Wednesday, December 2
11 a.m.
Lehigh University
6-2
62
vs
63
Saint Joseph's
2-3
1
2
3
4
F
Saint Joseph's
14
14
17
18
63
Lehigh
14
19
9
20
62
Mountain Hawks fall 63-62 in back-and-forth heartbreaker against Saint Joseph’s
12/2/2015 2:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball team came out on the short end of a 63-62 battle against Saint Joseph's Wednesday in front of 3,659 local school children on Education Day in Stabler Arena. In a game that saw 11 lead changes and eight tie scores, Lehigh battled back from an 11-point deficit midway through the final quarter, but a conventional three-point play from Saint Joseph's Ciara Andrews gave the Hawks the victory with eight seconds left. Lehigh falls to 6-2 with the loss, while SJU improves to 2-3.
"I was pleased with how our kids competed," said head coach Sue Troyan. "As a coach you're never happy with a loss, but I thought our kids came out here today and played really hard against a very good St. Joe's team. We got down by 11, but fought back and had a chance to win the game. This is a loss that we can use to really learn about ourselves."
Sophomore Quinci Mann sparked Lehigh's comeback with 14 fourth-quarter points. Mann finished the contest with a game-high 20 points. Junior Lexi Martins tallied her seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds in addition to a team-best four assists. Junior Kayla Burton provided a big spark in the opening half with nine first-half points.
Sarah Fairbanks led Saint Joseph's with 15 points, while Andrews followed with 12.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 36.2 percent (21-for-58) from the field, 30.8 percent (4-for-13) from three-point range and 64 percent (16-for-25) from the free throw line. Saint Joseph's shot 39.4 percent (26-for-66) from the floor, 30.8 percent (4-for-13) from downtown and 50.0 percent (7-for-14) from the charity stripe. The Hawks controlled a 45-38 rebound edge, marking the first time this season that Lehigh was outrebounded by its opponent.
A free throw from freshman Hailey Pascoe was followed by a Martins layup as Lehigh got out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Hawks answered with five straight points to jump ahead 5-3 at the 7:46 mark. Saint Joseph's stretched its lead to five at 11-6 three minutes later, but Lehigh answered with an 8-0 run that took 3:55 off the clock and gave the Mountain Hawks a 14-11 lead. Lehigh held the Hawks 0-for-7 during the streak until a last-second three-pointer from Kathleen Fitzpatrick tied the score at 14 at the end of the opening term.
Saint Joseph's opened the second quarter on a 6-1 streak before a Pascoe trey and layup from senior Amina Affini put the score at 20-20 with 6:03 left on the first half clock. The Hawks jumped ahead 24-20 with less than five minutes to play, but a Burton three-pointer sparked a 13-4 half-ending run for Lehigh. Burton scored seven points while six of Lehigh's points came from the charity stripe during the streak as the Mountain Hawks were able to carry a 33-28 lead into halftime.
Lehigh remained ahead by six at 36-30 a minute and a half into the third quarter, but the Hawks put together a 12-0 run that took 3:51 off the clock as Lehigh went 0-for-7 from the field and Saint Joseph's took a 42-36 lead with 4:35 to play in the third quarter. A Martins offensive put-back stopped the streak with the clock at 4:03 and ignited a 6-1 Lehigh run that wound the third-quarter clock down to 53 seconds and pulled the Mountain Hawks within one at 43-42. A Fitzpatrick jumper put two more points on the board for the Hawks as Saint Joseph's carried a 45-42 lead into the final quarter.
The Hawks scored ten of the fourth quarter's first 12 points to jump ahead 55-44 and force a Lehigh timeout with 6:22 to play. Mann drained a three on Lehigh's first possession out of the break and followed that with a layup before Affini also tossed in a layup to pull Lehigh back within four at 55-51 with just under five minutes to play. With the Hawks controlling a 58-53 lead, Lehigh rattled off the next six points thanks to an Affini layup that was followed by four Mann free throws to give Lehigh a 59-58 lead with just 52 seconds to play.
An Andrews jumper put the Hawks back ahead on their next possession, but Mann answered quickly with a three-pointer to give Lehigh a 62-60 lead with 21 seconds to play. The Mountain Hawks fouled twice on SJU's ensuing possession before Andrews was able to convert a conventional three-point play as the Hawks grabbed a 63-62 lead with just eight seconds to play. Lehigh had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but a missed jumper as time expired helped Saint Joseph's to the 63-62 victory.
Next up, The Mountain Hawks will kick off a five game road swing when Lehigh heads to Illinois Sunday for a 3 p.m. (ET) contest against the Illini.
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Team Stats
SJU
LEHIGH
FG%
.394
.362
3FG%
.308
.308
FT%
.500
.640
RB
45
38
TO
11
9
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
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