51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Contact: ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags' />Amanda Brickell?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø women’s basketball team maintained its position at the top of the conference rankings with a 76-65 victory over Lehigh on Friday night.  With a win over Bucknell on Sunday, the Raiders will clinch the team’s first-ever regular season conference title.

51³Ô¹ÏÍø jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 16:28 to play in the first half, but the Mountain Hawks battled back within two on a jumper from Jana Ransom with just over 11 minutes remaining.  The Raiders held on to maintain the lead and increase the deficit to as many as nine points, but Lehigh surged to within three in the final seconds of the half sending 51³Ô¹ÏÍø into the locker room up 40-37.

The Raiders were 16-for-30 shooting 53.3 percent in the first.  Lehigh shot 48.5 percent on 16-of-33 from the field.  Lehigh held the slight advantage in rebounds with 17 boards to 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s 15.  Malissa Burke (Traverse City, Mich.) paced the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø attack with 12 points, while Jessica DePalo provided 12 for the Mountain Hawks.

Dawn Gorynski gave Lehigh their first lead of the game with a shot from out deep four minutes into the second-half.  The game remained close until an 8-2 51³Ô¹ÏÍø run capped by a jumper from Leandra Fuller (Harrisburg, Pa.) with 2:43 on the clock.  The Mountain Hawks were unable to chip away at the Raiders’ lead and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø held on for the 76-65 victory.

Tonight’s win gave 51³Ô¹ÏÍø its 17^th season victory for the first time since the 1980-81 squad won 19 contests.  Burke led the way with 20 points including three from out deep to tie 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s career record with 136.  She also moved into seventh on the career assists list with a team-high four in the game and 270 over four seasons.

Braseth made her way into a tie for tenth on 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s season scoring list with 16 points and seven rebounds on the night bringing her to 446 points on the season.   She led the team on the boards with seven rebounds.

Fuller surpassed the 600-point career scoring mark with eight points and a career-high six steals.  She continued to turn away shots knocking down three Lehigh attempts.   Her season total improves to 42, the third best in school history. 

Chigozie Ozor (Ann Arbor, Mich.) knocked down 11 points, while Lagzdins added 10 points and seven boards to the effort.  Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga.) put up six points and brought down a season-high five rebounds in just over six minutes on the floor.

The Raiders improve to 17-9 on the season and 9-4 in league play with the win, while the Mountain Hawks fall to 11-15 overall and 8-5 in the conference.  The Raiders will fight for their first-ever regular season title at 3:15 on Sunday on 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’ own Cotterell Court.