Jan. 13, 2016

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - It was an incredible night of Patriot League women's basketball. Each of the five home teams captured wins, with League leader Bucknell securing its fifth-straight victory to improve to 5-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season after a 17-point-comeback win in overtime against Lehigh in the Sojka Pavilion. Army West Point also rallied to defeat Colgate to remain a perfect 9-0 at Christl Arena this season, while Holy Cross made a come-from-behind win of their own over Lafayette at the Hart Center. Boston University had a stellar night, collecting not only its first League win, but its first win of the season over American, and Loyola Maryland held Navy to single digits in two quarters to capture its third League win.

Wednesday Scores
Army West Point 67, Colgate 55
Boston University 63, American 59
Holy Cross 66, Lafayette 49
Loyola Maryland 51, Navy 38
Bucknell 80, Lehigh 77 OT

Women's Basketball Quick Notes
* Army West Point/Colgate - The bench was hot for the Black Knights and played a large role in helping the team to remain a perfect 9-0 at home with a 67-55 win over Colgate on Wednesday night at Christl Arena ... Neither team could find the net for nearly the first three minutes of the game, with five early turnovers not helping either, as Army was 0-of-4 from the field while Colgate was 0-for 1  ... Brianna Johnson scored the first basket, a three-pointer at 7:01, while the visitors responded with a trey of their own from Katie Curtis at 6:44 ... From there, it was a back-and-forth battle until the Black Knights took a 53-42 lead into the fourth quarter ... The Raiders pulled back within seven with 6:24 on the clock but the home team would remain in the lead the rest of the way ... Junior Dani Failor and sophomore Aliyah Murray combined for 33 of Army's 35 bench points and each posted career highs ... Failor, who hadn't played since Dec. 11, set a career-best 21 points and shot 8-of-10 from the field and five-of-five from the charity stripe ... Murray shot a collegiate-career best 5-of-8 and tallied career-highs of 12 points and nine rebounds ... Senior Kelsey Minato, who was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line, was one rebound shy of a double-double after notching 18 points and a season-high nine rebounds ... Colgate was led by Paige Kriftcher (15 pts.), Katie Curtis (13 pts.), and Josie Stockill (12 pts., 6 rebounds, three blocks).

* Boston University/American - The Terriers set the pace early on, jumping out to a 10-0 lead that paved the way to a 63-59 win over American at Case Gym on Wednesday ... The victory of the defending Patriot League Champions was the first of the season for Boston U. and marked the first win over the Eagles as League opponents ... BU posted its best shooting percentage of the season, going 24-0f-51 from the floor, and also recorded its most points scored in the first quarter this season with 16 ... American put together a strong second period, netting 22 points to go into the break tied at 31-31 ... The Terriers took an early third quarter lead and never trailed, though the Eagles chipped their way back to come within one point, after three-consecutive treys, with 30 seconds left on the clock ... Four players reached double-figures in points for BU and was led by Katie Sheftic with 15 points ... Corrine Williams netted 13 points, which was backed by a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and a three-pointer, while Sarah Hope followed with 11 and Meghan Green chipped in 10 ... Jordan Light matched a career high 15 points to lead the Eagles, while freshman Cecily Carl added a personal best 14 ... Maria Liddane also notched a career-high 12 assists and set a new individual-game high for a Patriot League player in the category this season.

* Holy Cross/Lafayette - Lafayette kept things interesting for Holy Cross early on, holding a one-point 27-26 lead going into the break ... A strong second half by the home team helped them earn a 66-49 victory in the Hart Center on Wednesday over the visiting Leopards though and improve to 4-1 in Patriot League play ... Tied at 31-31 with 3:38 on the clock in the third quarter, the Crusaders went on a 20-4 run that reached into the fourth period for a 51-35 advantage with 7:53 left in regulation ... Lafayette was unable to come closer than 11 points the rest of the way and Holy Cross earned the win ... Lisa Mifsud led the way with 16 points and four helpers, while classmate Molly Hourigan was all over the final stat sheet with 12 rebounds, eight points, four assists, five blocks, and four steals ... Infiniti Thomas-Waheed also reached double figures with 13 points, in addition to contributing six rebounds, and Tricia Byrne pitched in 11 points, three assists, and three steals ... Despite the loss, Ashley Lutz recorded an outstanding performance with a career-high 19 points and also contributed 14 rebounds to earn her fourth double-double of her career and first of the season ... Jamie O'Hare was behind Lutz in both categories with 12 points and seven rebounds and also had four assists and four steals.

* Loyola Maryland/Navy - A strong performance by senior Colleen Marshall paved the way for Loyola Maryland's third win of the Patriot League slate with a 51-38 victory over Navy Wednesday night at Reitz Arena ... It seems fitting that Marshall started the scoring, netting a layup at 9:13 to give the home team the first lead ... After Sarita Condie tied the game with a layup of her own at 7:52, Marshall responded with a three-pointer at 7:37 ... The Mids ended up with a 14-13 lead after the first quarter, however, the Greyhounds limited Navy to just a mere four points in the second to go into the break with a 22-18 lead ... Loyola maintain the advantage the rest of the way to improve to 3-2 ... Aside from her 24 points, Marshall also hauled in five rebounds, while Diana Logan put up eight points and grabbed three rebounds and Jeneh Perry led the team with six boards ... Taylor Dunham led the way for the Mids with 11 points, three steals, and three rebounds ... Condie and Peyton Winters each pitched in six points, while Winters also nabbed eight boards, as did Justice Swett.

* Bucknell/Lehigh - Clutch treys from a pair of freshmen helped the Bison erase a 17-point deficit and earn a dramatic 80-77 overtime win Wednesday night in Sojka Pavilion against Lehigh ... Bucknell remains perfect in League play at 5-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season ... The Mountain Hawks ran up the score to lead by as many as 12 by the end of the first quarter and then led by 17, 42-25, as both teams went into the break ... Lehigh was 14-of-32 (43.8%) from the field, 6-of-13 from downtown (46.2%), and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe (88.9%) at the end of the first half, while Bucknell was 11-of-29 (37.9%) from the field, 1-of-6 (16.7%) from beyond the arc, and 2-of-4 (50%) from the line ... The Bison were able to come within six in the third, but back-to-back baskets from three-point land by Bernadette Devaney and Quinci Mann stretched the visitor's lead, and Lehigh led by 13 going in to the final period ... Another trey by Mann and a good free throw from Lexi Martins put the Mountain Hawks up by 17, once again,  at 9:07 ... After a pair of free-throw shots by Kerry Kinek at 5:13 to make the score 69-57, the Bison went on to score eight unanswered points to come within four, 69-65, with 49 seconds on the clock ... In the process, Kiek fouled out at 1:01 ... A good free-throw by Hailey Pascoe gave Lehigh its final lead of five points, 70-65, before freshman Kaitlyn Slagus hit a layup with 16 seconds on the clock and then converted a trey that bounced on the front of the rim and then the back of the board before finally falling in to tie the game at 71-71 with two seconds remaining ... In an intense overtime, the teams traded points and found the score knotted once again with 48 seconds left, 77-77 ... After a timeout with nine seconds on the clock, freshman Kyi English was left wide open in the corner to drain a pretty-looking three with two seconds on the clock for an 80-77 lead ... With one final, desperate chance, Elizabeth Jordan tried to match the trey to tie the score but came up short and Bucknell claimed the thrilling win.

All ten teams will continue the Patriot League slate this weekend, which features four games on Saturday and one on Sunday. Sunday's contest in Bethlehem between the Mountain Hawks and Crusaders will air on the American Sports Network with a tipoff of 3 p.m.