BY NATALIE HEAVREN SPORTS EDITOR

Women’s basketball fell to 4-5 after a 64-51 loss to Bucknell early Wednesday afternoon. 

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Points in the paint were lacking

The Patriots had just 10 points in the paint in the first three quarters, while the Bison had 20. The game was won in the post and the Patriots did not win it. 

“We got to get better shots. We absolutely have to find a low block game — and we don’t have that right now,” head coach Nyla Milleson said.

She later added, “But some of it is our posts just are not really sitting and demanding the basketball.”

Vita Stam, Allie McCool, Camarie Gatling and Jacy Bolton give this team the opportunity to control the paint, something they will need to take advantage of if they are going to win games. 

Vita Stam can be a difference-maker

Vita Stam received word that she was eligible to play Monday night and played her first minutes against the Bison. 

In her first game, she had six points and six rebounds in 20 minutes. 

Milleson believes Vita can help the team’s low block presence. “I thought she came in for game number one and — finding out less than 48 hours ago — I thought, you know, she came in and gave us some presence there,” she said. “But we shouldn’t have to rely on her.”

Something needs to change

The team has lost four straight games after their historic win over Penn State. Milleson, who usually has answers to everything, was uncharacteristically speechless at her press conference.

“I’m usually not out of words but I don’t have the answers right now,” she said. “We’ll certainly use these next two weeks to get better, but we’re really not good at any phase of the game right now and I don’t really have answers as to why.”

She also stated, “It’s back to day one of practice, [the] slots [are] wide open, you know some of our returners just, you look at the numbers over the last four or five games and there’s lots of zeros. So, you know, we’re going to start back at square one and get back to some fundamental things.”

She does see hope for the future. “This is the same team that beat Penn State, this is the same team that has won games and scored … It’s up to me and my staff to get the ship righted,” Milleson said. “We’ve got two weeks to do it and we certainly will get it done.”

The Patriots return home Dec. 21 when they take on Howard at noon.