Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army West Point
Bison Streak Ends at Eight with 68-63 Loss at Army West Point
1/30/2016 5:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Bucknell women's basketball team saw both its eight-game winning streak and perfect record in the Patriot League come to an end Saturday, but not before a tremendous effort in a 68-63 loss at Army West Point. The Bison erased a 15-point deficit with a 19-0 run between the second and third quarters, but came up just short of recording a season sweep over the preseason league favorite, falling to 14-6 overall and 8-1 in the conference with the loss.
“I'm really proud of the effort and toughness our group showed today,” said Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell. “We got down a few times, but we clawed back and had a couple of leads that we just weren't able to hold on to.”
As she has many times this season, junior forward Sune Swart provided Bucknell with a huge lift off the bench, scoring a team-high 18 points in addition to six rebounds and two steals. For much of the game, she was keeping pace in points with Army's Kelsey Minato, the two-time Patriot League MVP and league's leading scorer at 23.3 ppg, but Minato would go on to finish with a game-high 26 points.
Minato scored 12 of those points in the fourth quarter, helping Army West Point improve to 17-2 overall and 8-1 in the league with the win. The Black Knights and Bison are now tied atop the Patriot League standings at the halfway point of the season.
“They are a very good team, and it was an outstanding game,” Roussell said. “We know we have some things to work on now, which we will do. I'm very confident that we will be a better team down the road because of this loss today.”
Army hit five of its first seven 3-point attempts and jumped out to a 15-point lead, 34-19, with 4:16 to play in the first half. Bucknell came alive and cut the gap to four, 34-30, with an 11-0 run to end the second quarter. Sophomore guard Jacquie Klotz scored six points during the run, while Swart drained a 3-pointer and freshman guard Kate Walker connected on a pair of free throws. Walker was making her second career start.
Forward Kaitlyn Slagus, one of two freshman starters for Bucknell, scored the first four points of the second half, and senior guard Tyler Craig made two free throws to give the Bison their first lead of the game, 36-34 with 7:30 left in the third quarter. Walker capped the 19-0 run with a layup 36 seconds later. The teams traded the lead once each before entering the final quarter tied at 47.
Behind Minato's shooting, Army led by as much as seven in the fourth quarter, but Bucknell battled back to within one, 62-61, with 2:54 to play. The Bison then had a chance to tie the game on their final possession trailing by three with the shot clock turned off, but turned the ball over with three seconds left on the clock. Minato was fouled and hit both free throws to clinch the victory.
Bucknell went down to the wire with one of the top teams in the league thanks to a dominating performance on the boards. The Bison finished with a 45-23 advantage in rebounds, out-rebounding their opponent for the 19th time in 20 games this season.
The Bison had a balanced scoring attack with six players scoring at least six points. Klotz just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Slagus joined her in double-figures with 10 points and added seven rebounds despite playing just 11 minutes because of foul trouble. Walker scored a career-high eight points, while Craig and DeBoer contributed seven and six, respectively. DeBoer finished with four assists, all of which came in the first half.
Minato scored 36 points in a losing effort to Bucknell earlier this season. Her 26 points on Saturday came with a 9-for-19 mark from the field, but was bolstered by a 7-for-8 day at the foul line. Jean Parker scored 12 points for the Black Knights, while Brianna Johnson made three treys and tallied nine points.
The Bison are back at Sojka Pavilion, where they are 8-1 this season, when they host American on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Eagles are 5-15 overall and 3-6 in the conference following a 64-56 win over Colgate on Saturday.
