Women's basketball edged by sharp-shooting Lehigh

Fresh off its first win of the season against Samford, women's basketball failed to extend that streak to two in its home opener.

Princeton (1-4) faced Lehigh (1-4) last night in Jadwin Gym, hoping to exact revenge for last year's 66-61 loss to the Mountain Hawks. Though this year's contest remained close to the end, Lehigh held on for a 56-53 victory.

The Mountain Hawks came into last night's matchup hungry for their first win after dropping games to Duquesne, Marist, California and Idaho State.

Freshman post Katie Digovich, who chalked up a game-high 18 points, drained a clean shot from behind the arc to kick off the scoring for the Tigers. The Princeton lead would be short-lived, however — Lehigh responded with a layup and a three-pointer of its own, then added a free throw to gain a lead it possessed for much of the half's remainder. The Mountain Hawks added two more early three-pointers to take a 14-9 lead.

For the rest of the first half, it was the Mountain Hawks' inside game that gave the Tiger defense trouble. Lehigh's Jana Ranson, Jessica DePalo and Dawn Gorynski all drove hard to the basket to keep their team just out of Princeton's reach.

The Tigers trailed by several points up until the final moments of the first half. With roughly a minute left in the first stanza, a series of quick passes led to a Princeton layup to give it a 28-27 halftime lead, the team's first lead since early in the game. The momentum leading into halftime spilled over into the second frame for Princeton. Sophomore post Becky Brown drove in for an easy two points. In the next few moments, Digovich added a layup of her own off a quick steal to put the Tigers up, 32-27.

That lead proved to be Princeton's last. After a brief tie at 34 points, Lehigh took over. Feisty defense from freshman guard Elyse Umeda couldn't stop the Mountain Hawk charge. Lehigh alternated between its inside and outside game to take its largest lead of the contest, 52-44.

The Tigers pulled within one, 54-53, in the last few minutes, but a Lehigh steal and layup prevented the momentum from shifting to Princeton. The Tigers failed in their attempt to mirror the first half with a last-minute comeback. Freshman wing Kelli Hughes and Umeda could not sink shots from behind the arc to tie the game, and the final score stood at 56-53.

With three of its players —Ransom, DePalo and Gorynski — in double digits in scoring, Lehigh showed Princeton a well-rounded offense.

The Tigers were not as successful at spreading out the scoring — Brown and Digovich combined for 32 of Princeton's 53-point total. Freshman wing Casey Lockwood added a game-high nine rebounds for the Tigers.

For a team struggling from three-point land, Lehigh leaned on its outside game, making several of its seven threes at crucial moments to stall Princeton runs. Going into last night's game, the Mountain Hawks were shooting a mere 21 percent from behind the arc. The team shot 38.9 percent from that range against the Tigers — 80 percent (four of five) in the second half — for what may have made the difference in its first win of the season.