Bucknell University Athletics
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11-17,7-10Patriot
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Women's Basketball Upsets Lehigh 57-45 on Stellar Defensive Performance
2/28/2026 5:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's basketball upset Lehigh on Saturday afternoon in Sojka Pavilion 57-45 thanks to a stellar defensive performance as the Bison limited the Mountain Hawks to over 20 points less than their season average.
With the win, Bucknell improved to 10-17 overall and 7-10 on the season and moved up to sixth in the Patriot League. Lehigh fell to 15-12 overall and 11-5 in the Patriot League and clinched the No.4 spot in the conference playoffs.
The Bison kept it close and held two different leads in the first quarter including a 4-0 run to start the game. The first ten minutes ended with Lehigh up by just two. Lehigh got out to a six-point lead halfway through the second, but the Bison used a 9-0 run to take a 27-25 lead before the Mountain Hawks tied it going into half. Bucknell then out-scored Lehigh 11-6 in the third to take a five point lead as their defense stood tall. The Bison kept rolling in the fourth as they dominated the Mountain Hawks 19-12 to secure the upset win at home.
Bucknell out-shot Lehigh from both the field and from three as it went 17-for-44 (38.6 percent) from the field and 6-for-15 (40.0 percent) from three and the Mountain Hawks shot 13-from-46 (28.3%) from the field and 7-for-23 (30.4%) from three. Lehigh did out-shoot the Bison from the free-throw line as they went 12-for-13 compared to Bucknell's 17-for-19.
Ella Kreuzer and Tuana Coskun led the Bison in scoring with 12 points each. Kreuzer shot 3-for-6 from the field, 2-for-3 from three and 4-for-4 from the free-throw and Coskun shot 6-for-14 from the field. Bucknell's scoring was spread out as eight of the nine players that got on the court recorded points.
The Bison out-rebounded the Mountain Hawks 36-25 and recorded nine steals to Lehigh's seven. Mariah Hardy led the team in rebounds with nine and Reese Zemitis followed closely behind with eight.
The Mountain Hawks did record fewer turnovers than the Bison as they had 14 to Bucknell's 15, but the Bison capitalized on the turnovers with 18 points as opposed to Lehigh who only saw 10 points off of turnovers.
Bucknell's defense, while limiting Lehigh to just 45 points and forcing them to make 14 turnovers, also had five blocks on the afternoon across four different players.
Bucknell opened the game with an early 4-0 run with layups from Marish Hardy and Tuana Coskun while the defense made two stops. Fandre immediately tied the game up however with a four-point play as she was fouled on a made three. Ella Kreuzer then found an open Anna Kunzwiler in the driving lane to put Bucknell up 6-4, but the Mountain Hawks answered with a 5-0 run. Kreuzer found a layup to make it a one point game at the media timeout. Out of the break, Fandre hit a layup and Kunzwiler answered with an open three-pointer for the Bison to tie the game at 11. Lovette hit a three to regain the lead for Lehigh, but the Bison answered with two made free-throws from Kaila Richards to close it to a one point game. Fandre was then fouled and made both to give the Mountain Hawks a 15-13 lead at the end of the first.
The second quarter opened with Lehigh hitting back-to-back three's before Isabella Casey broke the scoring run with two made free-throws for Bucknell. Lehigh hit another layup, but Kreuzer answered with a three-pointer to cut the Bison's deficit to five at the media timeout. Out of the break, Fandre made a contested jumper, but the Bison responded with a 9-0 run to take a 27-25 lead on a three-pointer from Casey, five points from Kreuzer and one from Ashton. Bramer hit a shot to tie it back up going into halftime.
The Bison opened the third quarter by taking the lead with a Coskun jumper. Bramer then made a layup to tie the game once again, but Coksun made a turnaround jumper to put Bucknell up 31-29. Lehigh tied it with two free-throws and a couple minutes of scoreless play later, Casey drained yet another three to give Bucknell a 34-31 lead at the media timeout. Out of the break, Kreuzer hit two free-throws which was answered by two Lehigh free-throws from Fandre. Hardy then fought hard on the inside for a bucket to extend Bucknell's lead to five at the end of the quarter.
The Bison opened the fourth quarter with a Coksun bucket, but Lehigh answered with a three to cut the difference to just four. The Bison followed that up with back-to-back Coskun baskets and a huge defensive stop to take a 44-36 lead at the media timeout. Out of the break, Lehigh got a quick layup, but Bucknell was able to answer a couple of scoreless minutes later with two Zemitis free-throws which the Mountain Hawks answered with two free-throws of their own. Zemitis then hit her first three of the game to extend Bucknell's lead to nine which prompted both teams to begin fouling and calling timeouts. Hardy opened the free-throw party with two free-throws to extend Bucknell's lead to double digits. Lehigh cut it back to single digits with two free-throws of its own, but Zemitis then went 2-for-2 to make it 53-42 with 44.1 seconds left in regulation. Kunzwiler made a play on defense as she got a steal and turned it into a breakaway bucket, but Lehigh responded with a three to cut the deficit to 10. The back and forth play ended with Bucknell taking a 57-45 win in Sojka.
The Bison will host its final game of the regular season on Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. The game against Army will serve as Bucknell's senior day where it will honor its lone senior Elena Houghton.
