Nov. 24, 2014

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Lehigh University is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign and are one of five Patriot League teams with a .500 or better record to start the season. The Mountain Hawks will have a chance at St. Peter's on Tuesday to become the first in program history to reach 4-0 since the 1984-85 squad opener won 10 straight under current Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw.

Patriot League Twitter Notebook - @PL_WBB
*Eight of the 10 Patriot League teams are in action heading into Thanksgiving with only American and BU off until Friday.
*Lehigh (3-0) will put its unbeaten mark on the line Tuesday at St. Peter's in the home opener for the Peacocks.
*Army (2-1) has won two in a row after dropping their season opener. The Black Knights host Air Force on Tuesday.
*Bucknell (2-1) picked up its second one-point win of the season by beating FDU 61-60 in overtime on Saturday.
*Boston University (2-2) is off until playing the host Lobos in the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday.
*American (0-3) is also idle until Friday when the Eagles open with 24th-ranked Gonzaga in the South Point Shootout.
*Holy Cross (0-4) continues play in the Hall of Fame Challenge in South Bend, Ind. against Quinnipiac and Harvard.
*Lafayette (2-1) heads into the Thanksgiving holiday with a road contest at Rider on Tuesday.
*Navy (1-3) is the only other Patriot League team playing at home this week when they welcome George Mason on Tuesday.
*Colgate's tough non-conference schedule continues when the Raiders (0-3) take the court at Georgia on Wednesday.
*Loyola (0-3) travels to No. 9 Maryland on Monday. It will be the Greyhounds fourth straight road game to open the season.

Lids Team Sports Patriot League Women's Basketball Weekly Awards (Nov. 17-23)

LIDS TEAM SPORTS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MEGHAN GREEN, BOSTON UNIVERSITY So., F, 6-0; Bedford, N.H.
Green averaged a double-double to help the Terriers pull out a pair of victories with wins over Harvard and Vermont. The sophomore forward netted a career-high 19 points in the win over the Crimson as Boston University rallied from a 17-point deficit for a 63-62 win. Green then topped her career high with 22 points and 15 rebounds in a loss at Boston College before wrapping up the week with 14 points and nine rebounds in the win over Vermont.

LIDS TEAM SPORTS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
SARAH REILLY, NAVY Fr., F, 5-10; Cincinnati, Ohio
Reilly scored a team-high 16 points while grabbed 12 rebounds in Navy's win in the home opener against Mary Washington. The freshman made 5-of-7 field goal attempts, including her lone three-point shot, and sang 5-of-6 free throws against the Eagles. Eight of Green's 12 rebounds came on the offensive class, which is the sixth most offensive caroms in program history.

HONORABLE MENTION

AIMEE OERTNER, ARMY Jr., F/c, 6-2; Slatington, Pa.
Oertner shot 14-for-16 (87.5%) in the Black Knights 2-0 week. Scored a career-high 19 points while going 7-of-7 from the field and contributing a season-high four blocks in Army's win over Manhattan.

EMILY HOMAN, LAFAYETTE Sr., F, 6-3; Upper Darby, Pa.
Homan averaged 23.5 points per game while shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 73.3 percent from the line in Leopards 1-1 week.

LEXI MARTINS, LEHIGH So., F, 6-0; Irvington, N.Y.
Martins averaged 18 points and 13 rebounds in Lehigh's 2-0 week. The sophomore forward set career highs with 19 points and 14 rebounds Friday at NJIT.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Teams Taking on Ranked Opponents this Week
Thanksgiving week will be no holiday on the court for three Patriot League teams who will face nationally ranked opposition. Loyola Maryland will get the ball rolling on Monday night when they travel to College Park, Md. to face perennial powerhouse Maryland. The Terps are off to a 4-0 start to the season and were ranked No. 9 in the Nov. 17 Associate Press poll. On Wednesday, Colgate will head to Athens, Ga. to face the Georgia Bulldogs who were T-24th in the AP rankings with Gonzaga who will be the first round opponent of American in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. After the Eagles play the Zags, their second round opponent will be Oregon who was receiving votes in the poll. In addition to Georgia, Colgate will play 22nd-ranked Rutgers on Friday.

Patriot League Coaches Reaching Milestones
Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan reached the 300-win milestone when the Mountain Hawks defeated Monmouth in their season-opening game on Nov. 15. Troyan achieved the mark in the first game of her 20th season as head coach at Lehigh. Bucknell coach Aaron Roussell is closing in on 200 wins in his 11-year coaching career at University of Chicago and Bucknell. Roussell has 194 victories heading in to the Bison game at Youngstown State on Tuesday.

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.

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.

Army's Minato Named Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year
Army junior guard Kelsey Minato, the tw-time Patriot League Player of the Year, was selected as the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year. She was joined on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team by American senior guard Jen Dumiak, Bucknell senior forward Audrey Dotson, Holy Cross junior forward Raquel Scott and Lafayette senior forward Emily Homan. In addition to the preseason All-Patriot League members, American senior forward Arron Zimmerman, Loyola Maryland senior guard Nai Brown and Lehigh junior forward Kerry Kinek return after earning All-Patriot League honors last season.

Returning Statistical Leaders
Preseason Player of the Year Kelsey Minato is back after leading the Patriot League in several statistical categories in 2013-14. As a sophomore, Minato led the League in scoring (22.0 ppg), free throw percentage (92.4%) and three-point field goal percentage (44.3%). Two other players who led the PL a year ago also return in American's Michelle Holmes who led in field goal percentage (64.3%) and Holy Cross forward Raquel Scott who led the League in rebounding (9.8 rpg).

Top Opponents Highlight Non-League Schedules
The first two months of the 2014-15 season will feature a non-League schedule that includes a minimum of 14 games against last year's NCAA Tournament teams and at least 42 against squads which played in one of the three Division I postseason events.

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.

Patriot Leaguers Come From All Over Country, World
The 2014-15 rosters for the Patriot League women's basketball teams feature players from 33 different states and the District of Columbia in addition to five players from foreign countries. That list features Australia (2), England, Ireland and New Zealand.

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 played in front of what is believed to be a program-record home crowd of 1,628 in Sunday's loss to Princeton. Among those in the crowd was First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha as well as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Michelle Obama is a 1985 graduate of Princeton and her niece Leslie Robinson is a freshman for the Tigers ... Senior guard Jen Dumiak scored all of her team-high 13 points in the second half against Princeton. Dumiak now ranks seventh in AU history in career assists with 280 ... The Eagles have already faced two opponents who advanced to the postseason last year in George Washington (WNIT) and James Madison (NCAA); AU will face another pair of 2014 postseason participants this week, when they face Gonzaga (NCAA) and Oregon (WNIT) in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.

ARMY After opening the season with a loss at Quinnipiac, the Black Knights went 2-0 last week with wins over Stony Brook and Manhattan. Junior forward Aimee Oertner shot an amazing 14-for-16 (88%) combined in the two victories and set a career high with 19 points against Manhattan on 7-for-7 shooting from the floor ... Junior guard Kelsey Minato extended her double-digit scoring streak to 52 games with a season-high 24 points in win over Manhattan. Minato was 9-for-12 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from behind the arc, as Army shot 56.4 percent for the game and 72 percent (18-of-25) in the second half ... Senior Maggie Crisman and freshman Jahla Osborne each scored a career-best four points ... Freshman Daizjah Morris netted two points during her collegiate debut, while classmates Lena' Hicks and Destinee Morris also saw their first career action.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY The Terriers have yet to leave Boston this season and are a perfect 2-0 at Case Gym and 0-2 on the road at nearby Boston College and Northeastern. The next two games for Boston University are 2300 miles away as they take part in the University of New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday and Saturday. The Terriers open against the host Lobos and then will face either Stephen F. Austin or UC-Riverside ... A comeback for the ages gave head coach Katy Steding her first win at the Division I level on Monday as BU rallied from a 17-point first half deficit to defeat Harvard 63-62 behind a career-high 19 points from sophomore forward Meghan Green ... The Terriers wrapped up a 2-1 week with a 66-61 win over Vermont on Saturday as Green led a balanced attack with 14 points followed by Clodagh Scannell (13), Sarah Hope (12) and Courtney Latham (11).

BUCKNELL Forwards Chelsea DeBoer and Audrey Dotson each recorded double-doubles as the Bison overcame a poor shooting night to grab their second one-point victory of the season with a 61-60 win at Fairleigh Dickinson. DeBoer, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Dotson, a preseason All-Patriot League selection, added 12 points and 11 boards ... Senior guard Tyler Craig led Bucknell with 14 points -- including 8-for-10 from the free throw line as the Bison shot 22-for-27 from the charity stripe ... Bucknell will play its fourth road game to open the season when it travels to play Youngstown State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Bison will play its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 29, when it hosts Cornell.

COLGATE The Raiders rallied from a 17-point deficit at Drexel with a 15-2 run that cut the Dragons lead to four but could draw no closer in a 59-51 setback ... Senior Carole Harris has been a consistent presence for Colgate this season scoring 19, 14 and 17 in the three losses. Harris leads the team in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg). ... Mariah Jones scored a season-high 11 points in the loss to Drexel and Josie Stockill had 12 points and seven rebounds ... Earlier in the week, junior guard Paige Kriftcher poured in a career-high 14 points in a 74-66 loss Wednesday to Cornell ... Colgate departs on a two-game Thanksgiving road swing, beginning Wednesday at Georgia and wrapping up Friday afternoon at Rutgers (2 p.m.). The Bulldogs are ranked No. 24 in the latest Associated Press poll and Rutgers comes in at No. 22.

HOLY CROSS The Crusaders began a challenging start to the 2014-15 without one of the League's top players in junior Raquel Scott who missed the first three games of the regular season due to a minor injury suffered at the end of preseason. Scott, a preseason All-Patriot League selection, returned to play 26 minutes in Holy Cross' loss at third-ranked Notre Dame on Sunday ... After opening the season at home, the Crusaders won't return to the Hart Center until December 10 against Boston College. The stretch includes four games that are part of the Hall of Fame Women's Challenge, beginning with Notre Dame and ending on Nov. 30 against Georgetown at the Mohegan Sun Arena ... Junior guard Lisa Mifsud is averaging 11.5 points and five assists per game for Holy Cross.

LAFAYETTE The Leopards never trailed in knocking off previously unbeaten Hartford 74-59 at Kirby Sports Center on Sunday. Senior forward Emily Homan scored 25 points, the second highest single-game output by a Patriot League player this season, and guards Linnel Macklin and Jamie O'Hare added 18 apiece in the wire-to-wire victory ... Homan is averaging 21.0 points per game to lead the Patriot League and also is among the leaders in rebounds (6.7 rpg), field goal percentage (52.4%) and blocked shots (1.3 bpg) ... Senior guard Maggie Peabody has dished out ten assists and turned the ball over only three times for a sterling 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio and O'Hare has connected on 9-of-20 three-point field goal attempts (45%) ... Lafayette faces Rider on Tuesday and then heads to Kentucky to take on Louisville after Thanksgiving. The Cardinals are 4-0 and ranked 12th in the latest Associated Press poll.

LEHIGH The Mountain Hawks are 3-0 for the first time since the 1995-96 season. A win Tuesday would allow Lehigh to reach 4-0 for the first time since the 1984-85 won their first ten contests under current Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw ... Sophomore forward has hit new career highs in points and rebounds in each outing this season. In the opener at Monouth, the Irington, N.Y. native went for 15 points and 10 rebounds and then followed that up with 16 and 11 in a win over East Stroudsburg. Martins topped both of those marks with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the Mountain Hawks win at NJIT on Friday ... Junior forward Kerry Kinek passed the 900-point and 500-rebound plateau in the same night as she moved her career totals to 904 points and 503 rebounds ... The Mountain Hawks stay relatively close to home over the next few weeks before heading to Tempe, Ariz. to participate in the Arizona State Classic the weekend before Christmas.

LOYOLA MARYLAND Colleen Marshall, a transfer from East Carolina, had the highest single-game point total in the Patriot League thus far with a 28-point effort in the Greyhounds season-opener at William & Mary. The junior guard followed that up with 18 points against UMBC and is fourth in the League averaging 16.7 points per game and is also third in steals at 2.0 per game ... Freshman guard Bri Betz-White is seeing significant action for Loyola Maryland, averaging more than 32 minutes per contest. The Mechanicsburg, Pa. native is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game with a career-high of 14 in the season-opener against William & Mary ... Monday's matchup at No. 9 Marlyand will be the first of four non-conference games this season which the Greyhounds will play against teams that qualified for postseason play last year. Loyola will not play a game at Reitz Arena until December 4 against Towson.

NAVY The Mids improved to 23-15 all-time in home openers with a win at Alumni Hall against Mary Washington on Thursday. Freshman forward Sarah Reilly scored 11 points during a 21-4 run at the start of the second half of a 79-59 victory. Reilly is leading Navy in scoring and rebounding through four games, averaging 10.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest ... Five members of the Navy team made their collegiate debuts during the team's opening road trip to North Carolina. Additionally, five players made the first start of their respective careers while on the trip ... Sophomore guard Danielle Poblarp scored four points during the 2013-14 season, but tallied five points in Navy's season opener at North Carolina A&T before scoring 11 points two days later at Elon ... The Mids will host UNC Greensboro, Northern Kentucky and Grand Canyon this weekend and have one more home game against Towson before heading to the Pacific Northwest to take on Portland State and Oregon in early December.