First-half woes continued to plague the AU women's basketball team, as it was unable to overcome an 18-point halftime deficit in losing to Lehigh on Saturday, 67-60. The defeat drops the Eagles to 4-4 in the Patriot League and 9-13 overall on the season.
The Mountain Hawks would score the game's opening basket only 19 seconds into the game and hold the lead throughout the contest.
A running lay-up by Liz Hayes tied the game at six at the 16:45 mark in the half but this would be as close as the Eagles would get all game. Lehigh would go on a 31-13 run throughout the rest of the opening period and entered the halftime break up 37-19.
Once again, it was poor shooting by the Eagles that led to their large halftime deficit. AU would only shoot 27.6 percent on eight of 29 shooting in the half, including missing all three of their shots from behind the three-point arc.
By comparison, the Mountain Hawks would shoot a respectable 43.3 percent from the field and four of 12 on three-point attempts.
Entering the second half, Lehigh continued their hot shooting from earlier in the game. The Mountain Hawks would go on an opening 9-2 run, pushing their lead to 22, their largest of the game.
Despite being down big, the Eagles would not go away quietly. Back-to-back lay-ups by Nicole Ryan sparked a 13-0 run by AU, cutting the lead from 22 down to nine with 11 minutes to go in the game. During this stretch, the Eagles defense would step up and prevent Lehigh from scoring for over six minutes of play.
Breaking AU's run with 10 minutes to go, Lehigh would slowly build back their lead, pushing AU's deficit to 18 with six minutes remaining.
Once again, the Eagles would attempt another comeback, this time cutting the lead down from 18 to eight with one minute to play. Three-point shooting was key to the Eagle's run, with the team hitting five three-pointers to close the gap.
Like before, this run would be too late, as Lehigh would hold onto their lead and win by the final score of 67-60.
Even in defeat, Ryan was the game's leading scorer with 20 points, including three of six on three-pointers. Teammate Liz Hayes also scored in double digits, contributing 11 points in the loss.
Coach Melissa McFerrin expressed disappointment in her team's effort, especially with how they played in the first half.
"It is really disappointing to be down so much early in games," McFerrin said. "We play better when our backs are against the wall, when the game is out of reach"
