March 18, 2008
Patriot League Women's Basketball Release - WNIT First Round 
American To Play At Villanova In WNIT
American will be making its first postseason appearance since the 1997-98 season when it plays Villanova on Wednesday in the first round of the WNIT. The game will take place at The Pavilion on Villanova's campus at 7 p.m.
American earned an automatic bid into the WNIT as the Patriot League's top team from the regular season that did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. American posted an 11-3 Patriot League record to earn the top seed in the League's tourney. The Eagles fell in the semifinal round and currently stand at 18-13 overall.
Villanova enters postseason with a 15-15 overall record. The Wildcats lost to Pittsburgh in the first round of the Big East Tournament.
Wednesday will mark the first-ever meeting between American and Villanova. American has played two Big East teams this season, falling to then-No. 16 West Virginia by just four points and Georgetown.
American's last postseason appearance in 1998 was in the WNIT as well. The Eagles fell to Saint Joseph's, 77-68.
This is the second-straight year and third time overall a Patriot League team will be competing in the WNIT. Last year Bucknell dropped a 70-54 game to Hartford and in 2002 Holy Cross lost 70-62 to Vermont in the first round of the WNIT.
The winner of Wednesday night's game will advance to play at Wisconsin in the second round on Saturday, March 22. The Badgers are one of 16 teams in the field with a first-round bye in the bracket.
WNIT Selection
According to the WNIT, if a conference's top-seeded team after the regular season does not win its conference tournament and is not invited to the NCAA Tournament, then it will have a guaranteed spot in the WNIT. That team is determined by conference tournament seeding based on regular-season standings. Seventeen at-large spots are also available for WNIT postseason play.
Patriot League Notebook
Long Range Specialist
American senior Liz Hayes has played just two years in the Patriot League as a transfer from Delaware and has already racked up 142 career three-pointers. She is five treys away from tying American's career mark. She ranks second in the Patriot League this season in three-pointers made with 64.
O-Boards
American's Maggie Smith-Davidson paces the Patriot League in offensive rebounds with 93 this season. The 5-10 forward averaged 3.00 boards on the offensive end per game. In overall rebounding, she ranks third in the League with 6.9 per outing.
As a team American leads the League in rebounding with 38.5 boards per game and is also first in offensive boards with 14.77 per contest and rebounding margin at a +3.5 mark.
American's Other Top Marks
American is also first in the Patriot League in scoring offense (60.4), scoring margin (+3.6) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.291).
Hayes Repeats As Scholar-Athlete
For the second year in a row American's Liz Hayes was named the Patriot League Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Hayes carries a 3.61 grade-point average as a public communications major. She was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA All-District Academic All-America list. The senior guard was named First-Team All-Patriot League this season after averaging 12.9 points per game.
The Eagles' Leader
American Head Coach Melissa McFerrin was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading the Eagles to their first-ever number one seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The team's 11 Patriot League wins are the most for the Eagles since joining the Patriot League in 2001 and the 17 overall victories are the most in the McFerrin era.
Road Warriors
American became just the third team in Patriot League history to go undefeated on the road in League games (7-0) when it notched a 60-57 overtime victory at Lafayette on the last day of the season. The other team to do so was Holy Cross during the 1990-91 campaign and the 1996-97 season. The Crusaders went a perfect 12-0 in Patriot League games both years.
Patriot League Defense
Half of the Patriot League's eight teams rank within the top 50 among NCAA Division I schools in scoring defense. Lehigh is the League's top ranking team, coming in sixth in the nation (52.9). That mark is the best in Patriot League history in the yearly scoring defense category. Also, ranking in to top 50 are Army at 17, American at 32 and Lafayette at 50.
Bucknell To Represent League In NCAA Tournament
Bucknell will play No. 1 seed North Carolina-Chapel Hill on Sunday in Norfolk, Va., at Old Dominion's Ted Constant Convocation Center. Game time is set for Noon. Bucknell earned the Patriot League's automatic bid after being crowned tournament champion last Wednesday. The Bison will be making their second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance on Sunday.
Foster's Mark In NCAA History
Bucknell senior Hope Foster is 19th on the NCAA's Division I all-time blocks list with 343 career rejections. Foster became the League's career block leader earlier this season, surpassing a mark that stood since 1997.
Career Watch
Bucknell senior Hope Foster is first all-time in Patriot League annals in blocks (343), eighth in rebounds (896) and 33rd in points (1,253). Foster needs six more boards to tie former Bison Vicki Quimby for the next slot up with 902 boards for seventh all-time.
Another To 1,000
Bucknell senior Kesha Champion surpassed the 1,000 career points mark with 13 in the Patriot League Tournament Championship Game. She entered the contest needing five to reach the milestone mark. She is the fourth Patriot League player to reach that mark this season and becomes the 58th all-time. She joins teammate Hope Foster as Bison to pass the mark this year.
Bison Tourney Defense
Bucknell limited its three opponents in the Patriot League Tournament to 144 points. That figure is the best three-game total by a team's defense in the tournament. Bison opponents made 50-of-191 (26.2 percent) in the tournament. None of Bucknell's three opponents shot better than 30.0 percent. Just once in the last 13 games has a Bison opponent scored at least 60 points in a game.
Academic Achievement
The Patriot League landed two of its women's basketball student-athletes on the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District list. American senior Liz Hayes was named to the first team in District 2 and Colgate senior Caitlin Gillard was selected to the second team in District 1.
Reaching Six, Most With At Least 18
For the third time in Patriot League history six teams posted six or more League wins. The other two times this has occurred was during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. The League also has its greatest number of teams with at least 18 overall wins (American, Army, Holy Cross and Lehigh) this season.
Closing Out Careers
Army' Cara Enright, Holy Cross' Laura Aloisi and Lafayette's Vanessa Van De Venter both closed out their careers in the Patriot League Tournament, but not before leaving their mark in the Patriot League record books. Enright finished her career seventh all-time in the Patriot League in scoring (1,719) and ninth in three-pointers made (174). Aloisi closed out her career with 445 assists over four years, including only playing 10 games last season before sitting out due to injury. Aloisi's 445 assists rank her seventh on the Patriot League's all-time career chart. Van De Venter ranks 24th in all-time scoring (1,381) and 26th in career rebounds (643).
Promoting Women's Hoops
The Patriot League received one of 17 grants as part of the newly designed NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program. Approximately $750,000 in grant money was given to schools and conferences by the NCAA. The Patriot League received $40,000 as part of the program. The grant program is designed to foster the growth of women's basketball on NCAA member campuses and within NCAA member conferences.
Patriot League All-Access and Highlights
Watch the majority of Patriot League Men's and Women's Basketball regular-season and tournament games on high-speed Broadband. For $7.95 a month, this cutting-edge technology takes your from your seat to the sideline with multi-camera coverage. Visit your school's website or www.PatriotLeague.com for more information.
A twice-a-week highlight package can also be found on the Patriot League website. The highlight videos are free of charge and will be available on the League's website twice a week. Footage is taken from the Patriot League's and CSTV's All-Access package.
