AU’s dominating first half defense combined with its well-distributed offense allowed the women’s basketball team to earn its third straight win with a 70-61 victory over Lehigh University on Jan. 15.
“I think everyone really stepped up today,” senior forward Sarah Kiely said. “It was a lot of team effort, which was great to see.”
The Eagles limited the top Patriot League scoring Mountain Hawk (8-8, 1-4, PL) offense entering Saturday to a 38.2 field goal percentage .
“We pride our defense, [the Mountain Hawks] pride their offense and how many points they scored, so it was definitely great to keep them underneath their average and really hone in on our defense,” junior forward Arron Zimmerman said.
AU’s (11-3, 4-1, PL) offense was balanced throughout the game with five players scoring double-digit points, which has not happened since 2008.
“The more battles, the better,” head coach Megan Gebbia said of the offense. “That way you don’t know who to help off of. You can’t just stop one kid – it’s a multitude of kids you have to guard.”
After falling behind 0-6 early to start the game, the Eagles quickly gained control. AU went on an 11-2 run to take the lead and held on to it for the rest of the game. The Eagles limited the Mountain Hawks to a 23.1 field goal percentage and 19 points during the first half. Zimmerman and junior guard Jen Dumiak combined for 17 points to lead all scorers in the first 20 minutes.
Despite a stellar start, AU’s defense took a turn for the worse in the second half. Although AU was able to extend its lead to 19 points, Lehigh cut the lead to seven points with 1:17 left in the game. The Eagles held off the Mountain Hawks with successful free throws by George, Dumiak, and Dobbs until the buzzer sounded.
AU allowed 42 second-half points, including 14 points off of AU turnovers.
“If we want to win more games in this league, we have to have 40 minutes of good basketball and not one half,” Gebbia said. “We [got] a lead and we kept it, which was nice, but at the same time, there’s going to be teams that are going to go on runs and we’ve got to be able to get stops.”
Senior guard Geleisa George posted 15 points in the game, all in the second half. Zimmerman added 12 points and Dumiak, Kiely and senior guard Alexis Dobbs each posted 10 points. Kiely also finished with 11 rebounds for her third career double-double and her first double-double of the season. Dobbs led all players with 11 assists.
AU aims to extend its winning streak when it begins its two-game road trip starting with a stop in Easton, Pa. to take on Lafayette College Jan. 18.
