Wednesday, January 6
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
66
vs
48
Loyola
Lehigh pulls away for 66-48 win over Loyola
1/6/2016 9:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A strong defensive effort and a pair of double-doubles from senior Kerry Kinek and junior Lexi Martins helped propel the Lehigh women's basketball team to a 66-48 win over Loyola Wednesday night inside Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks broke a 30-30 tie early in the second half with a 13-1 run and never looked back as Lehigh handed the Greyhounds their first Patriot League loss of the season. The Mountain Hawks improve to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in league action, while Loyola falls to 5-9 on the season and 2-1 in the Patriot League.
"We played a tremendous defensive game and I thought our defense kept us in it the whole game," said head coach Sue Troyan. "The team played consistently today and Kerry and Lexi both had big games for us which was important. It felt good to be at home since we've been away from Stabler for a little over a month and definitely nice to get the win at home."
Martins led the Mountain Hawks with 17 points and 18 rebounds as she recorded her 11th double-double of the season. Kinek notched her fourth double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and shot an impressive 8-for-10 from the field. Sophomore Quinci Mann contributed 10 points and a team-best three assists. Senior Elizabeth Sharlow also had a strong game with nine points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Colleen Marshall led Loyola with 16 points and four rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 43.4 percent (23-for-53) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from three-point range and 80 percent (16-for-20) from the free-throw line. Lehigh held Loyola to stingy clips of 27.6 percent (16-for-58) from the field, 16.7 percent (3-for-18) from downtown and 65.0 percent (13-for-20) from the charity stripe. Lehigh held a commanding 51-26 rebound advantage and scored 13 second-chance points.
Loyola scored the first basket, but Lehigh answered with the next nine points over a nearly three-minute span thanks to baskets from Kinek, Martins and freshman Hailey Pascoe to take a quick 9-2 lead with 6:43 remaining in the first quarter. The Greyhounds answered with an 8-4 run that took 4:30 off the clock to pull within one at 11-10 before a Kinek jumper was followed by a pair of Martins free throws and Lehigh jumped back ahead 15-10 with just over a minute remaining in the opening term. A Loyola jumper put the final two points of the quarter on the board as Lehigh carried a 15-12 lead into the second stanza.
The Greyhounds made a free throw with 9:02 on the clock, but Lehigh kept Loyola off the clock for the next seven minutes as the Lehigh defense forced the Greyhound to miss their next eight attempts from the field and put together an 11-0 run. The streak saw baskets from four different Mountain Hawks as Lehigh extended its lead to 26-13 with just over two minutes left in the half. The Greyhounds responded by scoring the final eight points of the half, six of which came from Marshall, as Loyola was able to cut Lehigh's lead to 26-21 at halftime.
A pair of free throws from Mann opened the second half, but Loyola scored nine of the next 11 points to run 2:38 off the clock and tie the game at 30 with just under seven minutes to play in the third quarter. A Mann trey then ignited a 13-1 Lehigh run that took four minutes off the clock and saw six points from Sharlow to once again give the Mountain Hawks a double-digit lead at 43-31 with 2:55 left in the third term. Baskets from junior Kayla Burton and freshman Taylor Campbell closed the quarter and helped Lehigh carry a 48-37 lead into the final frame.
The Greyhounds were within nine at 52-43 with 7:07 to play, but it would be the closest Loyola would get the rest of the way as Lehigh embarked on an 11-3 run over the next three and a half minutes to pull ahead 63-46 with 3:40 on the clock. Three Sharlow free throws helped pad Lehigh's lead as the game wound down and the Mountain Hawks earned a 66-48 win.
The Mountain Hawks remain home Saturday to host defending champion American at 2 p.m. inside Stabler Arena. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting Lehightickets.com or calling 610-7LU-GAME.
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