Feb. 2, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.--For the eighth time this season, a Colgate student-athlete has been named Patriot League Baden Rookie of the Week. Candice Green earned the honor for the second time this season. Her teammate, Tricia Oakes, has won the award six times. American sophomore Michelle Kirk, who was named Rookie of the Week once last season, earned Patriot League Baden Player of the Week accolades for the first time in her career. Kirk averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 50 percent in two contests last week.

Patriot League Women's Basketball Release 2.2.09

Baden Player of the Week (Jan. 26-Feb. 1)

Michell Kirk, American So., G/F, Painted Post, N.Y. Kirk was named Patriot League Player of the Week for the first time in her career after averaging a double-double in two games last week. She scored a career-high 27 points at Navy on Wednesday. She shot 12-of-22 from the floor against the Mids, including 2-of-4 from three-point range. She also pulled down 11 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. In addition, the sophomore recorded two steals and one block against Navy. Kirk led American to a victory on Saturday, scoring 15 points against at Lafayette with a 9-of-10 performance from the free-throw line. Kirk narrowly missed recording a third-consecutive double-double with nine rebounds. For the week, Kirk averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds per game. She shot 50.0 percent (15-30) from the floor, 76.9 percent (10-13) from the free throw line, 40 percent from behind the three-point arc, and tallied 1.5 steals per contest.

Baden Rookie of the Week (Jan. 26-Feb. 1)

Candice Green, Colgate Fr., G, East Brunswick, N.J. Green picked up her second Patriot League Rookie of the Week award, marking the eighth time a Colgate player has claimed the honor this season. Green averaged eight points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal per game in two contests last week. Against Holy Cross, Green dished out six assists while also scoring eight points and pulling down three rebounds. On Saturday, Green scored a team-high eight points at Navy. She added five rebounds, two assists and two steals against the Mids.

Patriot League Notebook

In Review The first half of the Patriot League season came to a close on Saturday with Lehigh holding onto the top spot in the standings. The Mountain Hawks held off a rally by Holy Cross to pick up its first win at the Hart Center since 2004 and maintain a one-game lead over American and Navy, both of which claimed victories on Saturday. The Eagles withstood a late Lafayette run, while Navy fought off a feisty Colgate squad. Also picking up a win was Bucknell, which outlasted Army to put both teams in a tie for fifth place.

On Deck All eight Patriot League teams will take a break from League action on Wednesday before resuming League play on Saturday. Prior to recommencing League competition, Army will get in one final non-League game. The Black Knights will battle Fairleigh Dickinson in Hackensack, N.J. on Wednesday. It will be the second meeting between the two schools this season. Army defeated the Knights, 56-46, in West Point on Jan. 7. When Patriot League play resumes on Saturday, first place will be on the line when Lehigh travels to American. Lehigh will enter the game with a one-game lead over the Eagles. The Mountain Hawks topped American, 77-69, in Bethlehem earlier this season. Saturday's game will be televised on ESPNU. Also on Saturday, Navy will look to extend its winning streak to six games when it hosts Bucknell. The Bison will be seeking their ninth straight win in the series after defeating the Mids earlier this season in Lewisburg. After falling this weekend, Holy Cross and Lafayette will each look to regain their winning form in Worcester. Holy Cross opened League play by handing Lafayette its first home loss of the season. Rounding out Saturday's slate of games, Army and Colgate will meet for the second time this season. The Black Knights picked up a 63-51 win in Hamilton on the opening weekend of Patriot League play.

Climbing the Coaching Mountain Several Patriot League coaches have been chasing significant milestones this season. Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka recorded her 250th career victory on Jan. 24 at Colgate. Fedorjaka is 251-193 since beginning her career at Connecticut College in 1993. She is 184-155 since taking the reins at Bucknell in 1997. First-year Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper is just three wins from collecting her 250th career win. She has guided Navy to a 12-10 record in her first season in Annapolis, a year after the Mids finished 7-23. Prior to her move to Navy, Pemper was 235-48 in 10 seasons at Bowdoin. Sue Troyan is two wins from recording her 200th career victory. She is 198-197 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.

Record Watch `09 Three current players are chasing all-time Patriot League marks. Army senior Alex McGuire has scored 1,340 career points, the most of any active Patriot League player.With 20 points at Bucknell on Saturday, she passed three players to move into 27th place on the Patriot League's all-time charts. She is now two points behind Lehigh's Sara Ellis (2003-07) for 26th place. She is 37 points behind Lafayette's Chris Sieling (1990-94) for 25th place. McGuire currently ranks fifth on Army's career scoring list. Navy sophomore center Cassie Consedine is eighth in career blocks. She has 119 career blocks, 17 behind Lehigh's Jessica DePalo (2001-05). She is six away from establishing a new school record. Holy Cross junior Bethany O'Dell ranks sixth in three-point field goals with 195. She knocked down one three-pointer against Lehigh on Saturday to tie Bucknell's Molly Creamer (1999-2003). She is seven behind Army's Jen Hansen (2003-07) for fifth place.

Now That's Progress Of the eight Patriot League teams, two have already secured more victories than they claimed all of last season. With 12 wins, Navy has already tallied five more wins than last season. Only five teams in the nation have had a larger increase in victories than Navy this season. The Mids have also surpassed their Patriot League win total from last season with five League victories, two more than a year ago. Colgate has picked up four wins, three more than the Raiders claimed last season. Lehigh is one win from matching its win total from last season, while American needs three more victories to do so.

Lifting The League The Patriot League received a significant RPI boost in non-League play. The League is currently ranked in the top 20 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.

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/.

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 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

Colgate (4-18, 0-7) at Army (12-9, 3-4), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Christl Arena, West Point, N.Y.

Series: Army 22-15 Streak: Army, Six Wins Last Meeting: American, 63-51 (1.10.09)

Colgate In a game that featured nine lead-changes and six ties, Colgate fell at Navy, 48-40, on Saturday. After Katie Garman tied the game with a three-pointer with 9:41 remaining, Navy answered with a layup to regain the lead for good. Colgate out-rebounded Navy, 45-34, but the Mids made up for the deficit by winning the free throw and turnover battles. The Raiders lost the turnover battle, 21-14. The Mids also made 10-of-15 free throws, while Colgate connected on just 3-of-11 free throws.Garman and Candice Green paced Colgate with eight points apiece. Freshman center Patricia Oakes, who did not play against the Mids, leads all Patriot League freshmen with 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The Raiders will be in pursuit of their first win in its series with Army since Jan. 28, 2006 when they travel to West Point on Saturday.

Army In a game that included 14 lead-changes and four ties, including five lead-changes in the final five minutes, Army was handed a 59-57 loss by Bucknell in Lewisburg on Saturday. With Army trailing by two with nine seconds remaining, the Black Knights' Megan Evans made one of two free throws to make it a one-point game. After Bucknell made one free throw to extend the Bison's lead back to two points with four seconds left, Army's Nalini Hawkins was whistled for traveling in an final attempt to drive toward the basket for the potential tying shot. Senior Alex McGuire led the Black Knights with 20 points. Sophomore Erin Anthony notched her sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. It was the 10th double-double of Anthony's career. Army will be the only Patriot League team in action on Wednesday. The Black Knights will travel to Hackensack, N.J. for the second game of a home-and-home series with Fairleigh Dickinson. Army defeated the Knights, 56-46, earlier this season in West Point.

>Lafayette (8-14, 2-5) at Holy Cross (9-13, 4-3), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.

Series: Holy Cross, 31-5 Streak: Holy Cross, Four Wins Last Meeting: Holy Cross, 60-45 (1.10.09)

Lafayette Lafayette exchanged leads five times with American in the first half, but 46 second-half points by the Eagles spelled doom for the Leopards in a 72-61 home defeat. Lafayette trailed by 14 with seven minutes left in the game an still faced a double-digit defcit with 1:43 to play. Twice, the Leopards were able to pull within five points with just over a minute left in the game, but the Eagles made 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute to secure the victory. The Leopards remained in the game thanks to an 11-2 advantage in second-chance points. Senior Cristin Zavocki led three Leopards in double-figures, finishing with 15 points. Jessica Spicer and LaKeisha Wright added 14 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman Alexandra Serowoky added a career-high eight points off the bench. Lafayette has lost at home just three times this season. All three instances have been in Patriot League play.

Holy Cross The Crusaders nearly pulled off a stunning comeback against Lehigh on Saturday after trailing for the entire game. Holy Cross never led and trailed by as many as 18 points, but the Crusaders whittled the deficit down to one point with 1:06 remaining. The Crusaders trailed by two points on the final possession of the game, looking for the tie or win. After an entry pass was batted out of bounds, Holy Cross had one chance to tie the score but Briana McFadden's jumper from 10 feet fell short. Sophomore forward Elizabeth Campbell gave the Crusaders a career-high 19 points. She also provided seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks while McFadden tallied 14 points, including 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Lehigh's 72 points were the most Holy Cross had given up since Saint Joseph's scored 74 against the Crusaders on Dec. 29. Sophomore Whitney Fremeau averaged 11 points and seven rebounds in two games last week for the Crusaders.

Lehigh (17-5, 6-1) at American (15-7, 5-2), Saturday, 4 p.m.

Bender Arena, Washington, D.C.

Series: American, 13-8 Streak: Lehigh, One Win Last Meeting: Lehigh, 77-69 (1.10.09)

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks maintained their hold on the top spot in the Patriot League standings with a 72-70 road win over Holy Cross. Lehigh, which had lost its previous four contests against Holy Cross, solidified its best start since the 1985-86 season when the Mountain Hawks finished 24-4. The Mountain Hawks led from wire to wire and built an 18-point advantage, but Holy Cross trimmed the margin to one point with 1:06 remaining. Holy Cross had the final possession, but the Lehigh defense stymied the Crusaders' last-chance effort. Junior guard Alex Ross scored a game-high 20 points for Lehigh, including five 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Erica Prosser failed to score in double digits for the first time in Patriot League play, but chipped in with eight points and a career-high nine assists. The Mountain Hawks shot 50 percent from the field overall and drained nine three-pointers. Lehigh also was credited with 23 assists on its 30 made field goals, including a career-high eight from Haly Crites. The Mountain Hawks will look to duplicate their most recent effort against American, when they opened a 22-point lead en route to a 77-69 victory in Bethlehem.

American American and Lafayette exchanged leads five times in the first half, but 46 second-half points pushed the Eagles to a 72-61 win in Easton. American built a 14-point lead with seven minutes remaining and still held a double-digit edge with 1:43 left in the contest. Twice, Lafayette was able to pull within five points with just over a minute left in the game, but the Eagles made 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute to secure the victory. For the game, the Eagles were 28-of-32 from the charity stripe, both of which are season-highs in the Patriot League. Nicole Ryan led three Eagles in double-figures, finishing with 17 points. Michelle Kirk added 15 points and nine rebounds. She was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Liz Leer chipped in with 10 points, eight of which came at the free throw line, and eight rebounds. She became the fifth Patriot League player this season to make at least eight free throws in a game without a miss. Senior Talicia Jackson tied the school record for career three-pointers early in the first half. American and Lehigh have split the season series the last four seasons. The last time a team swept the season series was in the 2002-03 campaign, when the Eagles notched two wins against the Mountain Hawks.

Bucknell (11-9, 3-4) at Navy (12-10, 5-2), Saturday, 7 p.m.

Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.

Series: Bucknell, 23-12 Streak: Bucknell, Eight Wins Last Meeting: Bucknell, 66-50 (1.10.09)

Bucknell The Bison held on for a 59-57 home win over Army in a game that featured 14 lead-changes and four ties, including five lead-changes in the final five minutes. With Army trailing by two with nine seconds remaining, the Black Knights made one free throw to make it a one-point game. Bucknell's Amanda Brown then made one of two free throws to extend the Bison's lead back to two points with four seconds left. An Army turnover preserved the win for Bucknell. For the second straight game, the Bison recorded at least 20 offensive rebounds, finishing with 22 against the Black Knights. Bucknell senior Lauren Schober, who entered the game with 999 career points, became the 18th player in Bucknell history to reach the 1,000 point plateau. She scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Joyce Novacek and Amanda Brown added 14 points apiece.

Navy In a game that included nine lead-changes and six ties, Navy held off Colgate to remain in second place in the Patriot League standings. After Colgate tied the game with a three-pointer with 9:41 remaining, Navy answered with a layup by Kalen Kropa. The Mids never trailed again. Angela Myers led all scorers with 16 points. Kropa added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Mids. The Mids have now won five straight games. They have won five more games than last season and two more League games than a year ago. Cassie Consedine needs six blocks to break the school-record for career blocks, while Kropa needs seven assists to reach 100 assists in a season for the third time in her career.