No. 4 Lehigh women’s basketball traveled to Annapolis, Maryland, to face No. 1 Navy in the Patriot League semifinals on Thursday evening. The Mountain Hawks (17-13, 11-6 Patriot League) defeated the Midshipmen (22-8, 15-2 Patriot League) 81-76 in an overtime thriller, earning a second consecutive trip to the Patriot League Championship.
First-year guard and forward Leia Edwards led the Mountain Hawks with a career-high 25 points and 16 rebounds, making her presence felt on the boards early.
Edwards said rebounding was an important goal for the team entering the game.
“That was one of our keys — rebounding was how we were going to win the game,” Edwards said. “I like rebounding, so I thought I’d take that on my back and the team followed as well.”
Sophomore guard and forward Belle Bramer recorded a career-high 22 points along with seven rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Gracyn Lovette tallied 18 points, four rebounds and four assists.
For Navy, junior guard Zanai Barnett-Gay scored 27 points and seven assists, while first-year guard Zoe Mesuch followed with 18.
Although Lehigh won the tipoff, Navy earned the first points of the night when sophomore guard Mary Gibbons knocked down a three-pointer following multiple offensive rebounds by the Midshipmen.
Navy continued to rely on perimeter shooting in the opening quarter. Gibbons connected on three 3-pointers in the first period alone, helping the Midshipmen build an early lead.
Lehigh answered by attacking the paint. Bramer sparked the offense with a 3-pointer before adding multiple drives to the basket, while junior forward Whitney Lind and senior forward and captain Lily Fandre contributed back-to-back layups to keep Lehigh within reach.
Despite Lehigh’s interior scoring, Navy’s outside shooting pushed the Midshipmen ahead 21-15 at the end of the first quarter, with Gibbons scoring nine points from beyond the arc.
Lehigh began to find its rhythm early in the second quarter behind Bramer, who reached double figures with another layup inside. Lovette followed with a 3-pointer to raise the Mountain Hawks’ score and shift momentum.
Navy briefly extended its lead after a 3-pointer from Mesuch and a layup from Barnett-Gay pushed the team ahead by nine.
However, Lehigh’s defense began to tighten, holding Navy scoreless for more than three minutes during an 11-0 run that cut the Midshipmen’s lead to only two points.
Throughout the first half, Lehigh found most of its offensive success in the paint, scoring 20 of its 37 on layups.
By halftime, Lehigh had erased the early deficit and led Navy 37-36.
Coach Addie Micir said the team focused on adjusting and maintaining momentum despite early struggles.
“We had 10 turnovers and weren’t necessarily shooting the ball well, and we were still up one,” Micir said. “We reminded the team how good we are and that we just needed to keep playing with confidence.”
The Midshipmen opened the quarter with a layup from Barnett-Gay before sophomore guard Juliana Almeida knocked down a 3-pointer to give Navy a four-point advantage.
Lind followed with back-to-back layups to tie the game at 44 with 4:50 remaining in the quarter.
After two free throws from Edwards, Barnett-Gay responded with a layup to tie the game at 46.
Edwards drew another two free throws, but with a layup and free throw from Barnett-Gay, Navy regained the lead at 51-50.
Edwards responded with a 3-pointer for Lehigh to regain the lead at 53-51.
With 3.8 seconds on the clock, Barnett-Gay drained a 3-pointer to end the third quarter, giving Navy a 54-53 lead.
Both teams opened the final quarter with points on each side of the court. The Midshipmen converted layups, while Lovette hit back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by Edwards connecting on a 3-pointer of her own from nearly the same spot.
Following a timeout, Navy found the glass twice, scoring two layups and taking a 62-61 lead.
Edwards hit a 3-pointer from the corner, and Lovette followed with another 3-pointer to extend Lehigh’s lead 67-62.
Bramer added a layup off the glass to give the Mountain Hawks their largest lead of the night at seven, 69-62, prompting a Navy timeout.
The Midshipmen responded with a 3-pointer from Mesuch to tighten the lead, but Lind answered with a 3-pointer for Lehigh.
Navy then mounted a seven-point run in just 1 minute, 5 seconds with a layup, 3-pointer and jumper to tie the score at 72.
Neither team was able to score in the final seconds, sending the game into overtime.
Micir told the Mountain Hawks to embrace the moment.
“We said ‘It’s free basketball,’” Micir said. “If there’s anything we learned from our men’s team, it’s that free basketball is fun basketball. So we just told them to keep defending, keep rebounding and let our offense flow.”
The extra period began quietly until 3:20, when Edwards dropped a 3-pointer.
Barnett-Gay responded with a steal and layup before adding another basket to give Navy a narrow 76–75 lead with just over a minute remaining.
Bramer answered with a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Mountain Hawks back in front, 78-76.
“They were defending our post players really hard,” Bramer said. “So I just took what they were giving me.”
With 10 seconds on the clock, Edwards went to the free-throw line and added another point for Lehigh. Barnett-Gay missed a 3-pointer, sending Edwards back to the free-throw line with 4.3 seconds remaining.
Edwards made both free throws for the final score of 81-76.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game with 22 turnovers.
Lehigh will face College of the Holy Cross in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Micir said the team will carry the same mindset into the title game.
“Holy Cross is a really disciplined team,” Micir said. “But when we play tough, play together and play Lehigh basketball, I like our chances.”
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