Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
11-19,7-11Patriot
Colgate (PL First Round)
7-23,2-16Patriot
No. 7 Bucknell Falls to No. 10 Colgate in First Round of Patriot League Playoffs
3/7/2026 6:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. — The Bucknell women's basketball team fell to Colgate 57-47 in the first round of the Patriot League tournament on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
Bucknell nearly erased a 19-point deficit after the first quarter, but Colgate held strong defensively to hold off the Bison and inch away in the final few minutes of the game.
Colgate's Ella Meabon led all scorers with a 24-point performance to lead the Raiders. Madison Schiller scored 11 as the two combined 35 of Colgate's 57 points.
Tuana Coskun led the Bison with 18 points and Reese Zemitis scored 10. The Bison shot 35.3 percent from the field and went just 4-for-24 from behind the arc. The Raiders shot 42.0 percent from the field and were 6-for-17 from three. The Bison had 16 turnovers that led to 21 points for Colgate.
The first half of the game was a tale of two quarters as Colgate opened with a dominant 23-4 first quarter before Bucknell cut into the deficit with an 11-0 run and a defensive effort that held the Raiders to just five points in the second to make it a 13 point game at halftime. Bucknell then dominated scoring in the third quarter 21-13 to cut it to a five point game heading into the final stanza. While the Bison brought it back to a two point game in the fourth quarter, the Raiders brought it back and ultimately out-scored Bucknell 16-11 to earn the playoff win.
Colgate opened the contest on an 11-0 run before the Bison called a timeout and Isabella Casey found a driving layup with 3:15 left in the first. Colgate then went on a 10-2 run in the final three minutes of the quarter as Ella Meabon led the Raiders in scoring with 10 points.
Meabon opened the second quarter with another bucket before Reese Zemitis was fouled and made both free-throws. Almost four minutes of scoreless action later, Tuana Coskun got her first bucket of the day to cut the deficit to 18 at the media timeout with four minutes remaining in the half. Out of the break, Coskun and Mariah Hardy hit back-to-back buckets to make it an 11-0 run for the Bison as Colgate went cold and shot 1-for-13 in the same timeframe. Colgate broke the scoring run with a Schiller bucket with 1:20 left in the half.
Bucknell opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run as Reese Zemitis, Coskun and Anna Kuznwiler each hit three's to make it a six point game with 7:59 left in the third. Out of a timeout called by Colgate, Ferguson hit a three for the Raiders. Coskun then made a layup, but Colgate answered with one of its own to go up 35-26. A couple of scoreless minutes later, Casey made a layup for the Bison and Streiff followed that up with a bucket for Colgate ahead of the media timeout. Out of the break, Ella Kreuzer went two-for-two from the free-throw line which the Raiders answered with a Meabon bucket to make it 39-30 with 3:23 left in the third quarter of play. Bucknell then went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to three with a minute left in the third quarter. With under 30 seconds left, Schiller came up with a big steal to extend Colgate's lead to five at the end of the quarter.
Coskun opened the fourth with a 2-for-2 performance at the line to cut the deficit to three, but Colgate answered with back-to-back Meabon buckets. Desirae Ashton then hit an open layup to cut it back to five. About three minutes of scoreless play later, Zemitis hit her second three of the night to make it a two point game, the closest it has been since the first quarter. Colgate then hit a three of their own and came up with a huge defensive stop before Klag made her second bucket of the night to give the Raiders a seven point lead. Tuana Coskun then hit a shot to make it a five point game once again and a timeout was taken with 2:03 left in regulation. Out of the break, Meabon added two free-throws to her tally with just over a minute left and after another defensive stop for the Raiders, the Bison began to foul and Colgate racked up two more points off of free-throws. Kunzwiler was able to find a layup with 10.8 seconds remaining to make it an eight point game, but it wouldn't be enough as Colgate would find two more free-throws to take the first round road win 57-47 in Sojka Pavilion.
