Jan. 30, 2016

CENTER VALLY, Pa. - One half of the Patriot League schedule is complete as all ten teams played their ninth League game on Saturday. Army West Point was able to hold on to earn a 68-63 win over Bucknell and move into first place in the standings. Lehigh and American defeated Boston University and Colgate, respectively, while Loyola Maryland and Navy made come-from-behind rallies to also capture wins.

Saturday Scores
Army West Point 68, Bucknell 63
Lehigh 72, Boston University 48
American 64, Colgate 56
Loyola Maryland 55, Lafayette 51
Navy 50, Holy Cross 49

Women's Basketball Quick Notes

* Army West Point/Bucknell - In the battle of the top two teams in the standings, it was the Black Knights who finished on top with a thrilling 68-63 victory over the Bison at Christl Arena on Saturday afternoon ... Army West Point now sits tied atop of the standings with Bucknell and remains perfect at Christl Arena, marking the 18th consecutive home win in the regular season since Jan. 14, 2015 ... The Black Knights put together a strong opening, and extended their lead to 15 points with 4:16 left in the first half, 34-19 ... However, the Bison came alive with 11 unanswered points over the final 3:46 to come within four at the break, 34-30 ... Bucknell came out of the break, firing on all cylinders, and opened the third with eight-straight points to cap off a 19-0 run at 6:54, 38-34 ... A Kaitlyn Slagus jumper in the paint had tied the game up just under two minutes into the half, while a pair of free throws from senior Tyler Craig with 7:30 on the clock gave the visitors their first lead of the day ... Senior Kelsey Minato ended the scoring drought for Army, before Craig converted a layup to put the Bison up by four again ... Senior Jean Parker hit a trey to keep the home team within reach of the visitors, but the teams traded points until the Black Knights regained the lead with a back from downtown by classmate Brianna Johnson with 2:33 on the clock ... It was short lived though, as Sune Swart netted a layup on a fast break in the paint ... A foul by Craig on Minato with just four second left in the third, put the League's leading scorer at the line ... She missed her first but hit her second to tie the score once again ... Minato added four points right off the bat and sophomore Janae McNeal added another to give Army a 53-47 lead ... The home team wouldn't give up the lead the rest of the way and a pair of free throws from Minato capped off the victory ... Minato scored 12 of her 26 points during the fourth quarter alone to lead the Black Knights' to victory ... Parker also reached double digits with 12 points ... Both seniors, along with senior Aimee Oertner, each had three assists, while Oertner also added four blocks ... Bucknell was led by sophomore Jacquie Klotz and was one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds ... Despite some early foul trouble, Slagus also reach double figures with 10 points and hauled in seven rebounds.

* Lehigh/Boston University - A strong second half propelled the Mountain Hawks to a 72-48 over the Terriers Saturday afternoon on Play4Kay day at Stabler Arena ... After a slow start for both teams, Boston University cracked the score board first with a basket at 7:15, but Lehigh was right behind a and scored seven-straight points for a five point lead, just under halfway into the first quarter ... Down by seven, 19-12, with 7:39, the Terriers used almost three minutes to score 11 unanswered points for a 23-19 lead ... However, the Mountain Hawks regained the lead, 30-27, when they closed out the first half with an 11-4 run ... Lehigh outscored BU 42-21 in the second half and grabbed its largest lead of 24 points with 33 second remaining in the game after a jumper by sophomore Taylor Campbell ... The Mountain Hawks drained a total of 12 three-points, the most treys since Dec. 4 2010 when the team hit 13 from downtown against Binghamton ... Sophomore Quinci Mann led the home team's effort with 24 points and a 9-of-14 showing from the field, paired with a 4-of-6 mark from three-point range ... Junior Lexi Martins collected her 16th double-double of the season with 18 points and 15 rebounds and also dished out a team-best six assists ... Senior Troi Melton and junior Sarah Hope led BU with nine points each.

* American/Colgate - The Eagles captured their third win of the League season after a 64-56 victory over the Raiders, which featured four ties and seven lead changes all of which happened in the second half, on Saturday at Bender Arena ... American led by as many as 10 points in the third period, but Colgate went on to score 10 unanswered points and tie the game at 30-30 with 3:09 to play in the third period ... Trailing by one to begin the final stanza, 38-37, Colgate went on an 8-4 run to go ahead 45-42 for its largest lead of the day, but a Lauren Crisler jump shot kept the visitors ahead by one and a second jump shot by senior Ari Booth changed the lead for a final time ... The Raiders came within one with 1:33 remaining on a pair of free throws by junior Katie Crutis, but the Eagles held on the rest of the way for the victory ... AU capitalized on 20 forced turnovers with 24 points ... Booth scored a career-high 21 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, while Crisler followed with 14 points behind a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the field ... Crisler also hauled in nine rebounds ... Freshman Cecily Carl also saw double figures with 10 points ... For Colgate, senior Josie Stockill led four players in double digits with a team-high 19 points ... Curtis pitched in 12 points, sophomore Ariel Etheridge posted 11, and senior Paige Kriftcher added 10.

* Loyola Maryland/Lafayette - The Greyhounds slowly chipped away over the course of the game at the Leopards early 12-point and knocked down a trey with 1:46 left in the game to earn a 55-51 road win at the Kirby Sports Center on Saturday ... Lafayette jumped out to a 24-12 lead after the first quarter, and despite Loyola Maryland outscoring the home team 14-8 in the second period, the Leopards held a 32-26 lead into the half ... With 1:03 in the third, junior Lisa Mirarchi hit a three to come within one, 43-42, but Lafayette freshman Angela Ribarich converted a layup on the next possession ... A steal by senior Colleen Marshall with 16 seconds remaining gave the Greyhounds the ball one last time before the end of the third and with one second on the clock, senior Diana Logan hit a three to knot the game at 45-45 ... The Leopards built a four-point lead after almost six minutes expired off the clock ... Though with 1:46 to play, graduate student Steph Smith knocked down a three-pointer at the top of the arc for a 50-49 lead that the team would ride out the rest of the way ... For a second straight-game, Loyola held it opponent to less than 10 points in the fourth quarter ... The victory also marked the first time the team has won nine games before the month of February since the 2010-11 season ... Marshall led the way with 15 points and five steals, while Smith followed with 11 points, three steals, and one block ... Ribarich led the way for Lafayette with 17 points and seven rebounds.

* Navy/Holy Cross - The Mids put together one of its largest rallies in school history to come away with a 50-49 victory over the visiting Crusaders Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall ... Navy trailed Holy Cross by nine points at halftime, 12 points midway through the third quarter, and by seven points with less than four minutes remaining in the game ... The Mids also posted 24 points in the 10-minute fourth quarter, after scoring 26 through the first three ... Navy was just 1-for-12 from three-point ranging through the first three quarters, but junior Sarita Condie connected a pair of treys early in the fourth quarter to spark the team's late push ... With one minute remaining in the game and the score at 47-46 in favor of the visiting team, Condie found a wide-open Makeba Ndifang who netted a layup to give the home team a 48-47 lead with 49 seconds left ... A missed layup by Holy Cross and a foul put Condie on the line ... She missed her first but hit her second to give the Mids a two-point cushion with 21 seconds ... A steal by junior Ashanti Kennedy and another foul by the Crusaders put freshman Molly Sanders at the line, who made the second of her two shots with 15 seconds for a 50-47 lead ... Holy Cross senior Lisa Mifsud attempted the game-tying three, with four seconds remaining, that hit the front of the rim and bounced back toward the free throw line ... Teammate Tricia Bryne grabbed the ball and made a shot, but her basketball went through the next as the final horn sounded ... Kennedy led Navy with 17 team points, while Condie chipped in 15 ... Junior Justice Swett hauled in a team-high 11 rebounds ... Senior Molly Hourigan collected her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Bryne posted a career-high 14 points.