Feb. 12, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.--Just five games remain on the regular season schedule for Patriot League teams, and American and Lehigh are currently locked in a battle for first place. Equally tight is the competition for third place between Army, Navy, Holy Cross and Bucknell, as all four teams are separated by no more than a game. All of the teams will be looking to gain separation this weekend with a full slate of games on the Saturday schedule.

Patriot League Women's Basketball Release 2.12.09

Patriot League Notebook

In Review Colgate picked up its first Patriot League victory in over two years, while Lehigh and American remained in a tie for the Patriot League lead on Wednesday. Also picking up a win was Army, which moved into a three-way tie for third place with Navy and Holy Cross. Colgate's 62-61 win over Lafayette gave the Raiders their first Patriot League win since topping American in Hamilton on Feb. 10, 2007. It was Colgate's first road win in Patriot League play since defeating Lafayette in Easton on Feb. 6, 2007. Lehigh pulled away in the second half to claim a 66-48 win over Navy. The Mountain Hawks pushed their home record to 11-0. Also picking up its 11th home win of the season was American. In a game of two halves, the Eagles persevered for a 71-63 win over Bucknell. Two free throws by senior Alex McGuire clinched a 63-62 victory for Army over Holy Cross. Holy Cross junior Briana McFadden sank a three-pointer at the buzzer, but the Crusaders could not overcome the four-point deficit built by McGuire's two free throws with five seconds remaining. Army, Navy, Holy Cross and Bucknell are all separated by one game in the fight for third place.

On Deck Co-League-leader Lehigh will look to extend its home winning streak to 12 games when it hosts third-place Army on Saturday in Bethlehem. American, which shares the top spot in the standings with the Mountain Hawks, will take to the road. The Eagles will travel north to take on Colgate. Lafayette and Navy will look to snap losing streaks. After winning five straight, the Mids have lost two consecutive games, while Lafayette has dropped five straight games. Bucknell and Holy Cross will battle for third place when the Bison host the Crusaders.

Chasing 250 Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka recorded her 250th career victory on Jan. 24 at Colgate. Fedorjaka is 252-194 since beginning her career at Connecticut College in 1993. She is 185-156 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 12-12 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.

200 Club Sue Troyan is one win from recording her 200th career victory. She is 199-198 in her 14th year of coaching, all of them with Lehigh. Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons is just three victories away from recording his 200th Patriot League win. In his 24th season at Holy Cross, Gibbons is 197-50 in Patriot League games.

A Nifty 50 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.

Patriot League Chart-Toppers Three current players are chasing all-time Patriot League marks. Army senior Alex McGuire has scored 1,378 career points, the most of any active Patriot League player. With 15 points against Holy Cross on Wednesday, she passed Lafayette's Chris Sieling (1990-94) to move into 25th place on the Patriot League's all-time scoring charts. She is three points behind Lafayette's Vanessa Van De Venter (2004-08) and trails Bucknell's Lindsey Hollobaugh (2003-07) by eight points. McGuire currently ranks fifth on Army's career scoring list. Navy sophomore center Cassie Consedine is eighth in career blocks in the Patriot League. 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 the Patriot League annals in career three-point field goals with 201. She knocked down three three-pointers against Army on Wednesday to move within one of Army's Jen Hansen (2003-07) for fifth place and 10 behind Fordham's Denise Hammersly (1991-95) for fourth place. American's Talicia Jackson, who hit two three-pointers against Lehigh on Saturday, now holds the school record for career three-pointers. She currently has 150 career three-pointers, breaking the previous record of 147 held by Kari Gaskins (1995-99).

Homecourt Security Home teams have won just 19 of the 36 Patriot League contests this season. The exeption to the rule has been Lehigh, which is the only team that has not lost a Patriot League home game. In fact, the Mountain Hawks have yet to lost a home game all season. Lehigh and American have both won a League-best 11 home games this season.

Patriot League In the Pink Zone All eight Patriot League teams are participating in the WBCA Pink Zone, helping raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. Each team will host a Pink Zone event on its home floor during the month of February. Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette and Lehigh will host Pink Zone days on Saturday, which include several pink-themed events, auctions and wardrobe additions. Contact each school's ticket office for more information.

Prosser Recognized By WBCA Lehigh sophomore Erica Prosser earned WBCA Division I National Player of the Month Honorable Mention. Prosser has been named Patriot League Player of the Week four times this season, including two times in January. She led the Patriot League in scoring (16.7 ppg), assists (5.1 apg), steals (2.7 spg), and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1 a/to) during the month, helping Lehigh go 7-2 in January. She scored at least 20 points on four separate occasions in January.

Novacek Earns Academic Honor Bucknell's Joyce Novacek was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II Team by CoSIDA last week. Novacek is Bucknell's first All-District First Team recipient since K.C. Vlah in 1995-96 and the first to be named to any All-District Team since Lindsey Hollobaugh was named to the Second Team in 2006-07. Novacek, a management major, carries a 3.94 cumulative grade point average. She has earned 19 starts this season and ranks second in the Patriot League in field goal percentage (.547).

Now That's Progress Of the eight Patriot League teams, three have already matched or surpassed their win totals from last season. With 12 wins, Navy has already tallied five more wins than last season. Only nine 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 five wins, four more than last season. With its win against Navy on Wednesday, Lehigh matched its win total from a year ago. American needs one more victory to do so. Army needs three more wins to accomplish the feat, while Bucknell needs four.

Lifting The League The Patriot League received a significant RPI boost in non-League play. The League is currently ranked 19th 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 61-57 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 61 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 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.

Patriot League Games

Navy (12-12, 5-4) at Lafayette (8-16, 2-7), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.

Series: Navy, 24-11 Streak: Navy, Two Wins Last Meeting: Navy, 53-48 (1.18.09)

Navy After a first half that included six ties and six lead changes, Navy was outscored by 15 in the second half of a 66-48 loss at Lehigh on Wednesday. Playing without injured center Cassie Consedine, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, the Mids were out-rebounded by the Mountain Hawks, 39-32. Guard Angela Myers notched her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The loss dropped Navy into a three-way tie for third place. After winning five straight, the Mids have now lost back-to-back games for the second time since the start of Patriot Legue play. The Mids started their five-game winning streak with a 53-48 win over Lafayette on Jan. 18, giving first-year head coach Stefanie Pemper her first Patriot League victory. Consedine scored 11 points, all in a stretch of 4:25 in the second half, to spark the Mids.

Lafayette The Leopards dropped a 62-61 decision to Colgate on Wednesday. It was the fifth consecutive defeat for Lafayette. After finishing the non-League portion of its schedule with an unblemished home record, Lafayette has lost four home games in Patriot League play. The Leopards scored eight of the game's final nine points against Colgate, but could not overcome an eight-point deficit with two minutes left to play. With Lafayette trailing by three with 17 seconds left, Jessica Spicer knocked down a layup to cut the deficit to one point. After two missed Colgate free throws, Lafayette had one final chance to win, but Cristin Zavocki's three-point attempt fell short, preserving the victory for Colgate. Spicer topped all scorers with 17 points. In Lafayette's earlier meeting with Navy this season, the Leopards held a lead in the final minute, but could not preserve the victory. The Leopards fell, despite limiting the Mids to three second-chance points. Amanda Smith gave Lafayette a career-high 10 points off the bench, while LaKeisha Wright scored a team-high 13 points.

American (17-7, 7-2) at Colgate (5-19, 1-8), Saturday, 2 p.m.

Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.

Series: American, 11-4 Streak: American, Five Wins Last Meeting: American, 63-47 (1.18.09)

American American persevered for a 71-63 win over Bucknell. After going into halftime with a 45-37 lead, American methodically distanced itself with a 9-0 run early in the second half to build a 59-42 advantage. American built its largest lead, 68-48, with 5:20 left to play, never allowing Bucknell to pull any closer than eight points the rest of the way. Nine different players scored for the Eagles as all 13 active players saw the floor. Leading the way were Nicole Ryan and Michelle Kirk with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Four different players reached double-figures for Bucknell, led by Amanda Brown's game-high 16 points. American's win kept the Eagles in a tie for first place with Lehigh. American will look to extend its winning streak to four games when it travels to Colgate on Saturday. The Eagles have not lost to the Raiders since Jan. 10, 2007.

Colgate The Raiders scored a 62-61 win over Lafayette, giving the Raiders their first Patriot League win in over two years. Colgate's win was its first Patriot League victory since topping American in Hamilton on Feb. 10, 2007. It was Colgate's first road win in Patriot League play since defeating Lafayette in Easton on Feb. 6, 2007. Lafayette scored eight of the game's final nine points, but Sami Kozlowski's free throw with 25 seconds remaining served as the deciding point. With the Raiders leading by three with 17 seconds left, a Lafayette lay-up trimmed Colgate's edge to one point. After two missed Colgate free throws, Lafayette had one final chance to win, but the Leopards' final three-pointer fell short, preserving the victory for Colgate. The Raiders hit seven three-pointers, including three by the team's lone senior, Gretchen Polinski. Polinski finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Tayler Wejnert paced Colgate with 16 points. On Saturday, the Raiders will be seeking their first back-to-back Patriot League wins since topping Lafayette and American in February of 2007.

Army (15-9, 5-4) at Lehigh (18-6, 7-2), Saturday, 7 p.m.

Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.

Series: Lehigh, 20-17 Streak: Army, One Win Last Meeting: Army, 54-52 (1.18.09)

Army Two free throws by senior Alex McGuire clinched a 63-62 victory for Army over Holy Cross. McGuire's two shots with five seconds remaining gave the Black Knights an insumountable lead. Neither team led by more than seven points throughout the entire game as Army moved into a three-way tie for third place with Holy Cross and Navy. Army sophomore forward Erin Anthony scored a career-high 24 points, including 16 of the Black Knights' final 20 points. Anthony also pulled down eight rebounds, helping Army out-rebound the Crusaders by a 39-32 margin. McGuire added 15 points and a game-high six assists. Army will be chasing the season sweep when they meet Lehigh on Saturday. The Black Knights handed the Mountain Hawks their first League defeat of the season on Jan. 18.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks pulled away in the second half to claim a 66-48 win over Navy, giving Lehigh four straight wins over the Mids. After a first half that included six ties and six lead changes, Lehigh outscored Navy by 15 in the second half. The Mountain Hawks out-rebounded the Mids by a 39-32 margin. Lehigh connected on six three-pointers, all of them by Erica Prosser and Alex Ross. Prosser led all scorers with 15 points, while Ross added 13. With the win, Lehigh remained in a tie for first place with American. The Mountain Hawks will be seeking their League-high 12th home win of the season when they meet Army on Saturday. With just three regular season home games remaining, Lehigh is currently 11-0 at home. In the 35-year history of Lehigh women's basketball, the Mountain Hawks have gone undefeated at home just once. Lehigh did so in the 1989-90 season, going 14-0 in Stabler Arena.

Holy Cross (10-14, 5-4) at Bucknell (12-10, 4-5), Satruday, 7 p.m.

Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.

Series: Holy Cross, 29-8 Streak: Holy Cross, One Win Last Meeting: Holy Cross, 66-60 (1.18.09)

Holy Cross Junior guard Briana McFadden, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Week, sank a three-pointer at the buzzer, but it was not enough for the Crusaders in a 63-62 loss at Army on Wednesday. Holy Cross could not overcome the four-point deficit built by Alex McGuire's two free throws with five seconds remaining. Neither team led by more than seven points as Holy Cross fell into a three-way tie for third place with Army and Navy. Holy Cross junior Bethany O'Dell led all scorers with 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting. She also made 9-of-11 free throws. O'Dell made three three-pointers, giving her 201 career connections from long range. She is one three-pointer away from moving into fifth place on the Patriot League's all-time charts. O'Dell helped Holy Cross overcome an 11-point deficit in the Crusaders' last meeting with Bucknell. She scored 11 of the Crusaders' 13 points in a 13-3 run to close the first half. She finished with 23 points against the Bison in their first meeting of the season.

Bucknell The Bison fell into sixth place in the Patriot League standings with a 71-63 loss at American on Wednesday. The Bison twice pulled within three points in the second half, but American methodically distanced itself with a 9-0 run early in the frame, putting the Bison in a 59-42 hole. Bucknell fell behind, 68-48, with 5:20 left to play, and was never able to pull any closer than eight points the rest of the way. Four different players reached double-figures for Bucknell, led by Amanda Brown's game-high 16 points. Against Holy Cross on Jan. 18, Bucknell surged ahead early, thanks to a 15-4 run. The surge was keyed by seven points from Lauren Schober. The Bison were unable to maintain the momentum and fell to the Crusaders, 66-60. The Bison will look to recapture their magic from last season, when they defeated Holy Cross in the Patriot League Championship to become the lowest-seeded team to win the Patriot League title.