Lehigh Football Nation

The Lady Hawks are going to the RAC to try to shock the world, and I'll be there reporting and commenting about it, live, at courtside. Here's the keys to the game for Lehigh: 1. It's going to take everybody. The Lady Hawks' depth is what have taken them this far. They'll have to do the same things they've done all year in order to pull off the upset - no intimidation factor allowed. The same jumpshots that put away Lafayette can also put away Auburn. 2. Get Ross involved early. Junior G Alex Ross, when she's on, can shoot the lights out. Getting her in rhythm - preferably, to jump to a quick lead - would be a huge boost. 3. Prosser vs. Bonner. Sophomore G Erica Prosser is known for offense, but it could be her defense - and how she handles one of the best point guards in the nation, senior G DeWanna Bonner - that could be key to a historic upset. Here we go! 12:17 p.m. I'm here at courtside. Lehigh fans dominate and they are LOUD. Students a...

Being a part of the NCAA tournament isn't just a fun trip to New York City and a "thank you for showing up, nice to be here" for the Lehigh women's basketball team. But it is a whirlwind of national media attention for the Lady Hawks - and for reasons off the court as well as on. Earlier in the week, Lehigh was recognized as one of 14 teams in the 64-team women's field that have a perfect 100% graduation rate . In the media day , head coach Sue Troyan expanded on that: “From my perspective, it’s why I do what I do. Being at Lehigh, the type of kids that we get there are truly exceptional in terms of having to balance the things in their lives and truly representing what it means to be a student athlete. This group epitomizes being able to excel academically and athletically. Their team GPA was 3.32, they’ve been ranked in the top 25 in team GPA in six of the last seven years. Our team GPA has been between a 3.25 and a 3.45 every semester, so it’s not a blip on ...

(Photo Courtesy AP/Baltimore Sun) I mean, really, did you FEEL it yesterday? The Patriot League champion, up by ten at halftime against one of the big boys, Villanova. The team that almost made the Final Four last year. The school of "Easy Ed" Pinckney. Howard Porter. Rollie Massimino and the "Four Corners" offense. The 1985 national champions. Up by TEN points. Outplaying Villanova. In THEIR house. The Cinderella story was there. Right there, dammit! 'Nova started the game in cruise control, and G Garrison Carr, G Derrick Mercer and F Brian Gilmore happily took advantage. Carr got hot, knocking down six 3-pointers. Mercer, in a move that typefied the first half, picked the pocket of Villanova G Dwayne Anderson and converted an easy layup against a sluggish Wildcat team. And Gilmore was everywhere, elbowing Wildcat F Dante Cunningham , hitting 3-point jumpshots and becoming that all-important third gear. As broadcast veteran Dick Enberg said on hi...

There's so much going NCAA championship action on right now that it's almost impossible to cover it all right now. But sure as heck I'm going to try. The NCAA Championships in St. Louis, MO started this morning , with the seven Mountain Hawk qualifiers all wrestling in the first session of competition. And already it's looking very, very promising for Lehigh as unseeded junior 141 lb Seth Ciasulli had a surprise fall against No. 11-seeded Cody Cleveland out of UT-Chattanooga in the morning session and then disposed of Anthony D'Alie out of Eastern Michigan. Junior 184 lb David Craig , seeded No. 8, also took care of business against Virginia's Rocco Caponi. No. 12 seeded senior 149 lb Trevor Chinn advanced after a forfeit by Virginia Tech's Peter Yates, while three qualifiers will try to earn all-American status through the losers' bracket: sophomore 174 lb Alex Caruso, junior 133 lb Matt Fisk , and junior 165 lb Matt Galante . Freshman heavyweight...

With a nearby first-round matchup in the NCAA women's basketball tournament to prepare for, a trip to St. Louis to plan for the seven qualified wrestlers for the national NCAA championships... ya think the Lehigh Athletic department is a little bit busy this week? (I also did notice Lehigh's amazing eight-goal comeback victory against Army in men's lacrosse.) Hard as it is to believe, there's more big news from Lehigh athletics this week, too: they announced that spring football practice gets underway tomorrow , starting at 4:30 p.m. Head coach Andy Coen , rejoined by new special teams/running backs coach R.J. Ryan (pictured) who was recently hired to take the place of Adam Scheier (Bowling Green), is eager to get back on the gridiron to see the players' development in the offseason: “This is a fun time of year for us. We aren’t going to be worried about winning or losing games, but rather, focusing on trying to improve every single time we’re out there. We ...

While a 15 seed may seem a bit disappointing, the fact that Lehigh women's basketball fans will be able to make a quick jaunt down 78 to 287 to Piscataway, New Jersey to see their Lady Hawks play in the first round certainly has to be a comfort. Lehigh will be taking on the No. 2-seeded Auburn Lady Tigers , and the other game at the RAC will pit No. 7 Rutgers against No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth. Lehigh's game will take place at noon - it will probably be the first game of the NCAA women's tourney to start or finish - and the second game will be immediately following. Tickets should be available through the Lehigh ticket office, and Rutgers' ticket office. Adult tickets for all three games are $40, while a "family pack" for Saturday is available for $60, including 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas. Auburn, ranked No. 8 in the AP poll, is a daunting challenge for the Lady Hawks, with a team that has four seniors and balanced production across the board - the...