990124mca

LEHIGH WOMEN END NAVY'S PATRIOT STREAK

The Morning Call (Allentown)
01/24/99
By DON BOSTROM; The Morning Call
Page C# (sports!)
Non-Xena graphic

EXCERPT

COMMENTARY
A woman's basketball team "used its Xena the Warrior Princess defense" to beat a hiterto undefeatable team by "fiercely defend[ing] its territory, Xena-style".

PRIMARY SOURCE

   The Lehigh women's basketball team used its Xena the Warrior Princess defense
to shock unbeaten Patriot League leader Navy 69-60 Saturday afternoon at Stabler
Arena.

[snip]

   Navy (12-6, 4-1) bolted to a 15-8 lead before Lehigh (11-7, 3-2) began to
fiercely defend its territory, Xena-style.

   "We told the team they had to be tough. They had to be physical. They
couldn't take any crap from them. Whenever we get in Navy's face, we've been
successful," Troyan said.

[snip]

   Maureen Trigo (13 points, five assists, five rebounds) anchored the
relentless pressure that enabled the Mountain Hawks to shut down a Navy attack
that had been averaging over 75 points per game in league competition.

   Centers Christina Henry (15 points, five rebounds) and sub Alexis Bevington
(10 points) more than held their own against Navy stalwart Laurie Coffey (18
points, 14 boards).

   Erica Hayes (15 rebounds, 13 points) helped Navy, on an eight-game tear and
trying to give Coach Joe Sanchez his 400th career win, ride a 15-2 wave to take
a 47-44 lead with 8:08 to go.

   "How we responded there after giving up the lead was huge," Troyan said. "We
showed a lot of character to get it back."

   Sara Hessel (10 points, eight rebounds) began the comeback with a 3-point
bomb that ignited a 13-2 surge that gave Lehigh the win.

   Danielle Baldwin (15 points, six assists) was superb in this stretch as she
hit a clutch trey and a bunch of free throws.

   Lehigh got a lot of offensive mileage out of its guards down on the baseline.

   "That wasn't designed," Trigo said. "We were told to crash the boards and be
aggressive. We wound up down there and they got us the ball."

   The 3-point weapon was not in Navy's arsenal down the stretch. The Midshipmen
went 1-for-11 at crunch time and were only 4-for-19 for the game.

   "That's a credit to our whole team," Trigo said. "We really played each other
tough in practice and it carried over into this game."

   Gina Zang was an unheralded stopper with six rebounds, two steals and
countless deflected passes and dives for loose balls.

   "A game like this shows you that truly, anyone in this league has a shot at
the championship," Troyan said. "You have to come out ready to play 40 minutes
every night." 
 
"This just about tops it (for best win) so far," Trigo said. "But we're not
going to get carried away. We'll enjoy this today and then get re-focused for
Holy Cross."

[snip]

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