De La Cruz Plus Pressure Defense Lead to Lightning Win

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Playing Mount Saint Vincent for the second time in less than a week after its season opener was spoiled by the Dolphins on Monday, Lehman was looking to exact a measure of revenge in the consolation game of the Scotty Wood Tournament on the campus of Muhlenberg College.

Benefitting from an outstanding game by Amanda De La Cruz and a pressure defense that forced 33 turnovers, the Lighting did indeed get its payback, winning 71-57 to move to 2-2 on the season.

De La Cruz filled the stat sheet with a little bit of everything on Saturday afternoon, posting 19 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Her backcourt mate, Louvinia Hayes, chipped in 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals of her own and once again hit some key shots before the Lightning was able to pull away from a pesky Dolphins' team.

Lehman was in command for much of the first half. A three-pointer from Hayes made it 26-13 with 10:43 to go and the Lightning looked to be in control. From that point on, however, the Dolphins slowly chipped away until Brittany Griffin's jumper with 1:42 left gave the Dolphins the 34-33 lead. Griffin added two free throws and Mount St. Vincent went into the locker room ahead 36-33 despite 19 first half turnovers. High percentage shooting (50 percent) and a slight rebounding edge (25-20), combined with an erratic shooting first half performance by Lehman (29.5 percent), was what allowed Mount St. Vincent to close out the half in front.

It took until the 11-minute mark before Lehman finally was able to seize control. After Hayes' three-pointer knotted the score at 51, the Lightning ran off 14 straight points, its defense hounding the Dolphins into 8 turnovers. Hayes, De La Cruz, Maquasia Campbell and Taniefa Taylor all contributed during the stretch that left Lehman up 65-51 when it was over with 4:14 remaining. The Lightning would push the lead as high as 17 before closing out the 71-57 victory.

In addition to De La Cruz (19 points) and Hayes (21 points), the Lightning also received double digit scoring efforts from Taylor (13 points) and Jaleesa Gordon (11 points). Mount St. Vincent's Kara McNish posted a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) in the losing cause.

The Lightning returns home for its next game on Tuesday when they face St. Joseph's College of Long Island at 7 p.m.