Navy Comes Back to Defeat Women's Basketball 79-75 in Overtime

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Isabella King scored a career-high 22 points and Ashley Sofilkanich registered 21 but the Bucknell women's basketball team could not hold off a second-half comeback by Navy and lost to the Midshipmen 79-75 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.

King made 6 of 10 field goals, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and connected on all six of her free throws to eclipse her previous career high of 19. She made two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to give the Bison the lead at 61-60 and 64-62.

Bucknell (11-10, 6-4 PL) forced overtime on a 3-pointer by Reese Zemitis with just over 30 seconds to play in regulation. Zemitis finished with 11 points and made three 3-pointers.

Navy (15-6, 7-3 PL) took an early 73-70 lead in overtime, but a Zemitis 3-pointer tied it at 73-73 with a little over two minutes to play. The Mids ended the game on a 6-2 run.

The Bison opened the game by outscoring Navy 22-9 in the first quarter. Bucknell made better than 56 percent of its shots in the first quarter and limited Navy to 22.2 percent shooting. The Bison led by a 35-27 margin at the half after pushing its advantage to as many as 17 points early in the second quarter.

Sofilkanich posted her 13th career double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds. King grabbed a career high-tying nine rebounds.

Preseason All-Patriot League selection Zanai Barnett-Gay scored 16 points for Navy. Morgan Demos tallied a team-high 20 to lead five Mids in double figures.

Bucknell continued to lead steadily into the third quarter until Navy uncorked a 7-2 run cutting the deficit to 39-38. Coskun made two free throws to build a 41-38 advantage which triggered a sequence where the teams combined to make four straight baskets and six out of seven shot attempts. Navy commenced the scoring with a Mary Gibbons layup. Sofilkanich answered with a turnaround jump shot. Barnett-Gay displayed her All-League prowess with a floating jump shot. King drove to the basket on a tough layup. Julianna Almeida missed a three-pointer but Demos collected the rebound and deposited a layup. King's three-pointer ended the sequence giving Bucknell a 48-44 lead.

The Bison continued to score running its advantage to 54-44 when Sofilkanich hit two free throws. Navy tallied a Gibbons trey but King supplied two free throws for the 56-47 Bucknell lead as the game turned to the fourth period.

Navy used a 13-2 run to tie the game and then take its first lead of the contest. Kyah Smith drained a three-pointer for the 58-58 deadlock and Demos hit the go-ahead jump shot. King replied with a massive three-pointer. Smith retook the lead on a jump shot but King again hit a go-ahead trey.

The Mids ripped off a 6-0 run to lead 68-64 with 2:13 remaining. King rose to the occasion with a steal and a score setting her new career-high at 20 points. Maren Louridas hit one of two free throws leaving the door open for a tying shot. Zemitis strolled through with a game-tying three-pointer at 69-69. Navy called timeout and set up a drive and pass to Louridas. Her three-point attempt went wide and Sophia Sabino gathered the rebound. The Bison attempted to win the game on a buzzer-beater but Sofilkanich's turnaround jump shot hit the side of the basket.

The Bison trailed 73-70 in overtime before Zemitis tied the game again and King hit two free throws to take the lead. Demos equalized the contest on a layup and Almeida nailed two free throws. Zemitis's go-ahead three-point attempt was short and Barnett-Gay only converted one of two free throw attempts. Bucknell never got an answering shot off. Barnett-Gay forced a steal and passed it to Louridas. The guard was fouled with five seconds remaining. She only hit one of two free throw attempts but it was enough to ensure the 79-75 win.

Up Next

The Patriot League bye occurs this Wednesday and the Bison return to action on Feb. 8 when Army comes to Lewisburg.

Navy Comes Back to Defeat Women's Basketball 79-75 in Overtime

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Team Stats

Isabella King

Ashley Sofilkanich

Reese Zemitis

Sophia Sabino

Players Mentioned

Isabella King

Sophia Sabino

Ashley Sofilkanich

Reese Zemitis