Bucknell Falls 49-39 at Army in Patriot League Semifinals

WEST POINT, N.Y.- Bucknell's season ended with a 49-39 defeat to Army in the Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals on Thursday night. The Bison offense never found a groove and the Black Knights bunched together enough points to advance to the Patriot League Championship Game on Sunday. Bucknell finished the season at 17-14 while Army improved to 24-6.

Both teams' shooting went as frigid as the nearby Hudson. Bucknell shot 15 of 46 (32.6) and Army hit 17 of 55 (30.9). The Bison only hit two three-pointers while Army's four were few but critical in situation and timing.

Ashley Sofilkanich scored 13 points on 5 of 17 shooting and 3 of 4 from the foul line. She has 998 points in two campaigns, narrowly missing the chance to become the first Bison woman since Molly Creamer to score 1,000 points in her first two seasons. The sophomore finished the season with 236 made field goals and 610 points, good for second and fourth in their respective categories on the Bucknell single-season lists.

No other Bison scored in double digits but Tuana Coshun and Sophia Sabino each notched nine points.

Trinity Hardy reinforced why she made the Patriot League First Team, scoring 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe to lead the Black Knights.

Bucknell lost the lead in the second quarter, when the team was held to four points. The Black Knights never yielded the lead again and kept ahead 7 to 11 points for most of the game.

The Bison started the game strong, building leads of 8-4 and 13-8. Army ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to grab the advantage.

Bucknell regained the lead 15-14 in the second quarter when Reese Zemitis hit a pull-up jump shot. The lead lasted 31 seconds before Reese Ericson hit a three-pointer after an offensive rebound. That proved to be a game trend. Army gathered 13 offensive rebounds to Bucknell's four and generated 11 second chance points to the Bison's two.

Both teams went ice cold for the next seven minutes with Army's Fiona Hastick's basket at 4:47 being the only points tallied. The Bison defense was elite in the second quarter holding Army to 3 of 17 shooting. Anna Kunzwiler scored a beautiful driving layup, but the Black Knights hit a trey and two free throws for the 24-17 halftime lead.

Army grew a 28-17 lead out of halftime before the Bison clawed within 30-24 on two Isabella King free throws. The senior finished her last game in the Orange & Blue with four points on four free throws. The three-point specialist ended her Bucknell tenure with 799 points and ranked sixth in career three-pointers (148).

The Black Knights again finished a period with a 5-0 run restoring their lead to double-digits.

Bucknell spent most of the fourth quarter cutting the deficit to single digits only for Army to respond. The Bison made their final run with the score at 43-33. Sabino hit a layup and Sofilkanich collected two free throws. The graduating Sabino hit another layup with 1:20 remaining and Bucknell had life down 43-39. The Orange & Blue faithful were unaware but those were to be the final Bison points scored.

Army hit 1 of 2 free throws and then a replay overturned a pro-Bucknell call giving possession to the Black Knights. Hardy hit two free throws and King missed a three-pointer, effectively sealing Bucknell's fate. Army hit three more free throws as Bucknell's trey attempts missed to win 49-39.

The Bison finished the season with four more wins than in 2023-24, finished four places higher than expected in the preseason poll, and have built a solid young core hungry to take the next step.

Bucknell Falls 49-39 at Army in Patriot League Semifinals

Team Stats

Ashley Sofilkanich

Sophia Sabino

Tuana Coskun

Isabella King

Players Mentioned

Isabella King

Anna Kunzwiler

Sophia Sabino

Ashley Sofilkanich

Reese Zemitis