Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
6-13,2-6Patriot
Loyola
8-11,4-4Patriot
Women's Hoops Defeats Loyola 54-45 in Sojka with Strong Defensive Showing
1/24/2026 3:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's basketball (6-13, 2-6 PL) earned its second conference win of the season on Saturday afternoon as it defeated Loyola (8-11, 4-3 PL) 54-45 in Sojka Pavilion. The Bison used a flurry of consecutive game-opening threes to build momentum and took a 12-point lead into halftime, which would be too much for the Greyhounds to come back from, despite closing the gap to single digits late in the fourth quarter.
Bucknell's first half defense was the star of the show in this afternoon's contest as its aggressive pressure proved to be challenging for Loyola to immediately adjust to. The Bison opened the game limiting the Greyhounds to just five points in the first quarter, while scoring 13 of their own. The second quarter was a similar story as Bucknell limited Loyola to five points once again, while putting up nine of their own. The Greyhounds adjusted at halftime, which resulted in an even 12-12 third quarter of scoring. The fourth quarter was another back-and-forth ten minutes with a buzzer-beating three for Loyola giving it the 23-20 scoring edge, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit.
Overall the Bison limited the Greyhounds to shooting 26.8 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three, while the Bison shot 39.5 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three. Both teams shot 75 percent from the line.
Three Bison recorded double-digits in the contest as Reese Zemitis led the team with 15, Isabella Casey notched 13 and Tuana Coskun put up 10. Anna Kunzwiler led the team in rebounds with nine. Elena Houghton led the team in assists with eight of the their 11.
Cristina Garcia led the Greyhounds in scoring with nine points and the Bison limited Loyola's leading scorer Lex Therien to just eight points on the afternoon.
The first quarter opened with two minutes of missed shots and turnovers on both ends of the court. The Bison opened the scoring with eight-minutes remaining with a flurry of threes. Reese Zemitis opened scoring with the first three of the afternoon, a minute of scoreless play later Isabella Casey nailed a three and a minute and a half after that Tuana Coskun found nothing but net to put Bucknell up 9-0 at the media timeout with 5:26 remaining. Out of the break, Loyola found its first points of the game with an Amorich layup. Mariah Hardy responded quickly with a layup of her own for the Bison on their next possession. After a missed shot by the Greyhounds, Reese Zemitis was fouled under the basket and went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line to extend Bucknell's lead to 11. Loyola ended the first quarter with a three-pointer to cut its deficit to eight.
The second quarter opened the same as the first with a Zemitis three pointer. Almost two minutes of scoreless action later, Desirae Ashton banked in a jumper to extend Bucknell's lead to 18-5. Loyola drove to the basket, but missed their shot and the Bison capitalized with Casey going 2-for-2 on the free-throw line after being fouled. Bucknell then forced a turnover and on a second-chance opportunity, Hardy hit a layup to make it a 22-5 lead for the Bison and extend their scoring run to 9-0 at the start of the second. With 6:30 left in the first half, Loyola made a 5-0 run with back-to-back layups from Garcia and a free-throw from Shaughnessy out of the media timeout. The remaining 3:47 of the half went scoreless as both teams struggled with finding the basket and protecting the ball. Loyola ended the half on a 5-0 run over just about seven minutes, but the Bison extended its overall lead to 12 as they went into the locker room up 22-10.
Bucknell, for the third time in the game, opened the quarter with a three-pointer. This time, the three came from Coskun. Casey followed that up with a layup after Loyola missed a shot. The Greyhounds found two points off of free-throws, but Bucknell immediately responded with an Ashton three-pointer to make it a 30-14 game at the media timeout with 4:52 remaining in the quarter. Out of the break, Watkins barrelled her way to the basket to get a layup for the Greyhounds and cut the deficit to 14. Masonius went 1-for-2 at the line on the Bison's next possession, which the Greyhounds answered by going 2-for-2 from the line. Casey was then fouled and went 1-for-2. Loyola's Betton then found a three to cut the deficit to 10. Elena Houghton closed out the third quarter with a second chance basket off of an offensive rebound to give Bucknell a 34-22 lead heading into the final ten minutes.
Anna Kunzwiler found her first basket of the game to open the fourth quarter scoring. Almost two minutes later, Shaughnessy hit a three for Loyola. Zemitis responded quickly with a Bucknell layup. Loyola made a layup and then after a back-and-forth spurt of quick turnovers and missed baskets, Sims put another one in for Loyola to cut the deficit to single digits. Coskun then made a layup to make it 40-29 in favor of Bucknell with 5:48 left in the game. Loyola was able to find four consecutive points once again, but their run was halted by Casey draining a three-pointer and extending Bucknell's lead to 11. Shaughnessy then hit her second three of the game to make it a 43-35 game. The Bison turned over the ball on their next possession, but were able to stop Loyola from taking advantage. With 1:42 left in the game, Zemitis drained a three as the shot clock was winding down. The Bison forced the Greyhounds to take a tough shot and came up with the rebound. Loyola began to foul the Bison with under a minute left in regulation and Coskun went 2-for-2 from the line. The Greyhounds then made a quick bucket and fouled the Bison on their transition. Zemitis went 2-for-2 from the line on that attempt to make it a 50-37 game. Loyola's Hicks was fouled with 38.9 seconds left and made both of her free-throws to close the gap to 11. The Bison moved the ball around and Houghton found Kuznwiler for a wide open layup. With 9.4 seconds left, Loyola hit a three and then fouled Bucknell to send Casey to the line. Casey made both free throws, but on a buzzer-beating three-pointer, Loyola made it a single-digit game as the Bison took a 54-45 victory in Sojka.
Bucknell will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 4:30 p.m. as they take on Lafayette in Easton as a part of a double header with the men.
