Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Pittsburgh
Bucknell Women's Basketball Upsets Pittsburgh, 58-57, in Fitzgerald Field House
11/20/2001 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2001
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Sophomore Desire Almind (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren Regional) chose the perfect time to get her offense back, scoring the winning basket with 1:14 remaining in the contest to give her 10 points on the night and the squad a 58-57 upset over the University of Pittsburgh.
The Bison carried a 30-30 score into the locker room at halftime after a Molly Creamer (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) jumper with one second left in the stanza. After another slow start offensively, the Bucknell squad got onto the board first with a bucket at the 18:00 minute mark of the first half. It was the Panthers who took over from there, building a 7-2 advantage with seven unanswered points.
With Pittsburgh holding onto a 12-6 lead, Creamer rattled off 12 points over a three minute span for Bucknell, capped by her second three-pointer of the night, tying the score at 18-18 with 9:07 to play. Behind six points from Pittsburgh's Laine Selwyn and two from Mandy Wittenmyer, the host team jumped back out to a 26-20 lead before the Orange and Blue came storming back with six unanswered to tie the score 26-26 at the 4:12 mark. The two teams went back and forth for remainder of the half before time expired. Creamer led all scorers with 16 at the break, while Pittsburgh got15 from Selwyn.
The second half started much like the first ended, with neither team able to take command of the contest. With 16:19 to go, Creamer gave the Bison their first lead since the 18 minute mark with a three-pointer and one. She missed the ensuing free throw, but a bucket by Almind less than a minute later gave Bucknell its biggest lead of the game at 39-36.
As the game of short runs was continuing, Pittsburgh came back to take a 47-41 lead while the Panther defense held the Bison scoreless for over five minutes. The Orange and Blue came back strong with a 7-0 run to take the lead at 48-47, the last three points a result of another Creamer three-pointer. From the 7:25 mark of the game, there were five lead changes and one tie, but it was Bucknell that came out on top, 58-57, with a jumper with just over a minute remaining. Both teams would have their opportunities in the final minute, but the Bison defense came up big with a stop with two seconds remaining to come away with the win.
Bucknell, which shot 41.9% from the field in the contest, was led by Creamer with 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the floor and 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Her five treys matches a school record for trifecta's in a game. Also in double-figures was Almind with a season-high 10 points. Senior tri-captain Vicki Quimby (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) led the squad on the glass with eight rebounds.
Pittsburgh was led by a 19-point effort from Selwyn, who was joined in double-figures scoring by Wittwenmyer and Dallas Williams. Wittenmyer added 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Williams scored 10 points.
Bucknell improves to 2-0 on the year and will face St. Francis (Pa.) at 2:00 p.m. in Lewisburg on Sunday, November 25. The Panthers fall to 0-2.
