Taylor Swift’s music echoed throughout Stabler Arena on Wednesday night. Her discography played throughout warmups, timeouts and other pauses during Lehigh’s game. The first 250 fans in attendance received a commemorative Taylor Swift-themed poster, and the first 50 kids received a friendship bracelet.
On Swifties and Swishes: Taylor Swift Night, the Lehigh women’s basketball team won 74-56 over Navy on Wednesday night at Stabler Arena.
The Mountain Hawks (20-4, 11-1 Patriot League) continue to sit in first place in the Patriot League with only six games left in the regular season. The victory gave Lehigh a two-game cushion over Army for first place in the conference. Navy (15-8, 7-5 Patriot League), stands at sixth place.
Lehigh extended their winning streak to nine, surging towards the 2009-10 women’s basketball team’s streak of 16 consecutive wins. That 2009-10 team ended the season with a 29-4 record, sweeping the Patriot League Tournament and participating in that year’s rendition of March Madness.
Junior forward Lily Fandre led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 50% from beyond the arc. Fifth-year wing Maddie Albrecht added 16 to the Mountain Hawks tally and recorded seven boards, five assists and two steals.
“We always come into the game with the same mindset, like we’re gonna do what we do. It doesn’t matter. We’re not gonna let them dictate us.” Fandre said. “I know teams will come out and scout us and try to play us differently and shut us down, but we want to just play as a team and come out with energy.”
Navy’s sophomore Zanai Barnett-Gay led the Midshipmen with 26 points. Despite the loss, Barnett-Gay achieved 1,000 career points on Bethlehem soil, becoming the 23rd player in Navy’s program history to do so.
In the first quarter of the game, both teams started off relatively evenly matched, with Lehigh holding a slight edge by the end of the period, leading 15-13. Lehigh jumped out in front with an Ella Stemmer three-pointer and never looked back. The game remained close throughout, with Navy storming back to force two ties, but could not capture the lead.
In the second quarter of the game, Lehigh dominated both offensively and defensively. They outscored Navy 25-13 in the period, fueled by their efficient shooting. Lehigh shot 56.3% from the field and made five three-pointers in the quarter. Navy struggled offensively, recording a 29.4% field goal percentage and shooting 25% from deep.
The Mountain Hawks took a 40-26 lead into the half.
Heading into the second half, Navy had a dominant offensive performance, outscoring Lehigh 27-17 to shift momentum in their favor.
Navy shot an efficient 66.7% from the field, including 80% from beyond the arc. In contrast, Lehigh shot 54.5% from the field but struggled from three, going 0-3 in the quarter.
“I continue saying that we’re a veteran team, and I’m never stressed or feel pressure that we’re gonna win,” Stemmer said. “We just get to go out and do it, but we still show up each and every day.”
In the third quarter, with five minutes to go, Navy capped off a 16-8 run to tie the game at 53 with a Saran Moschella three-pointer.
Despite the inconsistent offense, Lehigh didn’t break. Two Colleen McQuillen free throws and a Fandre layup at the buzzer gave Lehigh a four-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“When you watch our team in a huddle, it’s always leaning forward, locked in heads nodding, and it’s all positive sign language,” coach Addie Micir said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily huge adjustments on our part, but being consistent in what we do and how we approach games matters, and that mindset matters.”
In the final period, Lehigh never trailed. They outscored the Midshipmen 17-3 in the period and built their largest lead of 20 points with a 74-54 advantage with a minute left in the game. Navy failed to gain any momentum, only making one field goal in the period with a mid-range jumper with 19 seconds left on the clock.
The Mountain Hawks dominated defensively, forcing key turnovers, and limiting Navy’s ball movement by allowing just one assist in the quarter.
Throughout the game, turnovers were fairly even, with Navy committing 17 and Lehigh 18. However, the Mountain Hawks capitalized on Navy’s mistakes, scoring 25 points off turnovers compared to just 8 for the Midshipmen.
Lehigh’s “share it and shoot it” offense flourished again, with the Mountain Hawks recording 18 assists and knocking down eight three-pointers.
“For us, we don’t care who scores, we care that we score. And today, it was that different people were open at different times” Micir said. “So that makes it hard for opponents to game plan, but it also makes it fun for us as coaches to call people’s numbers at different times and have a variety of scorers.”
The Mountain Hawks now travel to Worcester, Massachusetts to face off against Holy Cross on Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.
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