Dec. 5, 2014

Patriot League Women's Basketball Weekend Preview - 12.5.14 

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Patriot League teams won six of 10 games in the middle of the week with Lafayette and Lehigh posting two impressive wins over a pair of schools that participated in the 2014 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. Every Patriot League team with the exception of Holy Cross and Lehigh is in action this weekend with Lafayette and Navy each playing twice on the road.

Patriot League Twitter Notebook - @PL_WBB

*Patriot League teams are 17-8 at home this season with Army, Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh a combined 9-0.
*Lehigh (7-0) knocked off Saint Joseph's Thursday night. The Hawks have gone to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
*Army (5-1) is ranked eighth nationally in scoring defense at 50.8 points per game.
*Bucknell (4-2) handed out 20 assists on 23 field goals in a 79-50 win over Morgan State on Wednesday.
*Boston University (3-4) lost for the first time at Case Gym this season in a 67-55 setback Wednesday to New Hampshire.
*American (3-3) which has yet to play a true road game this season will play 7 straight away from Bender Arena thru 1/7/15.
*Holy Cross (1-7) plays two of its next three at home after seven straight away from the Hart Center between 11/18-12/3.
*Lafayette (4-2) improved to 19-17 all-time against Penn with a 60-57 home win over the Quakers on Tuesday.
*Navy (5-3) will make the first trip to Oregon in program history when they take on Oregon and Portland State this weekend.
*Colgate (0-6) will play at Cotterell Court for only the second time this season when they host Albany on Saturday.
*Loyola (0-6) will play its second of seven straight home games on Saturday. The Hounds don't hit the road again in 2014.

Patriot League Notebook

Lafayette, Lehigh Take Down `Big Five' Opponents
Patriot League teams won six of 10 games in the middle of the week with Lafayette and Lehigh posting two impressive wins over a pair of schools that participated in the 2014 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. On Wednesday, Lafayette took down Penn 60-57 behind 29 points from senior forward Emily Homan and a day later the Mountain Hawks knocked off Saint Joseph's 73-31 on a layup from freshman guard Quinci Mann in the final seconds. That was part of a 2-0 week for Lehigh, who will head into a 16-day exam break with a 7-0 record. Navy won its fourth in a row by beating Towson 55-51 and American notched its third straight with a 77-51 victory over UMBC. Bucknell used a big second half to pull away for a 79-50 win over Morgan State.

Patriot League Teams `Road-Tripping' This Weekend
Every Patriot League team with the exception of Holy Cross and Lehigh is in action this weekend with Lafayette and Navy each playing twice on the road. The Leopards take on St. Francis Brooklyn Friday night and Seton Hall on Sunday while the Mids make the first trip to Oregon in program history to face Portland State Friday and Oregon two days later. Colgate and Loyola Maryland play the only two home contests when they welcome Albany and Mount St. Mary's, respectively on Saturday. The balance of the weekend schedule features American at UMass, Army at Fairleigh Dickinson and Boston University on Saturday in addition to Bucknell at Delaware on Sunday.

Follow the Action on Patriot League Network
Once again, the Patriot League will partner with Campus Insiders on the Patriot League Network, a streaming platform that will enable fans to watch League regular season and postseason events for free. With the exception of the contests on CBS Sports Network, all home games both in non-League and Patriot League play will feature free live streaming on PLN. The Mount St. Mary's at Loyola Maryland (3:30 p.m.) and Albany at Colgate (4 p.m.) contests on Saturday are the only two available on PLN this weekend.

Win Over Penn Moves Lafayette up RPI Rankings
On the heels of a 60-57 win over Penn, Lafayette moved up to No. 42 in the latest NCAA Women's Basketball RPI rankings (12/5/14). Unbeaten Lehigh is the highest ranked Patriot League at No. 36. Other Patriot League teams appearing in the top 150 are Bucknell (60), American (86) and Army (135).

Colgate's Harris, Holy Cross' Scott Named `Good Works Team' Nominees
Allstate Insurance Company and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association have announced the candidates for the 2015 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team, which includes Colgate senior Carole Harris and Holy Cross junior Raquel Scott among 56 Division I Women's Basketball nominees. This prestigious community service award recognizes a distinguished group of student-athletes who choose to dedicate their limited free time to improving the lives of those around them. The final roster of award recipients will be unveiled in February and members of the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team will be recognized during the 2015 WBCA Convention and at the 2015 NCAA Women's Final Four in Tampa Bay.

Patriot League Coaches Reaching Milestones
After Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan reached the 300-win milestone in the Mountain Hawks season-opening win at Monmouth on Nov. 15, Dave Magarity earned his 150th at Army when the Black Knights defeated UC-Santa Barbara on Nov. 28. Bucknell coach Aaron Roussell is closing in on 200 wins in his 11-year coaching career at University of Chicago and Bucknell. Roussell has 196 victories after the Bison win over Morgan State.

Defending Champion Army Picked to Repeat in Patriot League
Army wasn't picked to win the 2014 Patriot League Tournament title, but when the dust settled it was the Black Knights who were advancing to the NCAA Tournament. If Coach Dave Magarity's squad is going to make a return engagement, they will have to do so as the frontrunner because Army was tabbed as the favorite in the preseason poll of League coaches and SIDs who are not eligible to rank their own team. The Black Knights totaled 159 points to come in front of second-place American, which totaled 132 points and one first-place vote. Bucknell and Holy Cross were tied for the third spot at 123 points, with the Bison receiving two first place votes. They are followed by Lehigh (88), Navy (85), Lafayette (70), Colgate (47), Boston University (39) and Loyola Maryland (34). The Mids, who finished as the regular season champion last season, received the remaining first place vote.

Patriot League Championship, Army-Bucknell on CBS Sports Network
The Patriot League Men's Womens Basketball Championship will be televised on CBS Sports Network again this season on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. Also, the Feb. 15 regular season contest pitting defending Patriot League Champion Army against Bucknell will also be carried live by CBS Sports Network at 2 p.m. The Patriot League enters into its 12th straight year in partnership with CBS Sports Network. CBS Sports Network (CBSSN) is the 24-hour cable home of CBS Sports. It is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers on Verizon FiOS Channel 94 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 643 (1643 in HD) and via satellite on DIRECTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information on how to get CBS Sports Network, visit CBSSportsNetwork.com.

American Sports Network to Carry Pair of Regular Season Games
The American Sports Network (ASN) will televise a pair Patriot League regular season women's basketball games in January. The Lafayette at Lehigh meeting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25 and the Navy at American matchup at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27 will be carried on Sinclair Broadcast Group's affiliates in select regions of the country. ASN launched in July and has entered into comprehensive sports rights agreements with a number of NCAA Division I conferences, including the Patriot League.

2015 Patriot League Tournament
The 2015 Patriot League Tournament, featuring all 10 schools, begins with the first round on Wednesday, March 4 followed by the quarterfinals two days later. The semifinals will be played on Monday, March 9, with the Patriot League Championship held on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. The first round, quarterfinal and semifinal games will be shown on Patriot League Network, with the championship on CBS Sports Network. All Patriot League Tournament games will be played at the site of the higher seed.

Team Notebooks

AMERICAN The Eagles have yet to play a true road game this season opening with four games and a pair of neutral site contests in Las Vegas. That will all change on Saturday when American begins a stretch of seven road contests at the University of Massachusetts. It will be a stretch of 35 days without a game at Bender Arena when the Eagles finally return home for a Patriot League game against Loyola on Jan. 7 ... Junior forward Michelle Holmes scored 20 points, reaching that plateau for the first time in her career. She hit 7 of 9 from the floor, 6 of 7 from the foul line while adding six rebounds and three steals in only 17 minutes in a win over UMBC ... Sophomore Lauren Crisler scored 11 of her career-high 16 in the second half against UMBC, going 8-for-8 at the line while also posting eight rebounds ... Senior guard Jen Dumiak also went 8-for-8 from the line as American was an amazing 29-for-31 (.935) at the line against the Retrievers. Dumiak is 14th nationally from the line at 94.4%.

ARMY The Black Knights have been idle since winning a pair of games in Southern California last weekend, defeating UC Santa Barbara, 61-39, on Nov. 28 and topping Pepperdine, 56-44, on Nov. 30 ... Army ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense at 50.8 points per game. The last four opponents have failed to reach the 50-point mark during Army's five-game win streak ... Junior guard Kelsey Minato, the two-time Patriot League Player of the Year, has gone for 24, 25,26 and 23 points in the last four games and raised her scoring average to 22.3 on the season, good for 16th in the nation ... Army faces Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday afternoon and then returns home against St. Francis Brooklyn on Monday in what will be the team's second stretch of two games in three days this season.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY The Terriers are in a pattern of loss, win, loss, win over the last seven games and look to continue that with a win at Yale on Saturday. To do so, Boston University will have to win their first true road game of the season. BU did pickup a neutral site victory over Stephen F. Austin in the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament. ... Sophomore forward Meghan Green is in the top five in the Patriot League in scoring (14.7 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg) and free throw percentage (87.5%) ... Senior forward Mollie McKendrick has shot over 60-percent from the field and has averaged 19 points per game over the last two contests ... The Terriers have only lost once this season when eclipsing the 60-point plateau and that was a one-point setback in the season-opener at Northeastern.

BUCKNELL The Bison opened up the second half of a 79-50 win over Morgan State with a 22-2 run to break open a close game. Junior Claire Maree O'Bryan made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points during the stretch and finished with a career-high 20 points. Sophomore forward Claire DeBoer posted her second straight double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds ... Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell called the first 10 minutes of the second half "about the best 10 minutes of basketball we have played" and paying special note to the Bison ball movement. The Bison finished with 20 assists on 23 field goals after averaging just 10.4 per contest through the first five games of the season ... The Bison rank second in the Patriot League with a +7.8 rebounding margin and are first in free throw percentage at 77.3% which is also good for 10th nationally.

COLGATE The Raiders played their best half of basketball in the first 20 minutes against St. Bonaventure and were tied 30-all at intermission. Junior guard Randyll Butler scored a career-high 19 points and missed a double-double by one rebound ... Colgate will play only its second game of the season on Cotterell Court when they aquare off against Albany on Saturday following a four-game road trip. The Raiders lead tghe all-time series 8-3, including a 4-1 advantage at Hamilton, but the Great Danes won the 2013 meeting 64-50 ... The Raiders are third in the Patriot League with 6.5 steals per game led by senior guard Mariah Jones who leads the League with 2.2 per contest.

HOLY CROSS The Crusaders are idle this weekend and will next host Boston College on Wednesday, Dec. 10. The game will serve as collection point for the Toys for Tots program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserves. Fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy appropriate for children aged 1-16. Three Marines will be honored for their service and dedication to the country at halftime and there will be a "Teddy Bear Toss" with all teddy bears donated to Toys for Tots. ... Junior forward Raquel Scott scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a loss at Bryant. Scott was one point and two rebounds shy of career highs in those categories. It was the 22nd double-double of her career, which ties her with Jean Marie Buckley for fourth in school history.

LAFAYETTE The Leopards play the first of three road contests surrounding the exam break when they play at St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday night. Lafayette is 7-3 all-time against St. Francis Brooklyn and 25-24 all-time against current members of the NEC. The Terriers won last year's meeting 74-52 ... Senior forward Emily Homan scored a season-high 29 points on 13-for-24 shooting from the field in the Leopards 60-57 win over Penn on Tuesday. Homan moved into second place in the Patriot League in scoring at 18.5 points per game and has scored in double figures in seven straight games dating back to last season ... Sophomore forward Ashley Lutz collected her first career double-double with a career-best 11 points and 11 boards and has started all six games this season after appearing in only 14 contests as a freshman.

LEHIGH The Mountain Hawks started a 16-day exam break on a high note with a 73-71 win at Saint Joseph's on Thursday. Lehigh built a 13-point lead in the second half but need a layup from freshman guard Quinci Mann with 4.4 seconds remaining to secure the win. The team is now 7-0 on the season and will next play at Arizona State on Dec. 20 as part of the ASU Classic ... A big factor for the Mountain Hawks this season has been dominance on the glass, outrebounding opponents by an average of 11.6 per contest which is 20th in the nation. Leading the way for Lehigh is sophomore forward Lexi Martins who leads the Patriot League with 10.6 rebounds per game, followed closely by junior forward Kerry Kinek at 9.1 per game. Kinek exploded for 22 points and 19 rebounds in a win over Hampton on Tuesday.

LOYOLA MARYLAND The Greyhounds seemed poised to pull off a comeback for the ages Thursday when they used a 23-6 second-half run to whittle a 19-point deficit to two points against visiting Towson. The Tigers made 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to deny Loyola Maryland its first victory ... Sophomore guard Lisa Mirarchi had a season-high 17 points in the loss to Towson and also contributed five rebounds, three assists and three steals ... After starting the season with five road games, Loyola will spend the remainder of the calendar year at Reitz Arena as they are in the midst of a seven-game homestand. The Greyhounds will not play on the road again until Jan. 3 when they travel to Army for a Patriot League contest.

NAVY The Mids ended a six-game homestand Tuesday with a 55-51 come-from-behind win over Towson at Alumni Hall. After trailing play 11 with less than 10 minutes remaining, Navy finished the game on a 25-10 run for its fourth straight victory. Navy's reserves fueled the comeback as the bench players accounted for 32 of the team's 39 second half points ... Navy will play the first games in program history in the state of Oregon when they face Portland State on Friday and Oregon on Sunday. The team will then have a 15-day exam break before hosting St. Peter's on Dec. 21. Friday's game will be No. 200 for Stefanie Pemper as the head coach of the Mids ... Navy ranks 33rd nationally in three-point field goal defense, allowing their opponents to convert only 24.6% of their shots.