CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Both Army West Point and Bucknell clinched quarterfinal home games during Wednesday night Patriot League women’s basketball action with respective wins over Holy Cross and Loyola Maryland. The race in the middle of the pack tightened even more as Navy defeated Lehigh to move up to tie the Mountain Hawks and Crusaders in third place. Boston University also moved up a spot in the standings with a road win over Colgate.

Wednesday Scores
Lafayette 63, American 59
Army West Point 80, Holy Cross 49
Boston University 71, Colgate 58
Bucknell 64, Loyola Maryland 42
Navy 62, Lehigh 54

Women’s Basketball Quick Notes
* Lafayette/American – After a slow start in the first half, the Leopards accumulated 42 points in the second half to comeback and defeat the Eagles 63-59 on Wednesday night at the Kirby Sports Center … The game feature nine tied scores and nine lead changes … American opened the game with a 5-0 run and closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run which was capped off by a half-court shot by sophomore Maria Liddane at the buzzer to take a 16-9 lead … AU held onto the lead until Lafayette went on a 12-0 run midway through the third period … After a tied score of 52-52 with 5:22 to go in the game, sophomore Sammy Stipa converted a free throw to give the Leopards their final lead of the game … American junior Lauren Crisler registered her first career double-double with 17 points and a career-best 10 rebounds … Freshman Cecily Carl added 11 points and seven rebounds … Junior Maia Hood came off the bench and led Lafayette with 17 points … Senior Jamie O’Hare followed with 16 points, while Stipa pitched in 14 … Junior Ashley Lutz grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

* Army West Point/Holy Cross – The Black Knights earned their 12 consecutive win, matching the program record, with an 8-49 victory over the Crusaders on Wednesday night at the Hart Center … After Holy Cross sophomore Amy Hasenauer scored the first basket of the game at 9:44, consecutive baskets from Army seniors Aimee Oertner and Kelsey Minato gave Army West Point a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way, taking its largest lead of 34 points with 1:58 on the clock in the final quarter … Minato led the way with 21 points, shooting 7-of-13 including 4-of-5 from three-point range … She also tallied a career-high-tying nine assists, while adding six rebounds … Sophomore Janae McNeal collected 17 points and a career-best five steals, while Oertner pitched in 12 points … Sophomore Destinee Morris set a career-high with 11 points, while dishing out three assists … For the Crusaders, sophomore Katie Doherty had team-highs of 11 points, seven rebounds, and three assists … Senior Lisa Mifsud chipped in eight points, while classmate Molly Hourigan added seven points and six boards … Hasenauer notched a career-best eight points.

* Bucknell/Loyola Maryland – The Bison set a program record for conference wins in a season after securing a 64-42 victory over the Greyhounds Wednesday at Reitz Arena … After each team netted a layup in the first minute of the game, Bucknell score 12 consecutive points for a 14-2 lead with just under five minutes left in the first quarter … The Bison controlled the game the rest of the way, capturing their largest lead of 24 points with 5:06 on the clock in the final frame … Bucknell finished the game shooting 48.9 percent, while Loyola Maryland finished with a 29 percent shooting mark … Sophomore Jacquie Klotz registered her 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds and collected three steals to lead the Bison … Junior Claire DeBoer also reached double-digit figures in scoring with 15 points and added eight rebounds … Freshman Kaitlyn Slagus also pitched in eight rebounds and eight points … For the Greyhounds, senior Jeneg Perry set a new program record for offensive rebounds, adding six to bring her career total to 252 … She passed Patty Stoffey’s (1992-95) record of 247 … Perry totaled eight rebounds on the evening as did classmate Colleen Marshall, who led the team with 13 points … Freshman Courtney Vannoy came off the bench and tallied a career-best six points.

* Boston University/Colgate – After exchanging points through the first five minutes of the contest, the Terriers scored nine consecutive points and led the rest of the way as they turned in their third win of the Patriot League season against the Raiders Wednesday night at Cotterell Court 71-58 … Boston University outscored Colgate 35-21 in the first half and continued a strong showing from the field, taking its largest lead of the game of 22 points with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter … The Raiders went on to outscore BU 23-15 in the fourth quarter, but their efforts fell short … Boston U. recorded its first 70-plus point game of the season and also had three players post career-highs … Sophomore Meghan Doogan led the team’s efforts with a career-best 23 points, netting 12 in the first quarter alone, which also marked the most netted by a Terrier in a game this season … Both grad student Troi Melton and junior Courtney Latham also posted career highs, as each grabbed 11 rebounds … The pair added 12 and 11 points respectively, notching their second double-doubles of their careers and season … Sophomore Corinne Williams also reached double figures with 11 points … Colgate also had four players in double figures and was led by senior Paige Kriftcher with 19 points … Sophomore Ariel Etheridge followed with a career-high 18 points … Junior Katie Curtis pitched in 11 points, while senior Josie Stockill add 10 points and a trio of blocks.

* Navy/Lehigh – The Mids overcame an early eight-point deficit and held off a late rally by the Mountain Hawks to record their fourth-straight League win with a 62-54 victory at Stabler Arena on Wednesday night … Lehigh held a 20-17 lead after the first quarter but only netted six in the second to trail Navy 36-26 going into the break … The Mids increased their lead to 14 but the Mountain Hawks chipped away at their lead to come within one halfway through the final period … However, a pair of free throws and a layup by freshman Christina Potts put Navy ahead 54-49 with 4:28 left in the game … A final 8-3 run by the visitors  secured the road win … Potts was 5-of-8 from the floor and led the team with a career-high 14 points and also added career-bests of six rebounds and five assists … Senior Peri Curtis also reached double figures with 12 points and snatched three steals, while classmate Justice Swett pitched in 10 points and five rebounds … Junior Lexi Martins led Lehigh with her 19th double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds and set a new single-season rebound record for the program … Her fifth rebound of the game gave her 345 on the season, besting her own school record of 344 she set last season … Senior Kerry Kinek and sophomore Quincy Mann also reached double-digits with 10 points each.