Lehigh women's basketball falls short to Army 78-69 – lehighvalleylive.com

A hard-fought game against Army ended in a 78-69 loss for the

on Feb. 24.

In the first half, the Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 17-point lead in a stretch where they shot 65.2 percent from the field. However, Army, one of the Patriot League’s  top teams this season, proved too much to handle in the second half, outscoring the Hawks 48-22 while shooting 7-12 from three-point range.

Sophomore forward

Kerry Kinek

led the way for Lehigh, tallying 18 points on the night. Junior guard

Sarah Williams

added 15 points on a perfect 4-4 night from behind the arc.

For Army, sophomore guard

Kelsey Minato

continued her scorching play of late scoring 31 points to lead all scorers. With the win, Army improved its record to 20-7 while the loss dropped Lehigh’s record to 12-15 on the year.

“We started to play not to lose [in the second half] instead of playing to win,” senior forward

Lindsay Hoskins

said. “We lost the aggression that we came out with in the first half.”

Junior guard/forward

Katie O’Reilly

credited the team’s crisp execution of offensive sets and tenacious defense as reasons for opening up a big lead in the first half.

“In the second half, however, we lost a lot of our energy and were not able to respond to Army’s runs,” O’Reilly said.

Despite the disappointing loss, the Hawks left the game with an air of confidence knowing that they not only competed with, but handled one of the top Patriot League teams while playing at their best in the first half.

“I think we all learned that we are a talented team,” Hoskins said. “We also learned a tough lesson that no game is finished until the final horn sounds.”

“This game proved to us that one half cannot win a game of basketball, and that we must manage to stay disciplined and focused until the end,” she said.

With the Patriot League Tournament scheduled to begin next week, this game has many members of the team believing that they can make some noise in the tournament if they are able to put together a complete 40-minute performance. Hoskins and O’Reilly both believe that the talent is there to be successful.

“Army was not a game where we were playing exceptionally well in the first half, it was our aggression that put us ahead,” Hoskins said.

“We have all the pieces,” O’Reilly said. “Now we just need to be able to execute and put them all together.”

Currently, Lehigh is No. 8 in the Patriot League with two games to go. Since Lehigh is not currently in the top six, it will likely have to play in the first round with a berth to the quarterfinals on the line. With two games to go in the regular season, Lehigh’s goal is to secure a home game during the first round.

“These last two games our important for team morale and also to show the league our true potential,” O’Reilly said.

The Hawks also hope to rebound from a recent stretch of tough losses to gain some confidence heading into the tournament and prove to the other teams that they are not a team to be taken lightly.

“We hope to win our final two games to gain some momentum heading into the Patriot League Tournament,” Hoskins said. “I think if we can close the season with four complete halves then we will have the confidence to do some damage in the tournament.”

Next up for the Hawks is Bucknell University, who will be paying a visit to Lehigh at Stabler Arena Wednesday. A win in this game would guarantee a home game during the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.

Story by Brown and White sports writer Eddie Morgan, ’14.