LEWISBURG, Pa. (Interstat) — In a defensive struggle defined by offensive inefficiency, the Bucknell Bison used a dominant fourth-quarter performance to secure a 57-45 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in a Patriot League women’s basketball game Saturday at Sojka Pavilion.

The game, witnessed by 363 fans, was a stark contrast to the teams’ previous meeting just eight weeks prior, a 74-43 Lehigh rout. This time, Bucknell flipped the script, holding Lehigh to its second-lowest scoring output of the season and overcoming its own shooting woes with superior execution down the stretch.

The contest was a grind from the outset. Lehigh, which entered with a 15-11 record, managed just 13 field goals on 46 attempts, a frigid 28.3 percent. Bucknell, now 10-17, was not much better, shooting 38.6 percent on 17-of-44 shooting. The difference materialized at the free-throw line, where the Bison converted 17 of 19 attempts compared to Lehigh’s 12-of-13, and in the critical final period.

Lehigh’s Lily Fandre, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Eagan, Minnesota, provided the bulk of her team’s offense, finishing with a game-high 17 points, four assists and two steals in 38 minutes. Her backcourt mate, Gracyn Lovette of San Rafael, California, added six assists, six points and two blocks. Belle Bramer contributed 10 points for the Mountain Hawks.

For Bucknell, balance and timely scoring proved decisive. Ella Kreuzer, a 5-10 sophomore from Chatham, New Jersey, orchestrated the offense with 12 points and five assists. The interior presence of 6-foot freshman Tuana Coskun from Istanbul, Turkey, was pivotal; she scored 12 points, all in the second half, on an array of post moves. Reese Zemitis of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, added nine points, including clutch free throws late, while Anna Kunzwiler from Leesburg, Virginia, chipped in seven points, two assists and two steals.

The game was tight through three quarters, with Bucknell holding a narrow 38-33 lead. The Mountain Hawks had stayed close despite their shooting struggles, but the fourth quarter belonged entirely to the Bison. Bucknell opened the final frame with a 6-0 run, keyed by two baskets from Coskun, to extend its lead to 44-33 with 7:13 remaining.

Lehigh’s offensive drought reached a critical point, scoring only six points in the entire third quarter and going over five minutes without a field goal to start the fourth. A three-pointer from Lehigh’s Alana Reddy of Sydney, Australia, momentarily stopped the bleeding, but Bucknell responded immediately. Coskun scored on consecutive possessions, the latter off an assist from Zemitis, to push the lead back to 44-36.

The most important sequence of the game, which effectively sealed the outcome, occurred in the final three minutes. With Bucknell leading 46-40, Zemitis drained a crucial three-pointer from the wing off a Coskun assist with 2:50 left, stretching the advantage to nine points. Lehigh, which had relied on Fandre’s scoring all afternoon, missed its next two three-point attempts on the ensuing possession.

From there, Bucknell closed the game at the free-throw line with precision. Zemitis and Mariah Hardy combined to make five of six free throws in the final 48 seconds to extinguish any hope of a Lehigh comeback. The Bison outscored Lehigh 19-12 in the fourth quarter, with Coskun accounting for eight of those points.

Defensively, Bucknell’s activity was a constant disruptor. The Bison recorded nine steals and five blocks, with Kunzwiler and Zemitis each coming up with key thefts in the closing minutes. Lehigh turned the ball over 13 times, which Bucknell converted into 12 points. While the Mountain Hawks also forced 14 Bucknell turnovers, they could only muster seven points off them, emblematic of their offensive struggles throughout the afternoon.

The victory improved Bucknell’s Patriot League record and provided a measure of revenge for the January defeat. Lehigh, which had won five of its last six coming in, saw a two-game winning streak snapped as its offense failed to find any consistent rhythm outside of Fandre’s efforts.

Both teams conclude their regular seasons on Wednesday. Bucknell will host Army, while Lehigh returns home to face American.