Lehigh Football Nation

(Photo Credit: Douglas Kilpatrick/The Morning Call) It was almost a week ago today when the Lehigh women's basketball team was denied their chance at an unprecedented three-peat.  Taken to overtime by a scrappy American team and clutch G Alexis Dobbs free-throws, F Liz Leer took over with two gigantic 3-point bombs to advance the Lady Eagles - and not the tearful Lady Hawks - to the Patriot League finals at Navy. It was then up to the Midshipmen to guarantee head coach Sue Troyan her third postseason trip in three years.  A Navy win would mean a guaranteed spot for Lehigh in the WNIT - and they would deliver on Saturday with a 47-40 victory. With the loss to American, a door closes for a third straight NCAA appearance for Lehigh - but another door opens as well. After drawing St. Bonaventure in the WNIT, Lehigh gets a great opportunity at something else - the first postseason victory in program history. (more)

For the men's basketball team, the dream of a repeat trip to the NCAA tournament was dashed in Sojka pavillion in a surprise snow in rural Lewisburg, PA. But for the Lady Hawks, the march for a three-peat continues tonight at home in a matchup that most might have pegged in the preseason for the finals, not the semifinals. The red-hot Lady Hawks, winners of ten straight, look to advance to the Patriot League championship game for the third straight year. And also - just like last weekend's quarterfinal match vs. Lafayette - it allows the Lady Hawks to once again avenge one of their toughest - and lopsided - home losses in recent memory during the regular season. (more)

A nine game winning streak to end the year?  That's good, I think. Achieving two thirty-point wins against Bucknell and Holy Cross at home last week?  That's OK, I guess. A well-deserved Patriot League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year award for senior G Erica Prosser ? That's nice. But you've got to believe that the Lady Hawks are excited about one thing, and one thing only about the first round of the Patriot League tournament Saturday night at Stabler arena - the fact that Lehigh has the opportunity to enact some revenge. (more)

I found myself saying after this weekend focusing on one positive thing that happened for my teams this weekend: "Well, at least it wasn't Lafayette that performed the double-sweep on Lehigh this weekend." Lehigh's basketball sweep against American was only part of the story, however. In a Wild Card weekend where my defending Super Bowl champion Saints had their hearts broken by a head coach ( Pete Carroll ) that did his best John Calipari impersonation to flee USC in a swirl of NCAA sactions, and ultimately won the game after " off the field thug " RB Marshawn Lynch on Saturday, and a Sunday when QB Michael Vick underthrew a TD pass to secure an excruciating 21-16 defeat at the hands of the Packers, the theme of the weekend would unquestionably be one of collapsing leads and repeated shots to the stomach. (more)

Taking advantage of a holiday weekend - and a 5:00PM start for the women's game - I hustled my family into the car on a frigid Saturday afternoon to make my pilgrimage to Stabler to take in a women's/men's basketball doubleheader featuring my Mountain Hawks. After pulling into the parking lot, we walked into Stabler as a physical, emotional Akron team started to really take it to the flat Lady Hawks, who was playing their third basketball game in five days. The 6-6 Zips, who just fell to Temple 55-43 a few days ago, surged to a 23-14 lead after Akron senior G Ayla Guzzardo stole the ball from junior G Erica Prosser to convert an easy transition basket. (more)