Lehigh and Army West Point Start Women's Basketball Season 2-0

PATRIOTLEAGUEDOTORG Kerry Kinek, Lehigh
PATRIOTLEAGUEDOTORG
Kerry Kinek, Lehigh
PATRIOTLEAGUEDOTORG
Nov. 15, 2015

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The first weekend of the women’s basketball season wrapped up on Sunday, and both Army West Point and Lehigh captured two wins while Loyola Maryland topped Lipscomb to start the 2015-16 campaign 1-0. Bucknell and Navy both recorded a win and a loss to sit at .500.

Lehigh (2-0) trailed at the half against Monmouth and the Mountain Hawks came back to defeat the Hawks, 95-88 in overtime to open their two-game home stand to open the season. Three players tallied 21 points: Lexi Martins, Kerry Kinek, and Quinci Mann. Martins also contributed 20 rebounds and Kinek had 14. Lehigh posted its second win of the weekend at Stabler Arena with an 81-51 win over Kutztown. Kinek once again contributed 21 points, while Martins added 20 and 14 rebounds. Amina Affini also had double-digit points with 15.

Army West Point (2-0) opened its season in Christl Arena with a 63-53 win over Pepperdine on Friday. Kelsey Minto recorded 28 points while Aimee Oertner also reached double-digits with 10 points. In their second home contest of the weekend, the Black Knights captured a second win, defeating Quinnipiac 67-47. Minato once again led the scoring efforts with 26 points, while Brianna Johnson produced 15. For a second straight game, Oertner had 10 total points.

Loyola Maryland (1-0) topped Lipscomb, 57-52, on the road on Friday to open the 2015-16 slate. Bri Bertz-White led the Greyhounds offensive efforts with 23 points and Colleen Marshall contributed 12.

Bucknell (1-1) edged out Cleveland State 59-57 to open the season on the road with a win. Claire DeBoer posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebound. Jacquie Klotz led the Bison scoring with 18 points and Megan McGurk also reached double-digits with 14 points. On Sunday, the Bison played Notre Dame in Purcell Pavilion, falling to the Fighting Irish, 85-54. Both DeBoer and Klotz posted 14 points each.

Navy (1-1) came up two points shy of forcing Hofstra into overtime to open the season, falling to the Flying Dutchmen 65-63 on Friday in Hempstead, N.Y. Sarita Condie and Taylor Dunham both produced 17 points and Ashanti Kennedy posted 12, in addition to 10 rebounds. On Sunday, the Mids captured their first win of the season with a 50-39 victory over Saint Peter’s. Kennedy led Navy’s scoring efforts with 14 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw lline.

American (0-1) struggled on the road and fell to Princeton, 72-34, on Friday night. Lauren Crisler and Emily Kinneston contributed eight points each while Crisler also posted five rebounds.

Boston University (0-1) dropped its home opener at Case Gym on Friday to Northeastern, 77-44. Troi Melton led the Terriers with 12 points and Courtney Latham was right behind with 10. Latham also produced five of BU’s nine steals and caused six turnovers.

Colgate (0-1) was edged out by Kent State on Sunday, 76-71, in the MAC Center, despite a 29 point fourth quarter effort. Paige Kriftcher led the team with 25 points and Josie Stockill contributed 20 points and nine rebounds, while Randyll Butler posted 13 total rebounds in the loss.

Lafayette (0-1) fell in its season opener at Delaware, 67-47. Head Coach Theresa Grentz made her debut at the helm of the Leopard program and saw three players reach double-digit points. Jamie O’Hare led the way with 14, and Anna Ptasinski and Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby were right behind with 11 and 10, respectively.

Holy Cross (0-2) traveled to Happy Valley to open its season with Penn State on Friday. The Crusaders forced the Nittany Lions to overtime but came up short, 86-82. Raquel Scott posted 36 points and had 11 total rebounds. After a slow start, Holy Cross picked up the pace halfway through its game with UMass but a late push by Minutewomen handed the Crusaders a 74-60 loss. Three players reached double-digits in points: Scott (13), Infiniti Thomas-Waheed (12), and Katie Doherty (10).

Eleven games are on tap for this week, beginning with Loyola Maryland at Villanova on Monday, before ten more games over the weekend take place. Five of the games from Monday to Thursday can be seen on the Patriot League Network.