Lehigh University Athletics

Lehigh to Face Monmouth in WNIT First Round

3/18/2026 11:30:00 AM | Women's Basketball

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh Mountain Hawks hit the road Thursday evening for the first round of the WNIT, taking on the Monmouth Hawks at 6 p.m. at OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The game will be streamed on FloCollege.

Lehigh enters Thursday's matchup following a 77-70 loss to Holy Cross in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday afternoon.

In the defeat,

Belle Bramerled the Mountain Hawks with a career-high 24 points, shooting 9-of-12 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Leia Edwardsrecorded her second straight double-double, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, while adding 11 rebounds.

Bramer and Edwards were both named to the 2026 PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team.

Lehigh defeated Loyola and Navy in its run to the PL Championship game.

Monmouth, out of the Coastal Athletic Association, finished 12-6 in conference play to earn the No. 5 seed in the league tournament. The Hawks defeated UNC Wilmington in the second round before falling to Stony Brook in the CAA quarterfinals.

Lehigh and Monmouth have met nine times in program history, with Lehigh holding a 5-4 edge in the all-time series. The Mountain Hawks earned the most recent victory in 2018, a 63-48 win.

In 2011, Lehigh made its first Women's National Invitation Tournament appearance in program history under head coach

Sue Troyan. The Mountain Hawks finished the season 21-10 overall, earning a postseason berth during a strong stretch for the program. Lehigh's run was cut short in the opening round with a 77-43 loss to St. Bonaventure.

Lehigh and Monmouth each received at-large bids to the WNIT, with the winner advancing to face Cleveland State on Monday, March 23, at 7 p.m. at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

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