Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
10-16,6-9Patriot
American
6-20,4-11Patriot
Bison Women Best American 58-45 in Bender Arena
2/18/2026 8:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An impressive third quarter of all-around play lifted Bucknell women's basketball (10-16, 6-9 PL) to a 58-45 victory over American (6-20, 4-11 PL) in Bender Arena on Wednesday night. After a back-and-forth first half with several lead changes, the Bison out-scored the Eagles 21-11 in the third quarter to gain the momentum needed to break their two-game losing streak.
Bucknell's defense came up big in the contest as it limited American to just 22 points in the second half and limited its leading scorer, Molly Driscoll, to just 11 points in the game. Prior to this contest, the guard averaged 12.5 per game. The Eagles also played without a key part of their offense in Lexi Salazar who was not available.
The first quarter was a story of runs and lead changes as Bucknell edged out American 13-11 thanks to a flurry of threes from Tuana Coskun, Reese Zemitis and Isabella Casey. The second quarter went American's way as it out-scored the Bison 12-7 to take a three-point lead into halftime, with Charlotte Tuhy notching eight points in the quarter for the Eagles. Bucknell took hold of the game in the third quarter as it out-scored AU 21-11 to take a 41-34 lead heading into the final ten minutes of play. Bucknell limited the Eagles to 11 points once again in the fourth quarter as its defense stepped up to allow the offense to play more freely, putting up 17 points to secure the conference win.
Coskun led the way for Bucknell after being limited to just three points in the first half. The junior ended the game with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 shooting from three and 1-of-1 shooting from the free-throw line. She also led the team in steals with two. Reese Zemitis also recorded double-digit points with 13 on 3-of-10 shooting from the field, 3-of-9 shooting from three and 4-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line. Mariah Hardy ended the night with seven points and three rebounds. She shot 3-of-7 from the field. Isabella Casey finished with six points and Kaila Richards, Ella Kreuzer and Desirae Ashton rounded out the group with one bucket apiece.
Zemitis and Anna Kunzwiler led the team in rebounds with seven apiece. Kunzwiler also played an integral role in the offense as she notched seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting from three, with all of her points coming in important moments. Kunzwiler also led the team in assists with four. Ashton led Bucknell in blocks with two in the game.
The Bison led the Eagles in each shooting category this evening starting with a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line compared to American's 14-for-17. Bucknell shot 38.6 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three compared to the Eagle's 28.0 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from three.
American won the rebound battle 37-34, but the Bison made up for that by only having eight turnovers to the Eagles 12.
American opened the game on a 7-0 run, before Bucknell took the momentum and the lead with an eight-point run of their own. Mariah Hardy started Bison scoring with a layup and then Tuana Coskun and Reese Zemitis hit back-to-back three's to put Bucknell up 8-7. Molly Driscoll broke the streak with a bucket, but Bucknell continued to drain threes as Isabella Casey knocked one down to give the Bison an 11-9 lead at the media timeout with 4:14 remaining in the first quarter. Out of the break, a minute went by scoreless before Anna Kunzwiler found a second-chance layup after Zemitis got an offensive board. Almost three minutes of back-and-forth scoreless play later, Rescifina threw up a shot just before the quarter ended to make it a two point game at the end of the first quarter.
Ella Kreuzer opened the second quarter with a bucket , but Rescifina responded with one of her own. Kaila Richards then got her first points of the game, but American went on a 5-0 run to re-take the lead 18-17 at the media timeout with 5:23 left in the half. Out of the break, American extended its run to 10-0 as Bucknell only made one of their last ten shots. Zemitis broke the Eagles scoring run with a three-pointer to cut Bucknell's deficit to three with 1:39 left in the half. The rest of the quarter would go scoreless and American entered the second half with a 23-20 lead.
Bucknell opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run as Coskun drove to the basket for a bucket, the Bison made a stop and Zemitis drained her third three of the game to give Bucknell the lead. Then came a back-and-forth couple of minutes. American got a free-throw which Mariah Hardy answered with a layup. Tuhy then hit a shot which Coskun answered with a mid-range jumper to take a 29-26 lead. The Bison were then able to come up with a big stop and after an offensive board from Coskun, Kunzwiler got in the three-point shooting. Driscoll then got just her second bucket of the game as the Bison had limited her scoring ability, but Coskun answered with one of her own. Tuhy was next up to score with a layup before Coskun answered to extend Bucknell's lead to 36-30 at the media timeout with 4:28 left in the third quarter. Out of the break, Driscoll went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line to cut the deficit to four. After about two minutes of back-and-forth missed opportunities, Kunzwiler came up with an offensive rebound and converted that into a layup to give the Bison a six-point lead with under two minutes left to play. Driscoll went 2-for-2 from the line for the second time in the game to cut the deficit to four, but Casey found her favorite shot, a buzzer-beating three, to end the quarter with Bucknell up 41-34.
American opened with a jumper, but Hardy quickly answered with a three-point play of her own as she drew a foul and made the bucket and free-throw. The Eagles then made four free-throws in a row to cut the deficit to four, but after Kunzwiler saved the ball in transition, Coskun nailed another three. Moore Nicholson then made a layup for American before both teams saw missed shots for the next minute and a half. Coskun broke the scoreless streak with a driving layup to extend Bucknell's lead to seven. The Bison defense then stood strong and forced the Eagles into back-to-back drives with no points ahead of the media timeout with 3:54 left in regulation. Out of the break, the scoreless streak continued to three-minutes before Driscoll made both free-throws, cutting the deficit to five with just over two minutes left to play. American then sported a heavy press that caused the Bison to turnover the ball in transition, but after a defensive stop, Bucknell got back into its flow and Coskun made a driving layup and drew the foul to give her an and-one opportunity to make it a three-point play, which she converted to extend the lead to eight. The Bison then went on a 9-0 run, thanks to their impressive fourth quarter defensive efforts coupled with the Eagles fouling for the final minute of play. Driscol was fouled with just over 20 seconds and went 1-for-2, but it wouldn't be enough as Bucknell would take the road victory 58-45 in Washington, D.C.
The Bison will stay on the road and head to Massachusetts to face Holy Cross on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.
