With a win last night, American could have moved into a tie for third place in the Patriot League. Instead, the Eagles found themselves slipping down the standings after losing to Bucknell, 66-60, before 322 at Bender Arena.
American (9-14, 4-6 Patriot League), which failed to take advantage of Colgate's 78-73 loss to Navy, is tied with the Midshipmen in fifth place with four regular season games remaining.
The Eagles, who have lost four of five, have not finished with a losing conference record in four seasons in the Patriot League.
"We're losing right now, but we could still win," said guard Tara Williams, who led the Eagles with 12 points.
"We still have a chance. Our team is almost where we need to be. We just need to play a full 40 minutes."
Injuries have thwarted American this season. Point guard Tala Hadavi tore her anterior cruciate ligament in December and is out for the season.
Chanel Hunt, the Eagles' top returning scorer, tore cartilage in her knee and has not started since Jan. 23. Hunt, who averaged 12.4 points before the injury, has scored in double figures only once in the last six games. She had a particularly difficult shooting night against Bucknell (8-15, 2-8), missing her first eight shots and finishing 2 of 16.
Hunt's first basket did not come until four minutes into the second half when she stole the ball from Rachel Hanley and made a layup. Hunt, who was fouled by Hanley, sank her free throw to tie the score at 41.
That was as close as American came the rest of the way. Bucknell went on a 6-0 run to seize the lead, then held off the Eagles for its first Patriot League road victory of the season. American pulled to 62-60 with 2 minutes 22 seconds remaining, but failed to convert over the final minutes.
Bucknell capitalized on American's lack of depth and a true point guard by pressing the Eagles at every opportunity. The Bison pressure took its toll late in the first half as American began to collect more fouls than field goals.
"I felt like [Bucknell's press] made us hesitant," American Coach Melissa McFerrin said. "We had a bad mentality against their pressure."
The Eagles took their biggest lead, 25-18, on Abby Lipskis's layup with 6:24 left in the first half. Less than 15 seconds later, however, Lipskis fouled Brooke Tomovich.
That foul put the Bison into the bonus.
Over the final 6:11 of the first half, Bucknell scored on eight of 10 trips to the free throw line. The Bison attempted twice as many foul shots as American in the first half, scoring 13 points on free throws. Meantime, American made only one field goal during that span -- a layup by Joanna Barnes.
