Jan. 12, 2009
Center Valley, Pa.--After a challenging non-League slate, pre-season favorite Holy Cross found itself back on the winning track at the start of Patriot League play. The Crusaders have now won four straight games after topping Lafayette on the opening day of Patriot League competition. Other winners included Army, Bucknell and Lehigh.
Patriot League Women's Basketball Release 1.12.09 
Baden Player of the Week (Jan. 5-Jan. 11)
Bethany O'Dell, Holy Cross Jr., G, Lincoln, R.I.
O'Dell averaged 15 points, six rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.5 assists in two games last week. She scored a game-high 15 points in the Crusaders' 60-45 win at Lafayette, helping Holy Cross become the first to beat the Leopards on their home floor this season. Of her 15 points against the Leopards, 12 came in the second half. She also scored 15 points and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds in the Crusaders' 73-54 win against Bryant on Wednesday. O'Dell finished the week with four three-pointers, giving her 180 for her career. O'Dell now holds the school record for career three-pointers and ranks eighth all-time in the Patriot League. It is the first time this season and the second time in her career that O'Dell has been named Patriot League Player of the Week.
Baden Rookie of the Week (Jan. 5-Jan. 11)
Tricia Oakes, Colgate Fr., C, Evergreen, Colo.
Oakes averaged eight points and 11 rebounds in two contests last week. She recorded her second career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the Raiders' Patriot League opener against Army. Her 11 points against the Black Knights were a team high. She added five points and 11 rebounds in the Raiders' final non-League game of the season at Bryant. It is the fourth time that Oakes has been awarded Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors.
Patriot League Notebook
There's Something In a Record
Though non-League play has no bearing on the Patriot League standings, the first weekend of Patriot League play bore some resemblence to the non-League standings. Three of the weekend's four games were won by the team with the superior non-League record. Holy Cross, which upended Lafayette in Easton, Pa., was the only team to break the trend.
Battle of the Leagues
Schools in the Patriot League and the Ivy League are widely regarded among the top academic institutions in the country. In addition to sharing academic goals, the two leagues also shared a basketball court 17 times this season. Patriot League schools battled the Ivy League more than any other conference this season. In the 11 meetings this season, Patriot League schools held a 12-5 advantage. In the final week of non-League play, Patriot League schools scored two wins against Ivy League opponents. American topped Brown on Tuesday, while Bucknell defeated Cornell on Wednesday.
Patriot League Progress
Six Patriot League schools were ahead of last year's pace at the start of League play. Of the League's eight teams, only two do not have more wins at the end at the start of the 2008-2009 Patriot League season than at the same point last season. Of those six teams, five have had improvements of three games or better. American, which claimed the top record in Patriot Leauge regular season play a year ago, has had the greatest improvement in its record of all eight Patriot League teams. The Eagles enter the Patriot League portion of their schedule with four more non-Leauge wins than they had last season.
Growing Our Community
The Patriot League launched its "Growing Our Community" women's basketball campaign in 2009 as a result of being one of the few selected conferences in the nation to receive grant funding from the NCAA. The grant is designed to support the growth of women's basketball in the Patriot League community. The goal is to increase the home attendance for the entire 2009 Patriot League women's basketball campaign through a variety of promotions and engaging local organizations to attend and learn more about the Patriot league women's basketball programs, as well as expose individuals to the academic institutions. The target audiences for the program include youth organizations, senior groups, community and civic organizations and students and alumni of each of the eight Patriot League institutions. For more details on the promotions at each game during the 2009 Patriot League campaign, visit www.patriotleague.com/wbbcommunity/.
Lifting The League
The Patriot League received a significant RPI boost in non-League play. The League is ranked 25th among NCAA Division I conferences after Patriot League teams finished with a winning record against opposing conferences for just the second time in League history. Patriot League teams closed the non-League portion of their schedules with a 60-57 mark, the best regular season non-League mark in Patriot League history. The 2008-09 non-League mark tops the League's 1997-98 showing, in which Patriot League squads finished 50-49 in regular season non-League games. The 60 non-League regular season wins also established a new high, breaking the old mark of 52 regular season non-League victories set in 2006-07..
Consedine Receives WBCA Honorable Mention
Navy sophomore center garnered honorable mention for WBCA Player of the Month. Consedine was named Patriot League Player of the Week after averaging 24 points and 12 rebounds for the week. She became the 10th player in Patriot League history to record 100 career blocks, doing so in just 41 games. She currently has 105 career blocks. Consedine helped Navy record six wins in the first two months of competition, just one less win than the Mids recorded all of last season. In December, she led the Patriot League in scoring (18.2 ppg), free throw percentage (90.0%) and defensive rebounds (5.8 drpg). She also ranked second in rebounding (8.2 rpg), three-point field goal percentage (50%), three point field goals made per game (2.6) and blocked shots (9) in the month of December. Oklahoma senior center Courtney Paris was named WBCA Player of the Month.
Patriot League Tournament Tickets Now Available
Tickets are now available for the Patriot League women's basketball tournament. All eight Patriot League teams will compete in quarterfinal action at Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University starting March 7. The semifinals will be held Mar. 8 at Stabler Arena. The two remaining teams will compete for the title at the site of the highest remaining seed. Quarterfinal and semifinal tickets are $12 per day for adults and $6 per day for children and seniors. Two-day passes are $20 for adults and $10 for children and seniors. Group tickets are available through the Lehigh ticket office. Fans can purchase tickets for the first two rounds online by visiting the Lehigh athletics web page.
Patriot League All-Access Package Returns for 2008-09
The Patriot League and CBS College Sports announced that they are going to offer the majority of men's and women's basketball games as part of the Patriot League All-Access package, beginning with the opening day of League play on Jan. 10. Almost every regular-season and Patriot League Tournament game will be shown on high-speed broadband through the video streaming package. The cutting-edge technology takes viewers up close with multi-camera coverage. The monthly fee allows a subscriber to watch any Patriot League basketball games that are part of the package. The action tips off on Jan. 10 with the Patriot League season in full swing. Visit www.patriotleague.com or the school websites of Patriot League institutions for more information. PatriotLeague.com has launched an enhanced and upgraded All-Access Multimedia Player in partnership with CBS College Sports. This marks the third season for Patriot League All-Access, which includes more than 100 men and women's basketball games and a variety of Patriot League Championship events. The new All-Access is powered by Microsoft's Silverlight technology, providing increased web browser compatibility and a redesigned user-friendly, state-of-the-art interface. Those that do not have Silverlight on their computers, which was utilized by NBC during its Olympic internet coverage in Beijing, will be required to perform a quick one-time download of Silverlight before accessing the new video player. The enhanced All-Access gives fans the highest-quality streaming experience and the most online video coverage of the Patriot League. The new multimedia player also offers an improved search engine, which allows users to quickly locate videos they are interested in. Fans can search by sport, type of video and date to easily navigate to the newest content.
Patriot League Games
American (10-6, 0-1) at Bucknell (9-5, 1-0), Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
Series: Bucknell, 9-5 Streak: Bucknell, One Win Last Meeting: Bucknell, 60-52 (3.9.08)
American The Eagles will play their second consecutive road game to open the Patriot League season. American dropped a 77-69 decision at Lehigh on Saturday. American fell behind by as many as 22 points against the Mountain Hawks, but trimmed the deficit to eight points in the closing minute. Sophomore Michelle Kirk scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down a game-best eight rebounds. The Eagles will attempt to avoid their second consecutive 0-2 start in Patriot League play when the travel to Lewisburg, Pa. to take on Bucknell. The Eagles and Bison played three times last season, with the Bison winning twice.
Bucknell The Bison are 1-0 in Patriot League play after picking up a 66-50 home win over Navy on Saturday. Cosima Higham paced the Bison with a career-high 17 points. She also pulled down 13 rebounds, one short of a career high. Freshman Trisha Krewson added nine points, four rebouns and two steals. At home against American, Bucknell will look to match its 2-0 start in Patriot League play a year ago. The Bison won their first two games in Patriot League competition last season, defeating Navy and American on the road. Bucknell beat American twice last season, including a 60-52 win over the top-seeded Eagles in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. A win over American would give head coach Kathy Fedorjaka her 250th career win. She has 182 games with Bucknell.
Army (10-5, 1-0) at Holy Cross (6-10, 1-0), Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.
Series: Holy Cross, 23-12 Streak: Army, Seven Wins Last Meeting: Army, 56-54 (2.13.08)
Army After dropping four of its first five games, Army has rattled off victories in nine of its last 10 contests. The Black Knights' only loss in their last 10 games was to nationally ranked Rutgers at the Maggie Dixon Classic. Army's last road loss was Nov. 25 at St. John's. The Black Knights have now won five straight games after knocking off Colgate, 63-51. Army has also won five straight Patriot League openers. Army scored 19 of the first 24 points of the second half, stretching what had been a two-point halftime lead into a 44-28 advantage seven minutes into the final frame. Senior guard Alex McGuire paced the Black Knights with a game-high 21 points, while sophomore forward Erin Anthony added her fourth consecutive double-double (12 points, 16 rebounds). The Black Knights scored 20 points off Colgate turnovers. Army will be seeking its eighth straight win over Holy Cross when the teams meet on Wednesday in Worcester, Mass. No current member of of the squad has ever lost to Holy Cross.
Holy Cross The Crusaders have won four straight games after defeating Lafayette, 60-45, in Easton, Pa. Holy Cross became the first team to beat Lafayette on the Leopards' home floor this season. It was the second straight victory for the Crusaders in a Patriot League opener. Tied 4-4 in the first five minutes of the game, Holy Cross outscored the Leopards 22-8 in the final 15 minutes of the half. The Crusaders seized control over an 11-minute stretch in which Lafayette did not score a field goal. Three Crusaders scored in double-digits, led by Bethany O'Dell's 15 points. Holy Cross has won eight of its last 10 regular season Patriot League games. On Wednesday, the Crusaders will be seeking their first win over Army since beating the Black Knights, 74-61, in the regular season finale in West Point, N.Y., on Feb. 26, 2005.
Lafayette (6-10, 0-1) at Colgate (4-12, 0-1) , Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.
Series: Colgate, 21-15 Streak: Lafayette, Two Wins Last Meeting: Lafayette, 56-48 (2.13.08)
Lafayette The Leopards will be seeking their first road win of the season when they travel to Colgate on Wednesday. Lafayette will also be seeking to avoid its first 0-2 start in Patriot League play since 2006. Lafayette was dealt its first home loss of the season when Holy Cross handed the Leopards a 60-45 defeat at the Kirby Sports Center on Saturday. LaKeisha Wright scored 10 of the Leoaprds' first-half points against the Crusaders. She finished with 12 points. Also in double-figures was Emily Garner, who closed with her first double-double of the season. Garner fished with 11 points and a career-best 12 rebounds.
Colgate The Raiders opened Patriot League play with a 63-51 home loss to Army. Freshman Patricia Oakes notched her second career double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) to lead Colgate. Army scored 20 points off turnovers, compared to just eight by Colgate. On Wednesday, the Raiders will be aiming for their first regular season Patriot League win since a 66-53 triumph over American on Feb. 10, 2007. Prior to losing both meetings against Lafayette last season, the Raiders had beaten the Leopards 10 straight times.
Lehigh (12-4, 1-0) at Navy (7-9, 0-1), Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
Series: Tied, 17-17 Streak: Lehigh, Two Wins Last Meeting: Lehigh, 54-50 (2.13.08)
Lehigh Lehigh added to its school-record 11 non-League wins with a 77-69 home win over American, marking the second consecutive year that the Mountain Hawks opened Patriot League play with a win. The Mountain Hawks closed the first half on a 10-4 to build an 11-point halftime lead. Lehigh added to its advantage with a 14-3 run to open the second half, giving the Mountain Hawks a commanding 48-26 edge. The Eagles closed the game on an 18-5 run, but they were unable to overcome the Mountain Hawks' 22-point bulge. Erica Prosser led four Mountain Hawks in double-figures. The sophomore guard closed with 18 points. She also matched a career-high with eight assists.
Navy The Mids fell to Bucknell, 66-50, in Lewsiburg, Pa., in their Patriot League opener on Saturday. A 14-0 run midway through the first half gave the Bison a lead they never relinquished. Navy was paced by Kristin Bowen, who tallied 11 points in just 14 minutes. Prior to dropping both meetings against the Mountain Hawks last season, Navy had won five straight against Lehigh. With a win on Wednesday, the Mids would avoid their second 0-2 start in Patriot League play in the last five years.
