Lehigh set to visit DC for two important matchups vs. American

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – On Tuesday, the Lehigh women’s basketball team heads to American to take on the Eagles for the first of two back-to-back games at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. after the initial matchup at Stabler Arena was postponed due to health and safety protocols. Tuesday’s game tips off at 3 p.m. while Wednesday night’s action gets going at 7 p.m. with both games being streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
 
As is per usual for Lehigh this season, the 3-point shots wouldn’t stop falling against Loyola (Md.) on Saturday at Stabler Arena, as the Mountain Hawks sunk a new Patriot League and program record 17 against the Greyhounds, shooting just a hair over 50 percent from long distance (51.5 percent) to cruise away with a 73-49 victory and improve to 13-2 at home this season.
 
It will be a tough test for a Lehigh team that is just 5-5 on the road this season after losing a tough one, a two-point loss to Bucknell last week at Sojka Pavilion.
 
Sophomore guard Mackenzie Kramer has been in a league of her own as of late, notching her third straight game of 20 points or more vs. Loyola on Saturday with 23 on a career-high tying seven 3-pointers, six of which were registered in the first half with three coming in the first two minutes of the contest. Kramer is averaging 26.0 points per game over her last three starts with a total of 18 3-pointers. She was named honorable mention this week by the Patriot League after winning her third Player of the Week award a week ago.
 
Senior forward Emma Grothaus also put together another impressive performance with 13 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists in the victory. She now sits at 960 career points, 40 shy from 1,000 and is currently slotted at 634 career rebounds, seven from tying, eight from passing Cameryn Benz ’20 for 10th all-time in program history with 641.
 
Senior guard Clair Steele is also having herself quite the season, averaging a Patriot League-leading 5.7 assists per game after tallying eight vs. Loyola on Saturday. She currently leads the nation (both women’s and men’s) with an assist to turnover ratio of 3.89.
 
American has been playing some pretty good basketball as of late, victorious in three of its last four games, despite falling to Army West Point, 67-62 on the road its last time out.
 
Before the blip to the Black Knights on Saturday, the Eagles won three straight with back-to-back home wins over Bucknell and Boston U. before a 54-43 win at Navy on Feb. 16.
 
AU currently sits in fifth in the Patriot League, a half game behind both Lehigh and Bucknell for third and fourth, respectively.
 
The Eagles took Army to OT on Saturday in a neck-and-neck game that went right to the wire with the Black Knights prevailing after out-scoring American in overtime, 10-5.
 
Four of AU’s five starters landed in double-figures led by Taylor Brown (14), Jade Edwards (13), Karla Vres (13) and Emily Fisher (12). Brown also led the Eagles with seven rebounds while Edwards added five assists to lead the team.
 
American shot 42.2 percent (27-for-64) from the field and 27.8 percent (5-for-18) from beyond-the-arc in the loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
 
AU has the home-court advantage with a 10-1 record at Bender Arena this season and have won 16 of its last 17 games in front of its home fans. The Eagles are 61-12 at Bender dating back to the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
 
Lehigh and American meet once again in a classic Patriot League series in which the Eagles lead the all-time series, 34-16 including 24-14 in league contests.
 
However, the Mountain Hawks have claimed three of the last four matchups including two straight, both at Stabler Arena in the same weekend last year.
 
Lehigh beat AU, 89-71 on Jan. 11, 2021 behind a then-program record, then-Patriot League-record tying 16 3-pointers. Frannie Hottinger led the Mountain Hawks with 21 points.
 
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