Dec. 18, 2012

Patriot League Women's Basketball Release - 12.18.12

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — With final exams in the rearview mirrors of many Patriot League student-athletes, the schedule resumes with a slightly busier flair this week before another extended break for the Christmas holiday.

Bucknell and Colgate returned from long layoffs over the weekend with two close losses. The Bison were edged at home 60-52 by Longwood Saturday despite a career performance by sophomore forward Audrey Dotson. She poured in 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds en route to being named the Anaconda Player of the Week Monday. Her point and rebound totals are the highest of any League player this season.

Colgate was downed in a heartbreaker for the second straight season by Niagara, as the Purple Eagles nipped the Raiders 66-63 in overtime Sunday. Colgate staged a late rally to send the game into overtime, but could only manage one point in the extra five minutes.

American puts its two-game win streak on the line Tuesday when it visits Maryland-Eastern Shore at 6 p.m. in the only contest of the night. A pair of games are on Wednesday’s slate, with Navy visiting Marquette at 1 p.m. and Bucknell on the road at Towson at 5 p.m.

Thursday has just one contest, as Lehigh returns to the floor after finals to host Sacred Heart.

Friday’s schedule is the busiest for the League in nearly two weeks with four scheduled contests. The day starts with Holy Cross visiting Bryant at 11 a.m., followed by Colgate’s afternoon tilt at Iona (2 p.m.) and a pair of 7 p.m. matchups with American at James Madison and Lafayette home for St. Francis (N.Y.).

Patriot League Women’s Basketball Quick Hits

• Army’s Aimee Oertner became the first player to capture three Rookie of the Week awards in the first six weeks of the season since Bucknell’s Lindsey Hollobaugh in 2003-04. Hollobaugh won a League-record eight awards that season.

• Oertner and Kelsey Minato have combined for five rookie citations in the first six weeks, matching Army’s same mark in the 1991-92 season. That year the Black Knights won nine of the 12 Rookie of the Week honors.

• Bucknell looks to snap its two-game skid Wednesday in a 5 p.m. start at Towson.

• Holy Cross ends a 13-day layoff when it visits Bryant Friday at 11 a.m.

• Despite not having played since Dec. 9, Lafayette junior Danielle Fiacco remains fifth in Division I averaging 3.9 blocks per game through Sunday. The Leopards are back on the floor Friday at 7 p.m. hosting St. Francis (N.Y.)

• Lehigh, winner of two straight at home, finishes 2012 with three more games at Stabler Arena, including Thursday’s 7 p.m. tip against Sacred Heart.

• Navy’s 11-day layoff ends Wednesday with a 1 p.m. tip at Marquette. The Mids will be off for another 11 days until Dec. 30, when they host Marshall.

Patriot League Notebook

ARMY DOMINATES ROOKIE AWARD SO FAR
Aimee Oertner picked up her third Anaconda Rookie of the Week honor Monday, bringing Army’s overall total to five citations in the first six weeks of the season. That kind of domination by one school on the award hasn’t been seen since the Patriot League’s second season of women’s basketball in 1991-92, when Army captured five of the first six awards en route to nine in that year’s 12 awards. Guard Kelsey Minato has been named the Anaconda Rookie of the Week twice this season as well.

CORKERY CHASING A RECORD
At 90-43 overall at American, head coach Matt Corkery ranks among the best in the League all-time in win percentage (.677). Corkery is also chasing the League record for fastest to 100 victories, a mark that is currently owned by Holy Cross’ Bill Gibbons. Gibbons reached 100 victories in 149 contests, with his 100th triumph coming in the 1995-96 season opener against Syracuse. Corkery would match Gibbons’ record with a 10-6 mark in American’s next 16 contests. Navy’s Joe Sanchez collected 100 wins in 162 games from 1994-2000. American is next in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Maryland-Eastern Shore.

SCHEDULE SPREAD
With final exams and the Christmas and New Year’s holidays coming up, the schedule has taken on its usual herky jerky form for the middle of December. Bucknell and Colgate resumed competition over the weekend after long layoffs for final exams, while Army played twice last week before embarking on a 17-day break that stretched all the way to Dec. 30. This week American, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy all return to the court after exams, but some will only play once before another break for Christmas.

STILL TOP FIVE
Despite not having played in a game since Dec. 9 against nationally ranked Ohio State, Lafayette junior Danielle Fiacco remains fifth in Division I averaging 3.9 blocks per game. A defensive force since her rookie campaign, the 6-foot-7 center from Brewster, N.Y., is already tied for third on the League’s all-time blocks list with 222 with Army’s Erin Anthony. Next up on the list is Holy Cross’ Kathy Courtney, who amassed 309 blocks from 1993-97. Should Fiacco maintain her average and remain healthy, she would approach 300 career blocks by season’s end.

EXPANDING THE 500 CLUB
The Patriot League currently has four active players with at least 500 rebounds. Holy Cross senior Amy Lepley and Navy junior Jade Geif entered the season with 511 and 503 boards, respectively. Geif has taken the lead among active players with 593, while Lepley remains at 511 as she has been sidelined with an injury. Bucknell senior Lindsay Horbatuck and Lafayette junior Danielle Fiacco have entered the 500 club since the start of the season. Horbatuck enters the week with 572 career rebounds, while Fiacco has 514.

LIGHTER THAN USUAL
Only two Patriot League teams are set for holiday tournaments during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Lafayette heads to the Bronx, N.Y., to participate in the Fordham Holiday Classic, while Lehigh hosts the Christmas City Classic in Bethlehem, Pa. The other six teams have games lined up for that week, but they are not part of tournaments.

NAVY CHOSEN TO MAKE IT THREE STRAIGHT
The head coaches and sports information directors named two-time defending Patriot League champion Navy as the favorite in 2012-13 in late October. The Mids, led by Preseason Player of the Year junior Jade Geif, are seeking to do something no League squad has done in over a decade - win three straight titles. The first and only program to do it is Holy Cross, which captured four straight championships from 1997-98 to 2000-01. Navy returns four starters from a year ago, all of whom are in their junior seasons. Navy topped the preseason poll with 89 points and eight first-place ballots.

PATRIOT LEAGUE ON CBS SPORTS NETWORK
Three games involving Patriot League teams will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network this season, including two in the regular season and the League’s championship tilt in March. Two-time defending champion Navy hosts Lafayette Jan. 13 in Annapolis, Md., in the first televised contest, while Holy Cross visits Lehigh Feb. 10 in Bethlehem, Pa., in the second. Coverage wraps up Saturday, March 16, when CBS Sports Network televises the Patriot League championship game from the site of the higher seed. Tip off is slated for 6 p.m. Bob Socci will handle the play-by-play and Amy Lawrence the analysis.

Team Notebooks

AMERICAN has been idle since defeating George Washington 57-54 on Dec. 8 ... The Eagles open a stretch of four straight away from home Tuesday with a 6 p.m. tilt at Maryland-Eastern Shore ... They also have a Friday night tip at James Madison.

ARMY scored 50 points in the second half to turn a four-point halftime lead into a 77-40 win over Merchant Marine Academy Thursday night at West Point ... Anna Simmers led all scorers with 15 points, while Kelsey Minato and Bridget Ryan added 11 apiece ... Army led 27-23 after 20 minutes, outscoring Merchant Marine 12-4 in the paint ... After Merchant Marine scored the opening basket nine seconds into the second half, the Black Knights used a 22-0 run over the next nearly five minutes to blow the game open ... Army had a 49-25 lead at the 14:56 mark, and put together an 11-0 run with 3-pointers from Ryan and Bridgette Ocran to open a 60-27 lead midway through the second ... Army shot nearly 45 percent for the game, including a 12 of 26 (46 percent) showing from beyond the arc ... The Black Knights finished with a 41-30 edge in rebounding while committing just seven turnovers ... Army is off until Dec. 30 when it hosts Bryant.

BUCKNELL In its first contest after a nearly two-week break, Bucknell received a career performance from Audrey Dotson but the Bison fell 60-52 to Longwood in Lewisburg, Pa., Saturday afternoon ... Dotson scored 27 points and hauled in 17 rebounds, the highest totals in both stat lines for a Patriot League player so far this season ... She shot 8 of 14 from the field and 11 of 12 from the foul line ... Bucknell led 28-26 at the half and nudged out to a four-point lead a little more than five minutes into the second ... Longwood replied with a 10-0 run to take a 40-34 lead with 13:20 to go ... Rachel Voss’ two foul shots brought Bucknell within 44-43 at the midway point, but Jaclyn Reagan’s 3-pointer put Longwood back up by four on its next possession ... Longwood led 57-52 with just over three minutes remaining ... The Bison had their opportunities, missing four field goals over the next 1:20. Longwood closed out the game with three free throws to ice it ... Shelby Romine scored eight points with 11 rebounds ... Bucknell visits Towson Wednesday at 5 p.m.

COLGATE rallied to force overtime, but its offense managed just one point in the extra period as the Raiders fell 66-63 at Niagara Sunday evening ... Kelly Reid and Catherine Lewis scored 11 points apiece to lead the Raiders, while Carole Harris pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds to go with seven points off the bench ... Niagara went up 62-58 with 2:27 remaining in regulation ... Lewis hit a 3-pointer with 1:45 on the clock to bring the Raiders within one, and Reid went 1 of 2 from the foul line with 26 seconds left to tie the game ... The Purple Eagles accounted for the only field goal in overtime, as Lauren Gatto’s jumper put Niagara up 64-62 with 2:47 to go ... Harris went to the line with a chance to even the game, but missed the second foul shot after hitting the first to bring the Raiders within one ... Colgate went 0 for 5 from the field in the extra five minutes, while Niagara was 1 of 8 ... The Raiders are at Iona Friday at 2 p.m.

HOLY CROSS The Crusaders have been idle since losing 61-49 at Quinnipiac Dec. 8 ... Their first game back is Friday with an 11 a.m. tipoff at Bryant ... Friday’s contest will end a 13-day layoff ... Holy Cross is three games into a stretch of eight consecutive tilts away from Worcester, Mass.

LAFAYETTE The Leopards’ last outing was Dec. 8 in an 81-41 loss at nationally ranked Ohio State ... The Leopards come back from final exams when they host St. Francis (N.Y.) Friday at 7 p.m. ... Lafayette will then gear up for the Fordham Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30 in Bronx, N.Y.

LEHIGH The Mountain Hawks’ nearly two week respite ends Thursday when they host Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. ... Lehigh is in the midst of five straight games at home ... The Mountain Hawks welcome Binghamton and Boston University in the Christmas City Classic Dec. 29-30.

NAVY has been off since losing 53-45 at Mount St. Mary’s Dec. 8 ... The Mids have four non-League matchups remaining before they begin defending their two consecutive League championships ... Their first outing is Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Marquette.