The Bison women’s basketball team cruised past the Lafayette Leopards on Feb. 9, winning by a final score of 75-43 in front of a large home crowd at Sojka Pavilion. They added a 73-68 victory at Lehigh on Feb. 13 to maintain first place in the Patriot League. The Bison’s ninth and tenth straight wins improve the team to an overall record of 20-4 and 11-1 within the Patriot League.

With the Lafayette victory, the senior class of Kaitlyn Slagus ’19, Kate Walker ’19, Rachel Dumiak ’19, Kyi English ’19, and Maegan Mikkelsen ’19 became the winningest class in program history, boasting a record of 94-28 over their four-year careers at the University. They surpassed the class of 2018, who had 92 wins over four years, to capture their spot in Bison athletics history. This special group of seniors only needs six more wins to break the Patriot League record of 99 wins set by Army West Point’s 2016 senior class.

Every player on the roster scored in the blowout win over Lafayette. Slagus, Walker, and Taylor O’Brien ’22 had a three-way tie for top scorers for the game with 10 points apiece. The Bison showed off their depth with bench players tallying 34 points. Mikkelsen had five points while Ally Johnson ’21 added five points and three assists.

“It was so exciting to get everyone involved and a part of a big win that gives us energy to do big things this upcoming playoff season,” O’Brien said.

The Orange and Blue defense forced 21 turnovers while only turning the ball over eight times themselves. In the first quarter, the Bison’s defense held the Leopards to a four-point output, leading 20-4 after 10 minutes of play. Going into halftime, the Bison led 41-17. English contributed a solid effort in the first half, adding eight points and five assists. Ellie Mack ’20 added nine points and five rebounds while Abby Kapp ’21 added six rebounds.

“We came out aggressive on defense from the start and that really set the tone. Our constant pressure took them out of their offense and led to transition buckets at the other end,” Walker said.

On Feb. 13, in a mid-week game against the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh, the Bison battled to a 73-68 win. Midway through the third quarter, Walker scored her 1,000th point, just the 24th player in the history of the program to accomplish this tremendous feat.

Along with Walker, English is closing in on reaching the illustrious 1,000-point milestone. English currently sits at 966 points, while Slagus continues to make her mark as one of the program’s top-10 all-time scorers, with an up-to-date total of 1,352 points and is fifth in rebounds with 878.

The Bison will take the court again and maintain their momentum when they face Colgate on Feb. 16 at 2 p.m.