Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€" Bucknell's 4-4 effort from three-point land in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter â€"â€" after going 1-16 from beyond the arc prior to that â€"â€" allowed the Bison to build some separation from the Navy women's basketball team on their way to posting a 51-41 victory over the Mids Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

The game served as the Patriot League opener for both teams.

"We had some good practices and scrimmages (this week)," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "It may not have seem like it, but I feel we are a little bit better in some of our sets. It is going to be there. I'm confident. It is an 18-game season and this is the first night. I'm confident it will get there and what we have is good enough. Not making shots was the big difference tonight.."

Neither Navy (6-6) nor Bucknell (7-5) could manage much offense through the first 30 minutes of the game as the Bison took a 29-26 lead over the Mids into the final period of the game. The Bison then began the fourth quarter with a basket and foul shot by Kaitlyn Slagus to double their lead. After Taylor Dunham (So., Fort Belvoir, Va.) hit a jumper for the Mids, Slagus hit back-to-back triples to give Bucknell a 38-30 lead with 7:50 remaining in the game. The ensuing two field goals by the Bison also were three-pointers â€"â€" both by Kyi English â€"â€" which extended their advantage out to 44-32 with 6:14 showing on the clock.

Navy tallied the next four points to cut the margin down to 44-36 with 5:20 left, but Bucknell ran off the next seven points to build a 51-36 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the game.

The Mids, who played the game without leading point producer Sarita Condie (Jr., Lovelock, Nev.) due to an injury, shot 34 percent from the field, made 3-17 (17.6%) three-point shots and were only 4-8 (50%) from the foul line.

"We had enough to win," said Pemper on Condie's absence impacting the game. "We didn't get good enough shots and didn't hit the shots we did take. Our defense was really good. It took a couple of freshmen for them knocking down four three-pointers in the fourth quarter (to win).

"Sarita is a good player and we obviously are better with her, but I thought we had enough to win. Credit Bucknell's defense. Us and them are two of the top-three teams in the league defensively."

Conversely, the Bison shot 45.2 percent from the field â€"â€" including a 7-9 effort in the fourth quarter â€"â€" and made 8-10 (80%) free throw attempts in the game.

Bucknell also held a 39-19 edge on the glass, but committed 28 turnovers while forcing the Mids into 15 turnovers.

"We weren't able to get going in transition, which we thought we may be able to," said Pemper. "We asked Taylor to play a lot of minutes. Bucknell does a nice job with their offense and making people work, so I thought fatigue may have factored in a little. But we just didn't hit enough shots."

Dunham led Navy with nine points while Ashanti Kennedy (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) added eight points.

Slagus, who had totaled 31 points this season, scored 21 points this evening on 8-10 shooting from the floor, a 2-3 showing from three-point land and a 3-3 effort from the foul line.

Navy will open the 2016 calendar by playing Saturday afternoon at Holy Cross.