Stabler Arena was packed on Thursday night. The roaring Lehigh crowd—donned in all brown as requested by coach Addie Micir—was eager to witness a game that would put the Mountain Hawks one step closer to the Big Dance.
The student section was relentless, screaming with every Holy Cross possession. The Lehigh bench was cheering constantly, seemingly up for the entire game. Not a single person remained silent in the crowd.
Lehigh fed off the crowd’s energy throughout the game, battling against a physical Holy Cross for their third matchup of the season, one with higher stakes.
The crowd and team got their wish.
In the semifinal matchup against Holy Cross, Lehigh punched their ticket to the Patriot League Championship after defeating the Crusaders 65-44.
Fifth-year wing Maddie Albrecht dominated on the court, scoring a team-leading 19 points and logging four assists. Senior guard and captain Colleen McQuillen followed suit, adding 14 points and four steals.
Albrecht’s 19 points continued her ongoing streak of logging double-digit points for the 15th consecutive game.
“I just tell myself, 40 minutes, go out there, play as hard as I can,” Albrecht said. “I try to do it for my teammates, they have my back to get a break, so I just go in and give it my all.”
Holy Cross junior guard Simone Foreman ended the game with a double-double, logging a team-leading 16 points and 10 rebounds on an efficient 63.6% from the field. Junior guard Kaitlyn Flanagan led the Crusaders with four assists.
Holy Cross only had one other double-digit scorer in senior forward Lindsay Berger, who finished with 12 points.
Lehigh closed out the first quarter with a 16-11 lead. Both teams shot efficiently from the field in the quarter, with Lehigh and Holy Cross making 41.2% and 41.7% of their respective field goal attempts.
The Mountain Hawks forced six turnovers from Holy Cross while committing only two and converted those mistakes into 12 points off turnovers in the quarter. One of those being a 3-pointer from senior forward Meghan O’Brien that was set up by an Albrecht steal, which gave Lehigh a 14-11 lead they would never relinquish.
In the previous two matchups, both teams committed many turnovers, with the Mountain Hawks turning the ball over a combined 32 times in the previous meetings.
However, they tightened up when it mattered most. Lehigh posted a turnover margin of +12, forcing 23 Crusader turnovers while only giving up the ball 11 times. They capitalized on the mistakes, scoring 31 points off of those turnovers. Holy Cross failed to capitalize on any of their forced turnovers.
Lehigh came to life during the second quarter, holding the lead as large as nine points. In a low scoring quarter, the Mountain Hawks held the lead for the entire ten minutes.
Albrecht scored six consecutive points on free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Mountain Hawks a 28-21 lead going into the half.
The Mountain Hawks rekindled their offense in the third quarter. McQuillen opened the period with two back-to-back layups, including an and-one.
The quarter ended with a five-point swing off after McQuillen made a 3-pointer and a layup to beat the buzzer to bring the crowd to their feet.
McQuillen, the team’s assist leader and primary facilitator, took on a different role in the semifinal game. She played a key role in the Mountain Hawks’ offense, consistently creating scoring opportunities and getting buckets of her own. Her 14 points were tied for her season high.
“The mindset is about us,” McQuillen noted. “It is about what we do as a team, and we’re playing teams for the third time, so how we combat that is just by playing hard and executing.”
The Mountain Hawks outscored the Crusaders 19-10 in the final period, running away with the game to reach a 21-point lead, their largest of the game.
Lehigh shot 43.9% from the field. From beyond the arc, they made six 3-pointers and were consistent at the free-throw line, converting nine of 10 attempts.
Holy Cross had a strong presence on the boards, out rebounding Lehigh 31-27. They secured 22 defensive rebounds compared to Lehigh’s 18, limiting many second-chance opportunities. Despite their advantage on the glass, their turnovers proved costly.
Micir praised her team for their hard work and was proud to see her players play for each other.
“Our staff has been relentless workers the entire time, they’ve built great relationships, and the team trusts them, trust me and trust us,” Micir said. “When you have a group that loves playing with each other as much as this team does, you know they’re gonna do it, you know they’re gonna get it done.”
With the win, the Mountain Hawks advance to their first Patriot League Championship since the 2020-21 season, when they defeated Boston University to win the title.
McQuillen said nothing beats the feeling of being able to compete for a title alongside her teammates.
“I love these girls. I think the dream of winning a championship started with these girls, and so they’ve all been all in and I think that makes this goal even closer to reach. There’s no better feeling than being able to compete with these girls.”
Comment policy
Comments posted to The Brown and White website are reviewed by a moderator before being approved. Incendiary speech or harassing language, including comments targeted at individuals, may be deemed unacceptable and not published. Spam and other soliciting will also be declined.
The Brown and White also reserves the right to not publish entirely anonymous comments.