Sunday, January 17
3 p.m.
Lehigh University
61
vs
58
Holy Cross
Mountain Hawks battle for 61-58 win over Holy Cross
1/17/2016 5:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's basketball came out on the winning end of a back-and-forth contest that saw 11 lead changes Sunday afternoon as the Mountain Hawks beat second-place Holy Cross 61-58 inside Stabler Arena. Senior Kerry Kinek scored a season-high 23 points and added 12 rebounds to lead the Mountain Hawks with her fifth double-double of the season. Lehigh improves to 3-3 in the Patriot League and 10-7 overall with the win, while the Crusaders fall to 4-2 in the Patriot League and 7-10 overall.
"This was an important game for us coming off back-to-back close losses," said head coach Sue Troyan. "It was important for us to not only get the win, but to succeed down the stretch. We've been involved in a lot of close games this year and this was an important win for our team to gain some confidence."
Kinek's 23 points came from a 9-for-20 showing from the field and a 4-for-5 effort from the free throw line. Sophomore Quinci Mann followed with 16 points, marking her tenth-straight double-digit effort. Junior Lexi Martins pulled down 12 rebounds to go along with seven points, while senior Amina Affini dished a team-best four assists.
Holy Cross was led by Lisa Mifsud with 20 points and Molly Hourigan with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 32.2 percent (19-for-59) from the field, highlighted by a 41.0 (13-for-31) first-half percentage. Lehigh shot 28.6 percent (6-for-21) from three-point range and 81 percent (17-for-21) from the free throw line. The Mountain Hawks held Holy Cross to a 32.8 (22-for-67) field goal percentage, 33.3 percent (8-for-24) clip from downtown and 50 percent (6-for-12) showing from the charity stripe. Lehigh held a 48-43 rebound advantage.
The teams combined to go 0-for-14 from the field to begin the game until a Holy Cross layup put the Crusaders on the board with 6:47 on the clock. A Martins layup and jumper from Affini followed to put Lehigh in front 4-2, but the Crusaders answered with back-to-back three-pointers to control an 8-4 lead with 4:48 to play in the opening quarter. A three-pointer from senior Elizabeth Jordan then sparked an 11-3 run that took 5:07 off the clock and put the Mountain Hawks ahead 15-11 with 1:35 to play in the quarter. Holy Cross broke Lehigh's streak at the 1:15 mark, but a Kinek three-pointer followed before a Crusaders layup ended the quarter and Lehigh carried an 18-15 lead into the second term.
Holy Cross scored the first four points of the second quarter to reclaim the lead at 20-18, but Kinek answered with six straight before junior Kayla Burton and freshman Hailey Pascoe both added layups to string together a 10-0 Lehigh run that took 3:38 off the clock and put the Mountain Hawks ahead 28-20 with just under five minutes to play. The Crusaders scored five of the next seven points before Lehigh countered with jumpers from Kinek and Mann. A last-second Holy Cross basket allowed the Crusaders to trim the Lehigh lead to 34-27 heading into halftime.
Three-pointers from Mann and Pascoe helped Lehigh string together a 6-2 streak to open the second half as Lehigh extended its lead to 40-29 and forced the Crusaders to call a timeout at the 6:15 mark. Infiniti Thomas-Waheed scored Holy Cross' first field goal of the second half with just over five minutes on the third-quarter clock and it ignited a 12-0 Holy Cross run that allowed the Crusaders to reclaim the lead at 41-40 with 1:50 on the clock. A Mann three stopped the Holy Cross streak thirty seconds later, but the Crusaders scored five of the quarter's final six points to carry a 46-44 lead into the final ten minutes.
Holy Cross scored the first four points of the final quarter to jump ahead 50-44 before a pair of Martins free throws was followed by a Kinek conventional three-point play and five points from Mann that comprised a 10-0 Lehigh run to give the Mountain Hawks the lead back at 54-50 with 5:34 to play. Five points from Katie Doherty and three from Hourigan then helped the Crusaders answer with an 8-2 streak that put the Crusaders back in front at 58-56 with just under two minutes to play.
Kinek drained two free throws to even the score at 58 before Pascoe hit the backend of two chances from the charity stripe and Lehigh went back up by one at 59-58 with 1:00 left on the clock. Holy Cross missed three shots, but offensive rebounds kept the possession with the Crusaders until Kinek came up with a big rebound and drew a foul. She hit the first of her two chances to give Lehigh a 60-58 advantage with 7.2 seconds on the clock. The Crusaders missed their last opportunity and sent Lehigh to the free throw line one more time where Martins added an extra insurance tally that secured a 61-58 win for the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks return to action Wednesday at 7 p.m. when Lehigh travels to Navy. Lehigh returns home Saturday evening to host archrival Lafayette in Stabler Arena.
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