Women's Basketball Release 2.2.16 

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Half of the Patriot League schedule is in the books, while the second half begins on Wednesday. Four contests will be featured midweek, while Navy will play at Boston University on Thursday. The ten teams will then continue League action on Saturday, and all ten contests this week (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday) will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network.

Patriot League Twitter Notebook - @PL_WBB
* League action continues this week for the ten teams, beginning with four games on Wednesday and one on Thursday. All five contests can be seen on the Patriot League Network.
* Army's 68-63 win over Bucknell snapped the Bison's eight-game win streak, tying the two teams at the top of the standings.
* Both Loyola and Navy rallied to win Saturday.
* Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper is one League win away from 75 Patriot League wins.
* Seniors Ari Booth and Kelsey Minato both led their team's to victory Saturday, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter alone.
* The Black Knights improved its regular season, winning streak at Christl Arena to 18 straight.
* Army head coach Dave Magarity is just one win away from 500 career wins.
* Lehigh's Lexi Martins and Lafayette's Angela Ribarich earned Lids Team Sports Patriot League Player and Rookie of the Week for a second time this season, after both earned the same awards on Nov. 30.

Patriot League Notebook

Halfway Through the Slate
It was a Saturday for the books, as the ten Patriot League teams completed the first half of the League slate. Army West Point sought revenge against Bucknell as the two duked it out at Christl Arena, while both Loyola Maryland and Navy trailed its opponents until the final minutes of its respective games. The Black Knights held a 15-point lead over the Bison but saw the visitors end the first half with 11 unanswered points and continue where they left off in the second half and complete a 19-0 run for the lead. With the help of senior Kelsey Minato, who netted 12 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, Army edged out Bucknell to tie the League opponent at the top of the standings with an 8-1 record. Lehigh's win over Boston University (1-8) and the Greyhounds' late rally over Lafayette (2-7) gave both teams a sixth win in League play. However, the two 6-3 teams will go head-to-head on Wednesday. Navy's (4-5) comeback win over Holy Cross (5-4) keeps the Mids steadily in the middle of the pack with American (3-6) right behind.

Midweek Action Begins with Four Games on Wednesday, One Thursday
This week's Patriot League action will begin with four games being played on Wednesday and one on Thursday, with all five contests being broadcast on the Patriot League Network. Four of the teams that played on the road Saturday -- Bucknell, Holy Cross, Loyola Maryland, Boston University -- will stay at home for the weekday contests. The Bison will look to get back to their winning ways when they welcome American to Sojka Pavilion. The Crusaders will also look to bounce back, after a heartbreaking loss to Navy, when they host Colgate at the Hart Center. Army West Point will look to improve its record at home to 19 consecutive wins when Lafayette travels to Christl Arena, while Lehigh will head down to Baltimore to visit the Greyhounds for a battle of the 6-3 teams. All four contests begin at 7 p.m. On Thursday, Navy will head north to play Boston University in the lone contest of the day with a tipoff time of 7 p.m.

Army's Kelsey Minato on Pace to Set Patriot League Scoring Record
Army West Point's senior stud Kelsey Minato already passed the Academy's record and became the first women's basketball player at West Point to reach 2,000 career points. Now with half of the Patriot League slate completed and nine more games to go before the tournament, Minato is well on her way to break the Patriot League scoring record before tournament play even begins. As it stands now, the senior guard has 2,259 career points and is 204 points away from tying the League record of 2,462 points held by Bucknell's Molly Creamer (1999-03). Currently, Minato is averaging 23.5 points per game and is on pace to break Creamer's mark by 8.5 points. Mathematically, she would accumulate 211.5 points over the course of the next nine games, bringing her career total to 2,470.5 points. And again, that's projected to happen before the Patriot League tournament.

Follow the Action on the 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.

Patriot League Championship, Army-Navy on CBS Sports Network
Both matchups between Army West Point and Navy this season are scheduled to air on CBS Sports Network, with the first of the two being played at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, January 23 at 11:30 a.m. as part of a double-header feature with the men's teams. A second double-header featuring the Army West Point and Navy squads is on tap for Saturday, February 20, this time from Annapolis with the women tipping off at 11 a.m. CBS Sports Network will also televise the 2016 Patriot League Women's Basketball Championships, for the seventh year in a row, on Saturday, March 12 at 6 p.m.
CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports, is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, and to access the CBS Sports Network channel finder, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

American Sports Network to Carry Pair of Regular Season Games
American Sports Network will broadcast two women's basketball contests, beginning with action between Holy Cross and Lehigh in Bethlehem , Pa. on Sunday, January 17 at 3 p.m. The ASN schedule concludes with the regular season as Bucknell visits Lafayette on Wednesday, March 2 at 6 p.m.
American Sports Network is a sports programming initiative of Sinclair Networks Group, a division of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 37.5% of US television households and includes FOX, ABC, MyTV, CW, CBS, NBC, Univision and Azteca affiliates.

2016 Patriot League Tournament
The 2016 Patriot League Tournament, featuring all 10 teams playing at campus sites, begins with the first round on Saturday, March 5 (#10 seed plays at the #7 seed and the #9 seed visits the #8 seed) followed by the quarterfinals two days later (#1 overall seed hosting the 9/8 winner and the #5 seed playing at the #4 seed on one half of the bracket and the #2 seed at home against the 10/7 winner with the #6 seed at the #3 seed on the other side). The four remaining squads then move to on the semifinals and championship, which will be hosted by the highest-seeded semifinal team on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12. The first round and quarterfinal games will be shown on Patriot League Network as will the semifinals, while the championship game will be aired on CBS Sports Network. All Patriot League Tournament games will be played at the site of the higher seed.
More information can be found on the women's basketball championship page, here.

Team Notebook

AMERICAN (5-15, 3-6) 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 ... AU capitalized on 20 forced turnovers for 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.

ARMY WEST POINT (17-2, 8-1) It was a tough battle between the top two teams in the standings but the Black Knights revenged their earlier loss to the Bison this season at Christl Arena on Saturday afternoon, 68-63 ... With the win, Army West Point sits tied atop of the standings with Bucknell and remains perfect at Christl Arena with 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 ... They then opened the second half with eight more points to cap off a 19-0 run and take a 38-34 lead ... Senior Kelsey Minato ended the scoring drought for Army, before Bucknell converted a layup to regain a four-point lead ... Senior Jean Parker hit a trey and a short while later classmate Brianna Johnson hit one of her own from downtown for the lead ... The two teams headed into the fourth tied but Minato added four points right away and sophomore Janae McNeal added another two 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 sealed 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.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY (1-19, 1-8) The Terriers kept on pace with the Mountain Hawks in the first half, which featured five ties and five lead changes, but a strong second half propelled the home team to a 72-48 win Saturday afternoon at Stabler Arena ... Boston University cracked the scoreboard first with a basket from freshman Payton Hauck at 7:15, but Lehigh responded with seven-straight points ... Down by seven in the second period, the Terriers used almost three minutes to score 11 unanswered points for a 23-19 lead with just under five minutes left ... However, the Mountain Hawks regained the lead with an 11-4 run for a 30-27 advantage into the break ... Lehigh then outscored BU 42-21 in the second half and cruised to victory ... Senior Troi Melton and junior Sarah Hope led BU with nine points each.

BUCKNELL (14-6, 8-1) The Bison gave the Black Knights everything they had but ultimately fell in the tough battle at Christl Arena on Saturday afternoon, 68-63 ... Bucknell and Army West Point are now tied atop of the standings, each with an 8-1 League record ... The Black Knights held a 15-point lead with 4:16 left in the first half, but the Bison came alive with 11 unanswered points over the final 3:46 to come within four at the break, 34-30 ... Bucknell returned to the court and opened the third with eight-straight points to cap off a 19-0 run at 6:54 for its largest lead of the day, 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 ... A pair of treys from the home team tied the game but the two continued to trade points until Minato opened the fourth with four points right away helping her team to a lead they would not give up the rest of the way ... 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.

COLGATE (4-15, 2-7) The Raiders dropped a decision to the Eagles, which featured four ties and seven lead changes all of which happened in the second half, on Saturday at Bender Arena, 64-56 ... 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 ... Trailing by one to begin the final stanza, 38-37, the Raiders went on an 8-4 run to take its largest lead of the day, 45-42 ... However, a pair of jumpers by AU changed the lead for a final time ... The Raiders came within one with 1:33 left in regulation after a pair of free throws by junior Katie Crutis, but the Eagles held on the rest of the way for the victory ... 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.

HOLY CROSS (8-12, 5-4) The Crusaders were on the opposite end of one of the Mids' largest rallies in school history which resulted in a 50-49 victory Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall ... Holy Cross led Navy 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 Crusaders also held the Mids to just 1-of-12 from three-point range through the first three quarters, but an early pair by the home team in the final period sparked the late push ... Holy Cross held a 47-46 lead with one minute remaining in the game, but a layup by Navy with 49 seconds left gave them their first lead of the day ... The Mids pulled ahead with their largest lead, 50-47, with 15 seconds to go ... 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 the ball went through the net as the final horn sounded ... 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.

LAFAYETTE (4-15, 2-7) The Leopards jumped out to a 12-point lead but were unable to finish and fell to the Greyhounds 55-51 at the Kirby Sports Center on Saturday ... The Leopards ended the first period up 24-12 and, despite being outscored by Loyola Maryland in the second period 14-8, the home team held a 32-26 lead into the break ... The Greyhounds continued the chip away at the score and with 1:03 on the clock in the third came within one, 43-42 ... Tied at 45-45 to start the fourth, Lafayette built a four-point lead after almost six minutes expired off the clock ... However, the visitors knocked down a three-pointer for a 50-49 lead that the they rode out the rest of the way ... Ribarich led the way for Lafayette with career-highs of 17 points and seven rebounds.

LEHIGH (13-7, 6-3) The Mountain Hawks used a strong second half to propel themselves to a 72-48 win over the Terriers Saturday afternoon on Play4Kay day at Stabler Arena ... Boston University opened the scoring, but Lehigh really got things rolling with seven-straight points just under halfway through the first quarter ... Down by seven in the second quarter, the Terriers used almost three minutes to score 11 unanswered points for a 23-19 lead ... However, the Mountain Hawks regained the lead when they closed out the first half with an 11-4 run, 30-27 ... Lehigh outscored BU 42-21 in the second half and grabbed its largest lead of 24 points with 33 seconds 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.

LOYOLA MARYLAND (9-11, 6-3) The Greyhounds slowly chipped away at the Leopards early 12-point lead over the course of the game and knocked down a trey with 1:46 left in regulation 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 ... Junior Lisa Mirarchi hit a three with 1:03 left in the third to come within one ... A steal by senior Colleen Marshall with 16 seconds remaining gave the Greyhounds the ball one last which ended with senior Diana Logan hitting a three to knot the game at 45-45 with one second on the clock ... The Leopards built a four-point lead after almost six minutes expired off the clock, but 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.

NAVY (10-10, 4-5) 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 fourth quarter, after scoring 26 across the first three ... Navy was just 1-for-12 from three-point range through the first three quarters, but junior Sarita Condie connected a pair of treys early in the final stanza 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 for the team's first lead of the day, 48-47 (49 seconds) ... A missed layup and a foul by Holy Cross put Condie on the line, where she made one of her two (21 seconds) ... A steal by junior Ashanti Kennedy and another foul by the Crusaders put freshman Molly Sanders at the line, who also made just her second (15 seconds) ... Holy Cross attempted the game-tying three (4 seconds) but it bounced back and went in for two at the buzzer ... Kennedy led Navy with 17 team points, while Condie chipped in 15 ... Junior Justice Swett hauled in a team-high 11 rebounds.