Bison Fall 73-59 to Lehigh

BETHLEHEM, Pa.- Early foul trouble and timely Lehigh responses stymied Bucknell in a 73-59 defeat to the rival Mountain Hawks on Wednesday night. The Bison led 3-0 early but never paced again as Lehigh controlled the advantage for 37 minutes. Bucknell's three-game winning streak ended as the Bison fell to 14-11 overall and 9-5 in Patriot League. League-leading Lehigh improved to 22-4 overall and 13-1 in conference competition.

Reese Zemitis's three-pointer opened the game on an Orange & Blue note. The music turned to a Lehigh tune as the Mountain Hawks grabbed the lead and finished the first quarter up 15-5.

The Bison cut the lead to seven points several times throughout the game but never inched closer. Lehigh's lead ballooned to 21 points late in the fourth quarter before Bucknell ended the game on a 9-2 run.

Ashley Sofilkanich led Bucknell with 14 tough points on 5 of 13 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line. Zemitis provided 13 points for her seventh straight game in double-digits. Sophia Sabino gave the Bison three scorers with 10+ points when she dropped 12.

Maddie Albrecht scored a game-high 20 points for the Mountain Hawks on 7 of 9 shooting and 3 of 5 from the charity stripe. Ella Stemmer added 16. Lehigh shot an efficient 49.1% (27 of 55), including 10 of 24 (41.7%) from three-point land.

Bucknell settled in after the difficult first quarter and began scoring led by Sabino's seven points. Isabella King completed the traditional three-point play with five seconds remaining before halftime cutting the deficit to 34-27. The momentum vaporized when Zemitis fouled Stemmer on a three-point attempt with 0.2 seconds left. The Lehigh shooter made 2 of 3 chances for the 36-27 halftime advantage.

The third quarter symbolized the game. Every Bison score invited an immediate Lehigh answer. Sofilkanich's layup shaved the Lehigh lead to 40-33 but Albrecht drained a three-pointer with 24 seconds left. The shot sparked the Mountain Hawks and Lehigh led 56-43 heading into the final quarter.

Lehigh thrust the dagger twice with back-to-back three-pointers with the score at 60-47. Meghan O'Brien and Albrecht provided the triples and dashed any hope of a Bucknell rally. The Mountain Hawks increased its lead to 71-50 before the Orange & Blue displayed tenacious spirit concluding the contest on a 9-2 run.

Up Next

The Bison travel to historic West Point on Saturday to face the second-place Army Black Knights. The tip has been moved from 1 p.m. to noon.

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Team Stats

Ashley Sofilkanich

Reese Zemitis

Sophia Sabino

Isabella King

Players Mentioned

Isabella King

Sophia Sabino

Ashley Sofilkanich

Reese Zemitis