Feb. 6, 2010

Center Valley, Pa.--There is now a tie atop the Patriot League standings. Lehigh extended its home winning streak to 30 games with a 53-46 win over American on Saturday. Both teams are now 7-1 in Patriot League play. Also picking up victories were Colgate, Holy Cross and Navy.

Lehigh (20-3, 7-1) trailed by as many as eight points but built an 11-point lead midway through the second half in the Mountain Hawks' 53-46 victory over American (14-8, 7-1). The Eagles' loss snapped an eight-game American winning streak. With the win, Lehigh became the fastest team in Patriot League history to reach the 20-win plateau. The Mountain Hawks forced the Eagles into 20 turnovers, leading directly to 24 Lehigh points. Erica Prosser, who led the Lehigh defensive effort with three steals, scored seven points off fast breaks and closed with 11 points. Emily Gratch paced the Mountain Hawks offensively with 12 points. Also in double figures for Lehigh was Courtney Dentler, who tallied 11 points. American junior Liz Leer led the Eagles with 13 points, five rebounds and five blocks. The Lehigh defense held the Michelle Kirk, the Patriot League's leading scorer, to six points, her lowest scoring output of the season.

Holy Cross (7-16, 3-5) built a nine-point lead and hung on for a 50-47 win at Lafayette (4-18, 2-6). Holy Cross held a 44-37 edge with just over four minutes remaning, but Lafayette got two field goals and two free throws in a two-minute span to trim the Crusaders' lead to 48-45. With 15 seconds remaining, the Leopards turned the ball over and were forced to foul, but Whitney Fremeau missed the front end of a one-and-one. Melissa Downey grabbed the rebound and Elizabeth Virgin's ensuing layup made it 49-47 with eight seconds on the clock. Lafayette was again forced to foul, but Briana McFadden was only able to capitalize on one of her two attempts, giving the Leopards 7.7 seconds with which to work. Lauren Jackson got an open look at a three-pointer, but the shot rimmed out, giving Holy Cross the victory. Holy Cross avoided being swept by the Leopards for just the second time in program history. Fremeau finished with 14 points and nine rebounds to lead Holy Cross. Virgin scored a game-high 15 points to pace Lafayette.

Colgate (8-14, 3-5) rode a strong first-half to a 61-47 win over Army (9-13, 3-5). The Raiders' defense was stifling in the first half. They held Army to just 16.7% shooting (5-of-30). The Raiders went to the halftime break with a commanding 36-14 lead. Colgate was then able to withstand a strong second half charge from the Black Knights to hold on for the victory. Freshman Jhazmine Lynch paced Colgate with 15 points, while sophomore Candice Green added 11 points. Army got a stellar performance from Nalini Hawkins who scored 27 points, 21 of them coming in the second half.

Navy (12-11, 4-4) never trailed and built leads as large as 19 points in the Mids' 61-46 win at Bucknell (7-14, 3-5). With the win, the Mids recorded the season sweep over the Bison. Navy started the game with a 10-2 run and never looked back. Angela Myers led the Mids with a game-high 18 points, six assists and three steals. Joyce Novacek scored 16 points for Bucknell, helping the Bison outscore Navy by a 32-12 margin in the paint. The Mids made up for the difference inside by making 12-of-21 three-pointers and limiting the Bison to 2-of-12 from behind the arc.

Listed below are Saturday's complete results and links to institutional recaps.

at Colgate 61, Army 47
Holy Cross 50, Lafayette 47
at Lehigh 53, American 46
Navy 61, at Bucknell 46