Bucknell University Athletics
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9-15,5-8Patriot
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Hardy Records Career-High 14 Points in Bison Loss to League-Leading Navy
2/11/2026 8:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Navy took control of the game early, out-scoring Bucknell 20-2 in the first quarter. The Midshipmen rode that momentum to a 66-43 win in Alumni Hall on Wednesday night, snapping the Bison's three-game winning streak.
The Midshipmen moved to 11-1 in Patriot League play, while the Bison fell to 5-8 with the loss. Despite a dominant Navy squad, Mariah Hardy notched a career-high 14 points, leading the Bison in scoring. The freshman shot 5-for-10 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line. Tuana Coskun was the other Bison that notched double-digit points with 10.
Bucknell and Navy finished with 36 rebounds apiece. Anna Kunzwiler led the Bison in rebounds with seven and Hardy followed closely behind with six.
Bucknell's defense did a solid job of limiting a Navy squad that averages over 70 points a game to just 66 in the contest. The Midshipmen shot 43.6 percent on 24-of-55 shooting from the field, 4-of-15 from three and 14-of-18 from the line. On the other end, Bucknell shot 30.9 percent on 17-for-55 shooting from the field, 3-for-15 from three and 6-for-9 from the line.
Bucknell ended the game with 20 total turnovers after notching 10 in just the first quarter. The Midshipmen finished with 13 turnovers in the contest.
The first quarter went all Navy's way as the Midshipmen nearly blanked Bucknell, with the Bison's first bucket coming with under 10 seconds left. Navy opened the game on a 20-0 run. There was about four minutes of scoreless play in the quarter, but overall Bucknell struggled to maintain possession and find the basket. The Bison went 1-for-7 from the field, 0-3 from three and 0-2 from the free-throw line in the first quarter and had 10 turnovers.
Bucknell limited the Midshipmen to 12 points in the second half and Mariah Hardy put up nine-points for the Bison as their lone second quarter scorer. The second quarter opened with 1:17 of scoreless play before Navy found back-to-back buckets to extend its lead. Mariah Hardy then drove to the basket, made the layup and was fouled on the play to give the Bison some energy. She made the free-throw to cut the deficit to under 20. Barnett-Gay then found back-to-back layups off of turnovers by the Bison to extend the lead once again. Hardy hit another layup for Bucknell to bring its point total to seven, but Demos was fouled and went 2-for-2 from the line to give Navy a 30-7 lead at the media timeout with 4:55 remaining in the first half. Out of the break, two minutes went scoreless before Hardy found another layup for Bucknell. Navy answered with a bucket of their own, but Hardy was right back under the basket and reeled in a pass from Hope Masonius for another two. The final minute of the half went scoreless and the Midshipmen took a 32-11 lead into halftime.
The third quarter went even in scoring with both teams putting up 17 points. Reese Zemitis found her first bucket of the game to open the third quarter for the Bison. Barnett-Gay answered with a bucket of her own and after a turnover, Mesuch found another quick layup for the Midshipmen to extend its lead to 23. Navy then called a timeout with 8:15 left in the third quarter. Out of the break, about a minute went scoreless with both teams missing shots before Zemitis had a nice move for a layup, which Bucknell followed up with a stop and Hardy going 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to cut the Bison deficit to 20. The Midshipmen then found a three-pointer on their next possession. Isabella Casey came into the mix on Bucknell's possession with under six left in the third as she banked in a layup, but Mesuch responded with her second three-pointer in just over a minute. At the media timeout with 4:37 remaining, the Midshipmen led the Bison 42-18. Out of the break, Coskun went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, but Navy quickly got those points back off of a quick bucket. On Bucknell's next possession Ella Kreuzer found her first basket of the game and the Bison's first made three-pointer. Navy then made another bucket in the paint, but Coskun knocked down a three to cut the deficit to 20. After two minutes of missed shots and turnovers on both sides of the ball, Desirae Ashton got her name in the books with a jumper, but Navy responded with a layup to end the quarter up 49-28.
The Midshipmen opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run, before Hardy found a basket to earn a new career-high 12 points in scoring. Navy then went on a 5-0 run to take a 60-30 lead. Ahead of the media timeout, Hardy was fouled and went 2-for-2 from the line to bring the deficit under 30 with 4:56 remaining in regulation. Out of the break, Hope Masonius got her first bucket off of a jumper and then after a stop, Ashton put in a quick layup to extend Bucknell's scoring run to 6-0. Moschella was fouled on Navy's next possession and went 1-for-2 from the line, but Coskun immediately responded with a three. The Midshipmen then extended their lead to 63-39 with 2:45 remaining with a jumper. Ashton made a driving layup and after a back-and-forth minute of missed opportunities, the Midshipmen found a point off of a free-throw. Kaila Richards drove in for a layup, but Navy answered with one of their own to take the win 66-43 on Wednesday evening.
Bucknell will head back home for a Valentines Day game in Sojka against Boston University on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m.
