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EASTON, Pa. ÃÆ'Æ’¢ÃÆ'¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡¬ÃÆ'¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…â€Å" In the 90th installment of the Lafayette versus Lehigh women's basketball rivalry, it was the Mountain Hawks who edged out the Leopards 56-53 in a Patriot League game on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center.

The tightly-contested conference battle came down to the final seconds and a Lafayette (1-19, 0-8 PL) attempt at a buzzer beater fell short, giving the Mountain Hawks (6-13, 1-7 PL) the victory. For the second consecutive game, Sammy Stipa led the Leopards in scoring with 13 on the afternoon. Ashley Lutz added seven off the bench, while Alex Cantwell, who was one of four Lafayette players to score six points, contributed seven boards and seven assists.

Nearly three minutes passed without a basket from either side to open up action, but Gena Grundhoffer made a 3-pointer for Lehigh to end the scoring drought. The freshman would continue to be a tough guard for the Leopards throughout the course of the game, scoring 17 points and bringing down nine boards.

Lafayette shined on the glass early, corralling 16 rebounds, compared to Lehigh's seven. Half of the Leopards' boards in the first quarter were of the offensive variety, but the Leopards struggled to capitalize on the second-chance opportunities, starting the game on 1-of-10 shooting from the floor.

The Leopards would get it going though and put in four of their next seven shot attempts as part of a 9-0 run that lasted the final three minutes of the quarter to give them their first lead, 13-12.

The two teams went back and forth in the second quarter and an Anna Ptasinski three put the Leopards up 23-20. However, the Mountain Hawks answered with a three-point play by Hannah Hedstrom to knot the score back up. The Leopards managed to gain a little separation at the end of the half by putting in five unanswered points to go ahead 30-26.

Lehigh began the second half on a 6-0 run with four of the six points coming from Grundhoffer. From that point forward, Lafayette and Lehigh continued to trade baskets, but a 7-2 run by the Mountain Hawks gave them the 37-32 advantage. Lehigh had several quality looks in the paint in the third and scored all but three points from down low.

Lafayette turned to Stipa in the latter stages of the quarter and she made three big shots, including a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game, 43-41, setting up a thrilling final 10 minutes of basketball.

Midway through the fourth, Lafayette called a timeout trailing by four, but immediately out of the break, the Leopards went to Ashley Lutz in the corner and she buried one from deep to cut the deficit to one, 47-46. Following the media timeout though, the Mountain Hawks came right back and sank a pair of 3-pointers to go by seven.

Lafayette cut into the Lehigh lead and with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Stipa sank another timely bucket from beyond the arc to pull the Leopards within three, 54-51. After a struggling series on the other end by the Mountain Hawks, the Leopards retained possession and were fouled. Sarah Agnello went to the line and hit a pair to make it a one-point game with 16 seconds to go.

The Leopards were forced to foul at that point and after Lehigh made both free throws, an Agnello three came up short. However, there was still life left for Lafayette as Hedstrom was fouled and failed to make either foul shot for Lehigh. The Leopards brought the ball up the court and Stipa was forced to take a deep turnaround 3-point shot at the buzzer. The ball was on its way to the rim, but it did not have enough arc on it, hitting off the iron and giving the Mountain Hawks the win.

The Leopards will have some time off before returning to action on Saturday, Jan. 28 when they head to Baltimore to square off against Loyola for a 2 p.m. Patriot League tilt.