EASTON, Pa. – Senior guard Makayla Andrews led Lafayette's offense with 16 points in the team's 70-68 loss against rival Lehigh inside Kirby Sports Center. Junior forward Halee Smith tacked on 13 points, while grabbing seven rebounds and three steals.

Saturday's game served as Alumni Day for the women's basketball program. During the first quarter of the contest, past alumni were honored for their continuous support of Lafayette women's basketball. The program also honored legendary head coach Pat Fisher, who passed away in 2023, and her family for all that she gave to College Hill.

Ella Stemmer led the Mountain Hawks' offense, scoring 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Lily Fandre, Meghan O'Brien and Colleen McQuillen also dropped in double digits for the visitors, scoring 16, 11 and 10 respectively.

As the game opened, Lafayette captured an early 7-6 lead after Halee Smith knocked down a triple with 6:09 to go in the first. Lehigh responded with a 12-4 run to take an 18-11 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter. The Maroon and White trailed by seven points (20-13) after 10 minutes.

The Leopards doubled Lehigh's points in the second quarter (16-8). Junior guard Abby Antognoli, (11 points) Andrews, Smith and sophomore guard Kay Donahue (eight points) all contributed to the scoring spurt. Four of Lafayette's six buckets in the quarter were three-pointers and Smith's triple with 2:11 to go, gave the Maroon and White a 29-28 lead at the intermission.

The opening six minutes of the second half were back-and-forth. Sophomore guard Sauda Ntaconayigize (eight points) drained a big triple with 3:27 remaining in the quarter, but McQuillen responded with a three-pointer of her own. Smith gave Lafayette its biggest lead of the game (five points) after hitting back-to-back buckets with under 30 seconds to play. Lafayette led 44-41 at the end of the third.

Stemmer's 11 fourth-quarter points propelled Lehigh to a late run after being down by five with 4:18 left to play. A triple by Donahue and a jumper from Antognoli kept the Mountain Hawks at bay, but two crunch time free throws by Fandre tied the game at 63 apiece. Neither team scored in the final minute, sending the latest installment of The Rivalry to overtime.

In the extra session, after a Stemmer triple, free throws from Andrews and a three-pointer by Ntaconayigize gave the Leopards a two-point lead with 2:36 left. In the end, two baskets down the stretch by Maddie Albrecht and Fandre drove Lehigh to its sixth conference win of the season.

Getting to the charity stripe proved to be the key in Saturday's cross-town rivalry. The Mountain Hawks got to the foul line 19 times compared to Lafayette's four attempts.

The Maroon and White are back in action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday as it travels to Loyola for a Valentine's Day matchup.