Brenen Lorient scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead West Virginia to a 69-47 win over Lehigh on Sunday in Morgantown, W. Va.
Lorient made 11 of 15 field goal attempts and connected on 3 of 4 3-point attempts.
Harlan Obioha added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Honor Huff chipped in eight points for West Virginia (3-0).
Andre Urosevic scored 16 points as he connected on 4 of 8 3-point attempts, and Joshua Ingram scored 14 points for Lehigh (1-2).
The Mountaineers took control of the game from the onset with a 16-2 game-opening run. Huff drained a three to punctuate the rally.
That was quickly followed by another 16-2 run to open up a 32-7 lead with 6:41 left in the first half.
Because of their size advantage, the Mountaineers also held a 38-25 rebounding edge and 28-12 advantage in points in the paint.
Urosevic hit an open three with 3:18 left in the first half to cut the deficit to 38-14. Another three from Urosevic capped the first-half scoring, with the Mountain Hawks trailing 42-20 at halftime.
In the first half, the Mountaineers had eight steals, forced 11 turnovers and shot 53.6% due to Lehigh’s defense often being unable to get set up.
An Ingram dunk cut into the West Virginia lead, and the Mountain Hawks trailed 46-27 early in the second half. An Ingram steal led to another dunk as Lehigh went on a 6-1 run and tried to crawl back into the game, trailing 49-33 just under five minutes into the half.
Lehigh battled its way back to trail 58-44 on an Urosevic three with 6:46 to play. But West Virginia closed the game from there on a 9-3 run, allowing just three points over the final 6:46.
