Monday, March 11
Lewisburg, Pa.
6 p.m.
Bucknell University
26-5
88
vs
63
Loyola (Md.)
7-24
1
2
3
4
F
Loyola Maryland
14
11
15
23
63
Bucknell
21
25
19
23
88
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Bucknell Beats Loyola in PL Quarterfinals for Senior Class's Record-Breaking 100th Win
3/11/2019 9:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell women's basketball team easily advanced to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals with an 88-63 win over Loyola Maryland on Monday evening at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison, who improved to 26-5 overall, will host Holy Cross on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Bison senior class of Rachel Dumiak, Kyi English, Maegan Mikkelsen, Kaitlyn Slagus and Kate Walker have now accounted for 100 wins, setting a new Patriot League record for victories by a single class. Army's class of 2016 previously held the record with 99 wins.
Walker scored the game's first bucket 15 seconds into the contest and the Bison (26-5) never looked back. Walker sparked the team to an 18-6 lead, scoring 10 of Bucknell's first 15 points herself. Loyola would score the next six points, cutting the Bison lead to six, but that was as close as it would get for the remainder of the game. The Bison led 46-25 at halftime and would build the lead to as much as 31, leading 58-27 in the third quarter.
"This is always a hard game, because the nerves can kick in and you can start thinking about the 'what ifs.' You don't want to put in the work and do everything we did in the regular season to come out and lose in a 1 vs. 8 game," Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell said. "Credit to our seniors who led the way and made sure we took this possession-by-possession without being fearful of the result and what could happen."
Walker finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals, while sitting out the game's final 12 minutes, 43 seconds. Ellie Mack scored a team-high 17 points, making seven of her eight field goal attempts, and added seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks. English scored 14 points, while Abby Kapp scored 11 to go along with four rebounds and two steals. Kapp hit three 3-pointers, bringing her season total to 69, the second highest single-season total by a member of the Bison. She is 11 shy of the school record.
Slagus added nine points and six rebounds. Dumiak made a pair of threes, scoring six points and Mikkelsen scored three points and handed out three assists, placing all five seniors in the box score.
The Orange and Blue outrebounded the Greyhounds, 39-18, the largest rebound differential the Bison have posted this season. It came against a team that had a single player, Stephanie Karcz, pull down a Patriot League Tournament record 22 rebounds in a win over Navy on Saturday. Bucknell assisted on 23 of its 31 made field goals, shooting 56.4% from the field for the game (31-for-55) and making 12 threes.
"We talked to our team about what was going to happen if they were missing shots; was Karcz going to get another 22 rebounds or were we going to get into our transition," Roussell said. "Thankfully we handled that part of the game very well."
Loyola (7-24) received a game-high 26 points from freshman Taleah Dixon, and Delaney Connolly added 20. Karcz added six points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Bucknell and Loyola played in the Patriot League Tournament for the third time in four years. The Bison improved to 2-1 in those games.
Gallery: (3/11/2019) WBB vs. Loyola - PL Quarterfinal
Now Bucknell turns its attention to another team its familiar with in postseason play. The Bison will take on Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament for the second straight year after beating the Crusaders 67-53 in the quarterfinal round last season. The Bison and Crusaders split their two-game regular season series this year, with each team winning on its home court.
Holy Cross will enter the game with a record of 18-12 after posting a 72-70 win at Boston University on Monday.
The Bison senior class of Rachel Dumiak, Kyi English, Maegan Mikkelsen, Kaitlyn Slagus and Kate Walker have now accounted for 100 wins, setting a new Patriot League record for victories by a single class. Army's class of 2016 previously held the record with 99 wins.
Walker scored the game's first bucket 15 seconds into the contest and the Bison (26-5) never looked back. Walker sparked the team to an 18-6 lead, scoring 10 of Bucknell's first 15 points herself. Loyola would score the next six points, cutting the Bison lead to six, but that was as close as it would get for the remainder of the game. The Bison led 46-25 at halftime and would build the lead to as much as 31, leading 58-27 in the third quarter.
"This is always a hard game, because the nerves can kick in and you can start thinking about the 'what ifs.' You don't want to put in the work and do everything we did in the regular season to come out and lose in a 1 vs. 8 game," Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell said. "Credit to our seniors who led the way and made sure we took this possession-by-possession without being fearful of the result and what could happen."
Walker finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals, while sitting out the game's final 12 minutes, 43 seconds. Ellie Mack scored a team-high 17 points, making seven of her eight field goal attempts, and added seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks. English scored 14 points, while Abby Kapp scored 11 to go along with four rebounds and two steals. Kapp hit three 3-pointers, bringing her season total to 69, the second highest single-season total by a member of the Bison. She is 11 shy of the school record.
Slagus added nine points and six rebounds. Dumiak made a pair of threes, scoring six points and Mikkelsen scored three points and handed out three assists, placing all five seniors in the box score.
The Orange and Blue outrebounded the Greyhounds, 39-18, the largest rebound differential the Bison have posted this season. It came against a team that had a single player, Stephanie Karcz, pull down a Patriot League Tournament record 22 rebounds in a win over Navy on Saturday. Bucknell assisted on 23 of its 31 made field goals, shooting 56.4% from the field for the game (31-for-55) and making 12 threes.
"We talked to our team about what was going to happen if they were missing shots; was Karcz going to get another 22 rebounds or were we going to get into our transition," Roussell said. "Thankfully we handled that part of the game very well."
Loyola (7-24) received a game-high 26 points from freshman Taleah Dixon, and Delaney Connolly added 20. Karcz added six points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Bucknell and Loyola played in the Patriot League Tournament for the third time in four years. The Bison improved to 2-1 in those games.
Now Bucknell turns its attention to another team its familiar with in postseason play. The Bison will take on Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament for the second straight year after beating the Crusaders 67-53 in the quarterfinal round last season. The Bison and Crusaders split their two-game regular season series this year, with each team winning on its home court.
Holy Cross will enter the game with a record of 18-12 after posting a 72-70 win at Boston University on Monday.
Team Stats
Loyola
Buck
FG%
.400
.564
3FG%
.211
.444
FT%
.950
.667
RB
18
39
TO
14
16
STL
11
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballPost Game Interview vs. VMI
Saturday, September 13
Georgetown-Bucknell Women's Soccer Highlights 9-11-2025
Friday, September 12
In The Herd: Bucknell Invitational Preview And Mirra Manolov And Abby Platt Features
Thursday, September 11
Evelyn Bliss World's Send Off
Thursday, September 11