An up-and-down season for the women’s basketball team has come to end, but only after a run in the Patriot League Tournament that saw them reach the finals.
Following two tournament wins, the Mountain Hawks suffered a season-ending loss Saturday in the Patriot League Championship game.
The No. 6 seeded Mountain Hawks were defeated by No. 1 seeded American 66-50 at Bender Arena. The team ended the season with an overall winning record of 19-12 and a conference record of 9-9.
The team came out strong in the beginning of the season, opening up the season with seven straight wins in non-conference play. The Hawks did not record a loss until Dec. 20, when they were defeated during a tournament in Tempe, Arizona by the Arizona State team that finished the regular season 27-5.
The Mountain Hawks entered conference play with only two losses and recorded wins in their first three conference games against Colgate University, Boston University and Army. Even though the team showed promise early on, it was defeated twice by American during the regular season. It also dropped its last four conference games of the season, resulting in the women being ranked No. 6 going into playoffs.
The team began tournament play March 6 when it traveled to Massachusetts to play No. 3 ranked Holy Cross in the Patriot League quarterfinals. The women’s team came out with a 75-62 victory against the Crusaders after having an explosive first half where it controlled a 40-16 lead at half time.
After defeating Holy Cross, the team traveled to West Point to take on No. 2 ranked Army and competed in the Patriot League semifinals for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. Army was 14-4 in the Patriot League, so winning against them would have been considered an upset. However, the Mountain Hawks were again victorious against the higher-seeded Black Knights, capturing a 76-57 victory. Senior guard Sarah Williams, freshman guard Quinci Mann, sophomore forward Lexi Martins and junior forward Kerry Kinek all scored double figures that night, allowing the Mountain Hawks to advance to the Patriot League Championship for the first time since 2009-2010.
The team came out strong in the first half of the championship holding a 17-6 lead at the half, but top-seeded American pulled away in the second half of the game to claim the title. Lehigh was led by Williams who scored 15 points. Martins finished off her first year as a starter with a strong game, contributing 8 points and 14 rebounds.
Following the game, both Martins and Williams were named to the Patriot League All-Tournament team and Martins also broke the single season rebound record that had previously been set in 2001.
Although the team loses two talented seniors this season, Williams and classmate guard/forward Katie O’Reilly, the team’s strong underclassmen coming up behind them have the hope of competing for the Patriot League title again next year.
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