Posted: 01/01/2013 | Last updated: January 1, 2013 at 08:56 PM
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Reeling from a 72-44 loss to Boston University in the Christmas City Classic finale, the Lehigh women’s basketball team will begin a two-game road trip with a journey to Emmitsburg, Md. to take on Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday, January 2. The Mount will be the Mountain Hawks’ fourth battle with a Northeast Conference opponent. Lehigh will be searching for its sixth non-league win as Patriot League play looms in just 11 days.
The Mountain Hawks downed Binghamton, 67-37, in the opening round of the 16th annual Christmas City Classic on Saturday evening behind a career-best 18 points from senior co-captain Becky Guman. The Mountain Hawks returned to the court on Sunday for a chance to win the Classic title, but a tough and experienced Boston University squad bested the brown and white, 72-44, to win the tournament. The Terriers took a 33-21 lead into halftime and answered each Lehigh rally with a timely score to keep the Mountain Hawks behind.
Boston University connected on 12 treys throughout the game and relied heavily on the play from All-Tournament Team selection Rashidat Agboola and tournament MVP Mo Moran for the victory as the two combined for 31 points and 13 rebounds. Guman was selected to the All-Tournament Team from Lehigh after her career-performance on Saturday, coupled with nine points and six rebounds on Sunday against Boston U.
Lehigh will enter Wednesday’s game trailing in the all-time series 4-2 to Mount St. Mary’s. The two teams have not played each other since the 2003-04 season which resulted in an 86-83 double overtime win for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh has yet to win on the road against Mount St. Mary’s, dropping the only away contest 95-48 during the 1991-92 campaign.
Mount St. Mary’s has made its wins count against the Mountain Hawks, averaging a 26.3 victory margin over the four wins, while the Mountain Hawks have won by a combined 10 points in their two victories.
Lehigh is led by freshman forward Kerry Kinek who is averaging 11.3 ppg and 8.9 rbg over her first 12 collegiate contests. Following her is senior co-captain Kelly Peterson with 9.3 ppg, and then sophomore Katie O’Reilly with 7.7 per game. O’Reilly has found her touch of late, averaging 12.0 ppg over her last four tilts including 19 points in her last two games and first two starts of the 2012-13 season after starting 29 games a year ago.
Senior Marybeth Egan is the team’s leading distributor, racking up a team-best 33 assists this season which equates to 2.8 per game. Junior Lindsay Hoskins has provided a presence on the inside as the forward has averaged 9.0 ppg over her last two contests including an 11-point performance against Boston University on Sunday.
Mount Saint Mary’s is coming off a heartbreaking loss to American on Sunday afternoon, 48-46. Tied at 46, the Eagles forced a turnover at mid court and scored on a layup by Alexis Dobbs with 0.2 seconds on the clock for the victory, dropping Mount Saint Mary’s to 4-6 on the season. Jacqueline Brewer was the leading scorer for the Mount with 18 points on the day.
The Mount is led by Sydney Henderson who is averaging 14.2 ppg, followed by Jesse Kaufman with 9.9 ppg. Henderson also leads the rebounding facet with 6.8 boards per game. Selina Mann is the team’s point player, leading the squad with 3.4 assists per game as well as with 3.2 steals per tilt.
The Mount is the best free throw shooting team in the Northeast Conference, shooting at a 78.8 percent clip from the charity stripe. Mount St. Mary’s is also the fourth-best shooting team from beyond the arc as it has posted a 30.5 percent average from long range. The weakness of Mount Saint Mary’s is its rebounding as the Mount ranks last among Northeast Conference opponents with a 31.3 rebounds per game average.
After Wednesday’s game, Lehigh will travel to NJIT on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip before returning home on Monday, January 7 for an 11:30 a.m. contest with Columbia in what will be the team’s annual Education Day game. Columbia will also be the last non-league opponent for the Mountain Hawks as they will open Patriot League play with a road game at Holy Cross on Saturday, January 12 set to tip at 1 p.m.
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Date:
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January 2, 2012
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Opponent:
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Mount Saint Mary’s
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Tip-off:
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7:00 PM
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Arena/Capacity:
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Knott Arena/3,500
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Location:
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Emmitsburg, Md.
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Lehigh’s Record:
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5-7 overall, 0-0 Patriot League
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Mount St. Mary’s Record:
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4-6 overall, 0-0 NEC
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Series:
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Mount St. Mary’s leads 4-2
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Radio:
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Live on WLVR 91.3 and Lehighsports.com with Matt Markus Pregame coverage gets underway at 6:45 PM
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Television:
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None
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Internet Video:
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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