Feb. 16, 2012

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – American wrapped up a piece of its third consecutive Patriot League regular-season crown and wrapped up the No. 1 seed to the League Tournament after rallying back from a 15-point halftime deficit to post a 55-52 victory over Navy Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

The Eagles (19-6, 11-0) are on the edge of another 20-win season and now own a four-game lead on a tie for second between Army and the Mids.

Navy (14-11, 7-4) fell to into a second-place with the Black Knights (13-13, 7-4), who received 30 points from sophomore Jen Hazlett in a 62-47 victory over Colgate at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y. The 30 points are the most for any Patriot Leaguer this season.

Even with the tie, Navy owns the edge for the No. 2 seed thanks to a season sweep of the Black Knights.

Holy Cross (14-12, 5-6) inched closer to potentially hosting a quarterfinal game in the League Tournament after a 61-52 win over Lafayette (8-18, 2-9). The Crusaders moved within one game of fourth-place Lehigh (13-12, 6-5), which fell 62-56 to surging Bucknell (5-21, 3-8), which has won three straight.

Links to recaps and box scores are below.

American 55, Navy 52;
Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Lisa Strack drained a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left as American rallied for a 55-52 victory over Navy Wednesday night at Alumni Hall.

With the win, the Eagles (19-6, 11-0) sewed up the No. 1 seed to the Patriot League Tournament and clinched the outright regular-season title. They have a four-game lead over both Army and the Mids with three to go.

Jade Geif led all scorers with 14 points, while Audrey Bauer chipped in 10 for Navy (14-11, 7-4).

Alexis Dobbs led the Eagles with nine points. Strack finished with eight for American despite going 1 of 8 from the field. She was a perfect 6 of 6 from the foul line, including her last two of the game to give the Eagles a three-point advantage.

Navy used a 15-0 run over a 5:48 stretch to turn a 21-21 tie into a 36-21 lead at the break. Alix Membreno and Geif posted back-to-back layups to start the rally, while Chloe Stapleton added a trey to make it 28-21. Geif tallied six points in all during the run, including two consecutive buckets before Kara Pollinger’s basket closed out the run with 40 ticks left.

American replied by scoring the first 13 points of the second half. Strack sank a pair of foul shots, while Ebony Edwards and Jen Dumiak converted buckets. Dobbs drilled a 3-pointer to bring the Eagles within 36-34 at the 16:19 mark.

Strack hit two more free throws just over midway through the half to tie the game at 41.

Dumiak’s 3-pointer with a little over six minutes to go put the Eagles ahead 48-44. American’s lead fluctuated between two and four points over the next several minutes.

Geif’s layup with 2:04 remaining brought Navy within 53-52. Strack missed a 3 on American’s next possession, and Navy had two good looks from beyond the arc on its next time down the floor but neither shot would fall.

Strack hit her two free throws in the waning seconds, and Bauer’s 3-point bid to tie was off the mark.

Army 62, Colgate 47;
Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Sophomore Jen Hazlett scored 30 points, the most of any Patriot Leaguer this season and the highest output for a Black Knight in seven years, to lead Army to a 62-47 win against Colgate at home Wednesday night at Christl Arena.

Hazlett shot 11 of 19 from the field and posted a double-double with 12 rebounds. She led all players in both points and on the boards. Anna Simmers had six points and 10 boards for the Black Knights (13-13, 7-4), who moved into a second-place tie with Navy.

Freshman Missy Repoli had 17 points to lead Colgate (6-20, 3-8), while Catherine Lewis chipped in nine points and Mariah Jones eight, both off the bench.

Repoli hit one of her three 3-pointers on the night to put Colgate ahead 10-7 with 16:45 left in the first.

Hazlett’s layup capped off an 9-0 Army run, and the Black Knights were ahead 16-10 with 12:26 remaining.

Repoli’s jumper brought Colgate with 21-20 with 2:47 left until the half. Army scored the next four points and led 25-20 at the break.

Simmers hit a pair of foul shots to give Army its first double-digit lead at 31-21 with 17:26 remaining.

Hazlett’s three and a bucket from Jessica Waggoner made it a 42-27 Army lead with 11:38 showing on the clock.

Lewis’ 3-pointer capped off an 8-0 run for Colgate, and the Raiders were within 48-41 with 5:58 to go. After Army pulled ahead by double figures again, Lewis drilled another trey to make it a 53-46 game with three minutes remaining.

The Raiders were unable to get any closer, as Army hit 7 of 8 from the free throw line the rest of the way to preserve the win.

Bucknell 62, Lehigh 56;
Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Shelby Romine scored 23 points to lead all players and Lindsay Horbatuck collected a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds to spur Bucknell (5-21, 3-8) to its third straight victory in a 62-56 win at Lehigh Wednesday night.

Kelly Peterson led Lehigh with 12 points, while Sarah Williams and Emily Gratch tallied 11 apiece. Alexa Williams poured in seven points with six rebounds.

The Bison were able to hang on despite going without a field goal for the last 6:11 of the game.

Lehigh opened a quick 4-0 lead, but Bucknell responded in kind to take a 13-10 advantage with 13:13 remaining in the opening half.

Sarah Pearce tied the game at 13 with a trey, but the Bison scored the next 10 points to move ahead 23-13.

Romine hit a pair of 3-pointers in the last 5:05 of the first half to propel Bucknell to a 37-25 halftime lead.

Romine’s layup ballooned the Bison lead to 48-29 with 14:04 left in the second. Sarah Williams hit two straight treys to bring the Mountain Hawks within 13 points.

Christina Chukwuedo’s layup at the 6:11 mark put Bucknell in front 58-45.

Lehigh’s defense tightened up as the Mountain Hawks went on a 9-0 run to get within 58-54 with just under one minute left.

After Horbatuck went 1 of 2 at the line, Gratch sank both of her chances with 33 seconds remaining to bring Lehigh within 59-56.

Bucknell hit 3 of 4 from the foul line to close out the game for the six-point win.

Holy Cross 61, Lafayette 52;
Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. – Brisje Malone and Emily Parker led three Crusaders in double figures as Holy Cross (14-12, 5-6) held off a late Lafayette rally in a 61-52 victory at the Hart Center Wednesday night.

Holy Cross overcame a pair of double-double performances from Danielle Fiacco (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Emily Homan (13, 10). Both players collected three blocks apiece. For Fiacco, that gives her 98 for the year, giving her the Patriot League’s single-season record.

Amy Lepley added 11 points and seven rebounds for Holy Cross, while Alex Smith had six points and six assists.

The teams played to six ties in the first 9:47 of the game before Holy Cross’ 8-2 run gave it a 20-14 advantage at the 6:12 mark.

The Crusaders scored the last six points of the first half after Lafayette (8-18, 2-9) had cut it to a three-point game. Holy Cross led 28-19 at the break.

Meredith Ward’s 3-pointer at the 17:27 mark of the second gave Holy Cross a 37-21 lead, and Lepley’s layup in the paint gave the Crusaders their biggest advantage at 44-26 with 14:22 remaining.

Fiacco capped off a 10-0 Lafayette run with back-to-back buckets to bring the Leopards within 44-36.

Holy Cross was able to regain a 10-point lead shortly thereafter. Maddie Peabody’s 3-pointer with under four minutes to go brought Lafayette within 53-46, but the Leopards could not get any closer. The Holy Cross lead sat anywhere between seven and nine points the rest of the way.

After shooting 33.3 percent (9 of 27) in the first half, Lafayette hit 14 of 31 (45.2 percent) in the second half. Holy Cross finished 22 of 63 (34.9 percent) from the field, but hit just 3 of 22 3-point attempts.