The AU women’s basketball secured the third seed in the upcoming Patriot League tournament with a 67-53 victory March 1 over Bucknell in Lewisburg Pa.
With the win AU, will host Lafayette in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League tournament March 5 in Bender Arena at 7 p.m.
Victory for the Eagles came in large part from a balanced scoring attack, which saw four Eagles score in the double figures. Leading the AU offense was senior forward Sarah Kiley who logged a career high 18 points. Just behind Kiley with 17 points was senior guard Alexis Dobbs, who also led the Eagles in rebounds with seven and assists with four.
Despite shooting just 57 percent from the free throw line, the Eagles were strong from the field shooting 46 percent and 39 percent from beyond the arc.
Also key to the Eagles’ success was a defensive presence that forced 21 Bison turnovers.
Both teams traded scores for the first six minutes of the first half, with neither team taking more than a three-point lead.
The game began to swing in favor of the Eagles when Dobbs hit a three pointer at the 13:06 mark in the first half, putting the Eagles up 12-10.
The Dobbs score launched the Eagles on a 12-8 run capped off by a layup from Michelle Holmes with 5:29 remaining in the half to push the Eagle lead to eight.
Bucknell did not relinquish and came back to take a 27-26 lead with 2:35 left in the half on a three from Audrey Dotson.
AU responded when Kiley followed with a three of her own to regain the lead for the Eagles and reboot the Eagle offense which would extend its lead to 36-27 at the half.
The Eagles continued to build on their lead in the second half and extend their lead to 16, the largest of the game, when Kiley hit another one of her four three pointers at the 14:59 mark to put the Eagles up 45-29.
The Bison attempted a comeback, making it a six-point game when Shelby Romine hit a jumper with 9:29 remaining in the game, putting the score at 49-43.
The six point difference is the closest the Bison would come to tying the game as Eagles won the game by double-digits.
AU’s 14 conference wins matches their highest total from the 2011-2012 when the Eagles went a perfect 14-0 in conference play when Boston University and Loyola were not members of the Patriot League
