Lehigh draws No. 13 seed, to face West Virginia
Mountain Hawks won only previous meeting, in 2009
The Lehigh women’s basketball team knew it had qualified for the Big Dance after Sunday’s Patriot League championship game victory at Boston University. The Mountain Hawks knew they were going to the San Antonio, Texas, area — site of the entire NCAA Tournament.
On Monday night, they learned their opponent.
Thirteenth-seeded Lehigh will face fourth-seeded West Virginia on Sunday at 8 p.m. on ESPNU. The winner will face fifth-seeded Georgia Tech or 12th-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the Round of 32.
“I don’t know a lot about [West Virginia] yet,” said Lehigh coach Sue Troyan. “We’ll learn a lot about them tonight as we scout through things.”
The Mountaineers stand 21-6 on the season, 13-5 in the Big 12. Lehigh has won the onlyever meeting between the two schools, 89-73 on Dec. 27, 2009.
“We played really tough competition when you look at our pod [Patriot League
mini-conference],” said Troyan. “We beat two top 100 teams when you look at net ratings
[Bucknell and Boston University], so we played six of our games against top 100 teams. I believe it will prepare us for the NCAA Tournament.”
The Mountain Hawks themselves were ranked 75th in the NCAA Net Rakings after Sunday’s championship game victory, helping them earn a No. 13 seed. The last time Lehigh was in the tournament, 2010, it was also a 13 seed and faced Iowa State in Ames, Iowa.
Sunday night will mark Lehigh’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program (also 1997 and 2009), as the Mountain Hawks enter the weekend confident in the abilities, and loose at the same time.
“We’re a tough team with our ability to shoot the ball,” said Troyan. “With our growth on the defensive end over these last couple weeks, I’m super excited. I’m really confident in them. I don’t think I’d be a team I’d want to be playing going into the tournament.
“I believe our kids will be loose. They’re really excited about this opportunity and I think they have something to prove.”