The American University women’s basketball team (6-21) lost a home matchup to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (15-11) by a score of 79-51 on Feb. 11 at Bender Arena. This marks the Eagles’ third loss in a row.
The Eagles looked to get back in the winning column after a tough loss to Navy on Feb. 7 which ended 86-58 at home. The Mountain Hawks entered on a two-game winning streak, with their last game a win over Holy Cross on Feb. 7.
Freshman forward Charlotte Tuhy got the Eagles started on the right foot, showing some aggression in picking up the first 4 points of the game for American on two contested layups.
Lehigh got on the board with 7:53 to go off a layup by Lehigh junior forward Whitney Lind. American’s next possession was cancelled out by a turnover, which the Mountain Hawks capitalized on with a 3-pointer from the left wing.
The Mountain Hawks entered this game with the second best offense in the Patriot League, and it began to show over the next four minutes. Up 5-4, Lehigh scored 13 unanswered points to give them an 18-4 lead in the first. In that stretch the Mountain Hawks connected from beyond the arc three times, with two 3-pointers coming from Lind.
Sophomore Madisyn Moore-Nicholson ended the scoring drought with a singular free throw with 2:56 to go. She decreased the deficit even further with a successful midranger on the next possession, but Lehigh sophomore guard Belle Bramer countered with an and-one for the Mountain Hawks to make it 21-7.
Sophomore Molly Driscoll and junior guard Lexi Salazar continued to show their connection on the court. Salazar found Driscoll in the corner, who then drained a much needed 3-pointer before the Mountain Hawks countered with one of their own. Driscoll ended the first with a driving layup, ending the first quarter with a score of 24-12.
Lehigh started the second quarter with an immediate and-one before Driscoll responded on the next possession with a contested midranger. Sophomore guard Elizabeth Archer added two more points to the Eagles tally with a pair of free throws.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Lind hit her third triple of the game, increasing the Mountain Hawks’ lead to 14. Moore-Nicholson reduced the deficit to 12 with a contested shot off the backboard from midrange. Archer picked up two more points on the next possession with a layup to make it 30-20.
Lind picked up two more points at the free throw line on the next possession, then followed that with a steal and a wide-open layup to increase the lead to 14. After a two-minute scoring drought, Bramer connected from beyond the arc and put the score at 37-20.
After 3 free throws from Moore-Nicholson, Lind hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to keep the Lehigh lead at 17. A layup and a pair of free throws for the Mountain Hawks gave them a 44-24 advantage over the Eagles at the half. Lehigh shot an impressive 7-for-12 from beyond the arc.
“All five kids [on the court] are a threat at any given moment,” head coach Kelly Killion said after the game. “There’s other teams where we’ve been able to have somebody a little more in the help, with these guys you can’t. Every one of them can shoot the 3.”
Lehigh began the third quarter scoring 8 unanswered before junior forward Grace Koepke hit a shot from close range to make it 52-26 with seven minutes remaining in the quarter. The Mountain Hawks responded with yet another 3-pointer before senior guard Laura Nogues scored a contested layup.
Senior guard Anna Rescifina got her first points of the game with a contested layup after picking up a steal on the previous possession. Lehigh connected from beyond the arc on their next possession before Rescifina added two more points from the free throw line, putting the score at 60-33.
With 2:35 to go, Moore-Nicholson hit her first 3-pointer of the game from the corner, which reenergized the fans at Bender. Sophomore forward Ellie Pingree kept the momentum up with a contested layup before a Mountain Hawk 3-pointer brought the energy levels back down.
Driscoll picked up the Eagles’ 40th point of the game with a contested layup before Lehigh ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer with two seconds to play. With 10 minutes left in the game, Lehigh led by 26.
Tuhy got back on the board to start the fourth quarter with a bank shot from inside the paint before Lehigh freshman guard Alana Reddy hit two consecutive 3-pointers. American’s best play of the game came with 5:50 to go, as Moore-Nicholson’s bounce pass found the charging Nogues, who scored a reverse layup.
Driscoll added to her points total by picking up the next four points of the game, both on driving layups. Moore-Nicholson scored American’s final points of the game with a deep 3-pointer from the left wing. The Mountain Hawks scored their final points on a wide-open layup, ending the game with a score of 79-51. Moore-Nicholson led the Eagles in scoring with 18 points.
“She really tried to will us to get something going offensively,” Killion said.
Lehigh attempted 3-pointers a remarkably high 32 times, with 14 of them being successful. Lind led all scorers with 23 points, 20 of those points coming in the first half.
“We were prepared tonight, they were just a much better team at executing their offense and keeping us on our heels defensively,” Killion said.
The Eagles head up north to face Boston University on Feb. 28.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Matthias Jaylen and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman, Arin Burrell, Paige Caron and Nicole Kariuki.
