By The Daily Item
WORCESTER, Mass. — Joyce Novacek scored a career-high 24 points, including 19 in the first half, but No. 8 Bucknell could not pull off the upset over No. 1 Lehigh, falling to the Mountain Hawks 72-58 in the Patriot League quarterfinals at the Hart Center on Saturday.
Bucknell finishes the season at 7-21.
Novacek shot 8-for-8 from the field in the first half for 19 points. The Bison also shot well as a team, going 14-for-24 (58.3 percent). The Mountain Hawks took a 7-6 lead at 16:57 on a bucket from Courtney Dentler. The score fluctuated back-and-forth throughout the rest of play with eight lead changes and three ties.
The last two minutes was a flurry of scoring for both squads, and Krewson’s jumper gave the Bison a 32-30 lead at the half.
Lehigh opened the second with a 9-2 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from Alex Ross. That streak put Lehigh ahead 39-34 and forced Bucknell into a timeout.
Bison fouls and turnovers kept them from making much of a push, and the Lehigh lead hovered around six points for several minutes.
The Mountain Hawks soon pushed the lead to 56-46 as Emily Gratch, held to two points in the first half, erupted for 11 in the second. The Bison managed to get Lehigh’s advantage back down to five points a few minutes later as Morgan Wrightson’s layup and free throw made it for 56-51 with 8:53 remaining.
But the Mountain Hawks got the lead back up to double figures. A layup by Ross made it 66-53 at 5:27.
The Bison shot well in the second half despite being outscored 46-24. Bucknell finished the half 10-for-22 (45.5 percent), and shot 52.2 percent for the game. Lehigh finished at 44.6 percent. Bucknell also dominated on the boards, finishing with a 39-25 advantage.
Joining Novacek in double figures was Cosima Higham with 11 points, and Krewson finished with 10. Novacek led the Bison in rebounding with nine.
Lehigh had four players in double figures. Dentler led the way with 17, followed by Gratch with 13, Prosser with 12 and Ross with 10. Lehigh will now take on Holy Cross, which defeated Army 57-53.
