Lehigh women’s basketball defeats Bucknell 73-59, extends winning streak to 11

The Lehigh community came alive on a Wednesday evening at Stabler Arena.

Players and coaches on the Lehigh women’s basketball team donned white t-shirts commemorating Lehigh’s support for Pride Night, a special event sponsored by the University’s Pride Center.

Greek and Student Organizations showed out, with student dance groups performing at halftime and holding a three-point competition where the winner received a signed jersey from CJ McCollum, a Lehigh basketball alumni and current player for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans.

On a night where the Lehigh community came together, the Lehigh women’s basketball team defeated Bucknell 73-59 on Wednesday night at Stabler Arena.

The Mountain Hawks (22-4, 13-1 Patriot League) continue to sit in first place in the conference with only four games left in the regular season. Bucknell (14-11, 9-5 Patriot League) is in fifth place.

With the victory, Lehigh extended their winning streak to 11, inching closer to the 2009-10 women’s basketball team’s streak of 16 consecutive wins.

Fifth-year wing Maddie Albrecht led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 60% from the three-point line. Senior guard and captain Ella Stemmer added 16 to the Mountain Hawks tally, including a three-point buzzer beater to close out the first quarter.

“We knew it had been a while since we had played Bucknell. They’re obviously playing a bit differently now, and they’re pretty confident, they’ve won a lot of games.” Albrecht said. “We just want to come in and play our game, take it game by game.”

Lehigh women’s basketball senior guard and captain Ella Stemmer shoots a three-pointer in the team’s 73-59 victory against Bucknell on Pride Night on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Stabler Arena. Stemmer finished with 16 points, the second-highest total for Lehigh. (Olivia Link/B&W Staff)

Bucknell sophomore forward Ashley Sofilkanich led the Bison in scoring, putting up 14 points, grabbing seven rebounds and making 80% of her free-throws. The Mountain Hawks held the Patriot League’s leading scoring in check, holding Sofilkanich to an inefficient 38.5% from the field and her third-lowest scoring output in conference play.

Bucknell opened the game with a three-pointer, but at the 7:38 mark, Lehigh quickly made two layups to put the Mountain Hawks out front. The Bison never recovered, and could not recapture the lead for the rest of the game. The Mountain Hawks established control throughout the quarter, outscoring the Bison 18-5 in the period. 

Lehigh dominated on shooting from beyond the arc, making 75% of their three-pointers, while Bucknell struggled. Lehigh also controlled the boards, securing eight total rebounds to Bucknell’s five, setting the tone for the game and preventing any second chance opportunities.

The Mountain Hawks’ depth proved to be dangerous in the first quarter. One minute after coming off the bench, sophomore forward Whitney Lind generated instant offense, knocking a three-pointer to kick-off a 14-2 Lehigh run for the remainder of the first quarter.

Lind matched her season-high scoring total, finishing the game with 13 points on 60% shooting from the field.

“We always play next man up, and we have confidence in every single person that sits up for us,” Lind said. “So my teammates having the confidence in me to keep playing and doing what I do well, that’s why we are where we are right now as a team, just because we all have confidence, and we all play with so much joy that it becomes natural.”

Bucknell’s offense awoke in the second quarter. The Bison shot 60% from three-point range and were perfect from the free-throw line in the period. Lehigh struggled with efficiency, shooting 37.5% from the field, and were dominated on the defensive glass 11-7.

Despite winning in the statistical categories, the Mountain Hawks battled throughout the quarter. A blend of scoring from the starters—Stemmer, Albrecht, junior forward Lily Fandre and senior forward Meghan O’Brien—and the bench—Lind and sophomore guard Gracyn Lovette—kept Bucknell at bay.

With the balanced scoring effort, Lehigh took a 36-27 lead into the half.

Lehigh women’s basketball fifth-year wing Maddie Albrecht leads a fast-break in the team’s 73-59 victory against Bucknell on Pride Night on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Stabler Arena. Albrecht led all scorers with 20 points. (Olivia Link/B&W Staff)

“We know we’re a really deep team, and we know we can wear teams down,” coach Addie Micir said. “I thought our bench gave one of the greatest efforts that we’ve given, in terms of it being locked in defensively and just landing offensively, too. I’m really proud of the group effort.” 

Both teams traded blows in the third quarter. Bucknell shot 46.7% from the field, slightly higher than Lehigh’s 45.5%. Despite Bucknell’s higher offensive efficiency, Lehigh outscored the Bison 20-16 in the quarter. The third quarter closed out at another Mountain Hawk lead at 56-43.

Lehigh closed out the fourth quarter with a commanding performance, never surrendering their lead and controlling the entire 10 minutes. They limited Bucknell to just 16 points while scoring 17 themselves. Lehigh also capitalized on defensive rebounds, grabbing eight compared to Bucknell’s four, limiting any chance at a comeback through second-chance points.

The Mountain Hawks capped off the final quarter by securing their largest lead of the game at 21 points with four minutes left, the exclamation point on a dominant victory.

Bucknell fell short by the end of the game, shooting 38.0% from the field and 35.3% from three. Despite making 75% of their free throws, they were outrebounded 33-30 and recorded only seven assists. Their inefficiency proved too great to overcome the Mountain Hawk lead.

Micir said she was pleased with how her team executed their physical defensive game plan.

“I think we have learned about ourselves more defensively. So what we talked about when we approached opponents was ‘how do we lean into us and how do we impose our will’, and we wanted to play fast, we wanted pressure, we wanted rebounds and we did all of those things. And when our team executes, it is hard to beat,” Micir said.

The Mountain Hawks’ next game will be on Feb. 22 at Lafayette at 2 p.m.

Lehigh women’s basketball first-year guard/forward Belle Bramer shoots a free throw in the team’s 73-59 victory against Bucknell on Pride Night on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Stabler Arena. Bramer went a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line. (Olivia Link/B&W Staff)