Jan. 22, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.--Now that the final unbeaten team has been handed its first loss, the attention shifts to the weekend. Rivalries will be renewed and positions in the standings will be on the line when all eight Patriot League teams resume action on Saturday. Tradition rivals Army and Navy will square off in West Point, while Lehigh and Lafayette will add another chapter to the longest running Patriot League rivalry in women's basketball. Teams will also be jockeying for position when Patriot League co-leaders American and Holy Cross meet in Washington, D.C. and Colgate hosts Bucknell.

Patriot League Women's Basketball Weekend Preview - 1.22.09

Patriot League Notebook

In Review No more unbeaten teams remain in the Patriot League after Wednesday's games. Navy toppled previously undefeated Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., creating a three-team tie at the top of the Patriot League standings. Holy Cross now shares the Patriot League lead with American and Lehigh, both of which claimed victories. The Eagles defeated Army in West Point, 53-42, while Lehigh came back to beat Colgate, 61-43. Also on Wednesday, Lafayette's blistering shooting helped the Leopards pick up a win against Bucknell. The Leopards made 7-of-8 first-half three-pointers to shoot down Bucknell, 75-58.

On Deck Army and Navy will resume their rivalry in a nationally televised contest. The Black Knights and the Mids will meet in West Point on Saturday. The 51st meeting between the programs will be televised by ESPNU. Another heated rivalry will resume on Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa. Lehigh and Lafayette will meet for the 66th time when the Mountain Hawks host the Leopards. Holy Cross and American will battle in Washington, D.C. Both teams enter the weekend tied for first place in the Patriot League standings with identical 3-1 records. Also on Saturday, a pair of Patriot League teams will look to snap losing streaks. Colgate will look to put an end to its five-game skid when its hosts Bucknell, which will look to halt its current three-game slide.

And Then There Were None Entering Wednesday's games, Holy Cross was the last of the unbeaten teams in Patriot League competition. After their game against Navy, the Crusaders joined the ranks of the rest of the League, suffering their first loss in League play. The Mids defeated Holy Cross, 59-50, to snap the Crusaders' six-game winning streak.

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.

Climbing the Coaching Mountain Several Patriot League coaches are within striking distance of significant milestones. Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka will reach the 250-win plateau with her next victory. Fedorjaka is 249-192 since beginning her career at Connecticut College in 1993. She is 182-154 since taking the reins at Bucknell in 1997. Sue Troyan is five wins from recording her 200th career victory. She is 195-198 in her 14th year of coaching, all of them with Lehigh. Lafayette head coach Tammy Smith needs just one win to reach the 50-win mark at Lafayette. She has 162 career wins, with 49 coming at Lafayette. Earlier this season, Army head coach Dave Magarity reached the same mark that Smith is currently chasing. Magarity won his 50th game with the Black Knights on Jan. 4 against Brown. Prior to assuming his responsibilities at Army, Magarity won 313 games while coaching men's basketball. First-year Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper is just six wins from notching her 250th career win. She collected 235 of her 244 wins while coaching Bowdoin for 10 seasons.

Record Watch `09 Three current players are chasing all-time Patriot League marks. Army senior Alex McGuire has scored 1,290 career points, the most of any active Patriot League player. She ranks 32nd on the Patriot League's all-time scoring charts, just one point behind Colgate's Megan Gibbons (1994-99) for 31st place and eight points behind American's Chanel Hunt (2001-05) for 30th place. Navy sophomore center Cassie Consedine is eighth in career blocks, 23 behind Lehigh's Jessica DePalo (2001-05). Holy Cross junior Bethany O'Dell ranks seventh in three-point field goals with 191, four behind Bucknell's Molly Creamer (1999-2003).

Now That's Progress Of the eight Patriot League teams, two have already secured more victories than they claimed all of last season. Colgate has picked up four wins, three more than the Raiders claimed last season. With nine wins, Navy has already tallied two more wins than 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 currently ranked 23rd among NCAA Division I conferences, thanks in large part to Patriot League teams finishing 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.

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 Patriot League All-Access 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. 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

Navy (9-10, 2-2) at Army (11-7, 2-2), Saturday, Noon

Christl Arena, West Point, N.Y.

Series: Army, 26-24 Streak: Army, Three Wins Last Meeting: Army, 70-66, OT (2.23.08)

Navy After dropping its first two Patriot League games, Navy has won two straight League contests. The Mids garnered their first win over Holy Cross since Jan. 23, 2004 with a 59-50 triumph over the Crusaders in Worcester, Mass. It was just the second time that the Mids had beaten Holy Cross in the Hart Center. After shooting just 17.1 percent in the first half, Navy overcame an 11-point halftime deficit by shooting over 60 percent in the second half. Trailing 31-21 with 15:39 remaining, the Mids proceeded to score on nine of its next 11 possessions to put together a 24-4 run that gave Navy a 45-35 lead with 8:10 left to play. Navy junior Whitney Davidson led all scorers with 13 points. The Mids' leading scorer, Cassie Consedine, was held scoreless, but the sophomore center contributed a game-high eight rebounds. Consedine was one of three Navy players, including KC Gordon and Angela Myers, to notch eight boards. Navy has now won two more games than it won all of last season. With one more win, the Mids would match their Patriot League win total from a season ago.

Army The Black Knights suffered their first home Patriot League defeat of the season on Wednesday, falling to American, 53-42. After Army senior Alex McGuire hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 34-34 with 10:29, the Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points to seize control of the game. McGuire closed the game with a team-high 15 points. Megan Evans and Erin Anthony each grabbed a game-best eight rebounds in the loss for the Black Knights. McGuire now has 1,290 career points, more than any other active Patriot League player. With one point against Navy, she will move into 31st place on the Patriot League's all-time scoring charts. She is just eight points away from moving into 30th place. Army has won eight of its last nine meetings with Navy. The Black Knights' last loss in the series came at home on Jan. 21, 2007 when the Mids claimed a 49-44 victory. Army is 12-11 against the Mids in West Point, but just 6-9 at home against Navy in the 14 years that Army has played at Christl Arena.

Bucknell (9-8, 1-3) at Colgate (4-15, 0-4), Saturday, 2 p.m.

Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.

Series: Bucknell, 31-18 Streak: Bucknell, Two Wins Last Meeting: Bucknell, 88-57 (2.23.08)

Bucknell The Bison were handed their third straight defeat in the form of a 75-58 loss at Lafayette on Wednesday. Bucknell, which entered the night leading the Patriot League in three-point field goal percentage defense, surrendered seven first-half three-pointers to the Leopards. After trailing by 19 points at halftime, the Bison pulled within 11 points with eight minutes remaining, but an 11-0 Lafayette run secured Bucknell's fate.Amanda Brown recorded a game-high 21 points for Bucknell, marking the third straight game the senior has notched at least 20 points. Sophomore Joyce Novacek added 16 points for the Bison. Bucknell has won six of its last seven meetings against Colgate, including the last three in Hamilton.

Colgate The Raiders dropped their fifth consecutive game on Wednesday, falling at Lehigh 61-43. Colgate built leads as large as 13 points in the first half, but a stretch of 10:56 without a field goal stymied the Raiders upset bid. Five-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Patricia Oakes led the Raiders with 12 points, while Candice Green threw in 11 for Colgate in the loss. On Saturday, Colgate will pursue its first regular season Patriot League victory since defeating American on Feb. 10, 2007. Colgate's last win against a Patriot League foe was against Bucknell in the 2007 Patriot League Tournament. The eight-seeded Raiders surprised Bucknell in the first round of the tournament, knocking off the top-seeded Bison, 69-62, in Annapolis, Md.

Holy Cross (8-11, 3-1) at American (13-6, 3-1), Saturday, 2 p.m.

Bender Arena, Washington, D.C.

Series: Holy Cross, 13-4 Streak: American, Two Wins Last Meeting: American, 76-71, OT (2.23.08)

Holy Cross The Crusaders were handed their first Patriot League loss on Wednesday, as Navy dealt Holy Cross a 59-50 home defeat. The loss snapped a six-game Holy Cross winning streak, which was the longest of the season for any Patriot League team. The loss also snapped a string of 11 straight victories against Navy. The Crusaders held a 31-21 lead with 15:39 remaining, but Navy scored on nine of its next 11 possessions to swipe momentum from Holy Cross. The Crusaders were paced by Whitney Fremeau and Briana McFadden, who scored 12 points each. Holy Cross, which is shooting the lowest field goal percentage of any Patriot League team, has made up for its shooting woes with more success at the free throw line than any of the other League squads. The Crusaders have connected on 241 of their 334 free throw attempts for a 72-percent success rate.

American The Eagles now own the longest current winning streak in the Patriot League after winning their third straight contest on Wednesday. American clipped Army, 53-42, in West Point. Leading the way was sophomore Michelle Kirk, who hit 10-of-16 baskets from the field for 20 points. With the game tied at 34-34 with 10:29 left in regulation, the Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points to seize control of the game. American senior Talicia Jackson finished with 15 points, including two threes, leaving her two long-range shots short of breaking the program record for career three-point baskets. Jackson also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Liz Leer added 14 points and two blocks for the Eagles. American has beaten Holy Cross just four times in 17 meetings with Holy Cross. All of those victories have occurred in Bender Arena. Three of them have come in the last two years, including two wins last season.

Lafayette (8-11, 2-2) at Lehigh (14-5, 3-1), Saturday, 7 p.m.

Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.

Series: Lafayette, 36-30 Streak: Lehigh, One Win Last Meeting: Lehigh, 62-51 (3.8.08)

Lafayette The Leopards entered Wednesday's game having made only eight three-pointers in Patriot League play. Lafayette equaled that total in its 75-58 win over Bucknell. The Leopards made eight three-pointers against the Bison, including seven in the first half. The Leopards' eight three pointers were just one shy of a single-game school record. Lafayette posted a season-best 41 points in the first half while building a 19-point halftime lead. The Leopards' second-half stayed no smaller than 11 points. Sophomore LaKeisha Wright, who led three Leopards in double-figures, paced the team in scoring for the fourth-straight game with 14 points. Three different Lafayette players notched career highs. The Leopards hold a 36-30 advantage in the all-time series against Lehigh. It is the longest-running series between Patriot League women's basketball teams. Lafayette won both regular season games against Lehigh last season, including a 59-43 win in Bethlehem.

Lehigh Despite trailing by six at halftime, Lehigh remained undefeated at home with a 61-43 win over Colgate on Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks surged past the Raiders by holding Colgate scoreless over a period of 10:56. Lehigh has now won nine consecutive home games. Sophomore guard Erica Prosser, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Week, established a career high with 25 points. It was Prosser's third straight game scoring at least 20 points. Lehigh senior Tricia Smith led all players with nine rebounds, to go along with her four points, two assists and two steals. Despite being swept in the regular season by Lafayette a year ago, Lehigh ended the Leopards' season by defeating them in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.