at 31-31. Lehigh took its first lead of the game at the 5:27 mark as Mann drained another three to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 34-33. A Mann layup and three-pointer from senior Elizabeth Jordan extended Lehigh's lead to 39-34 just over a minute later, but the Broncs rallied with the next five points to tie the score at 39-39. Sharlow scored the final three Lehigh points of the third quarter to give the Mountain Hawks a slim 42-41 lead heading into the final term.
The Broncs once again tied the game at 45 just a minute into the fourth quarter, but Lehigh responded with layups from Sharlow and Mann to jump ahead 49-45. Lehigh worked its lead to six at 53-47 following a Mann jumper with 5:22 to play. With the Mountain Hawks ahead 55-49 30 seconds later, the Broncs strung together a 5-0 run fun over the next two minutes to cut the Lehigh advantage to 55-54 before a Robin Perkins free throw tied the game at 57-57 with 1:27 left to play.
A Kinek offensive rebound led to a layup from senior Amina Affini that put Lehigh up by two with just under a minute on the clock. A Lehigh foul sent the Broncs to the line and Julia Duggan converted both her attempts to tie the score at 59-59. Neither team was able to convert its final chances of regulation as the game was sent to overtime.
An Affini free throw was the first point in overtime and Lehigh was able to keep the Broncs off the board until a Duggan layup put the Broncs ahead 61-60 with 1:57 left on the clock. That basket would prove to be the game winner as Lehigh wasn't able to convert any of its final chances and the Broncs earned the 61-60 overtime victory.
Lehigh returns to action Sunday when the Mountain Hawks head to Hampton at 3 p.m.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
RID
FG%
.366
.350
3FG%
.263
.278
FT%
.375
.636
RB
42
47
TO
15
19
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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