Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Bucknell Takes Second Place in Patriot League With 75-51 Loss at Holy Cross
2/20/2002 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2002
WORCESTER, Mass. - Just one game after a shooting a school record 66.1% from the field, the Bucknell women's basketball team shot a dismal 35.5% from the floor on its way to a 75-51 loss at Holy Cross on Tuesday evening. The 24-point loss, BU's largest of the season, dropped the Bison into second place in the conference, and clinched the top-seed for the Crusaders.
The Orange and Blue started the contest strong, scoring the first four points and forcing a turnover on Holy Cross' first three trips down the court. With 14:02 to play, Bucknell clung to an 11-10 lead before the Crusaders mounted a 9-2 run to turn the one-point deficit into a seven point lead four minutes later. After Bucknell cut it to five on a jumper by sophomore Desire Almind (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren Regional), Holy Cross proceeded to make seven of their next nine shots to push its lead to 11, 34-23, with 2:43 to go in the half.
The Bison trailed by as many as 14 in the closing minutes, but junior Molly Creamer (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) hit two of three free throws after a foul on a three-point attempt at the buzzer to get Bucknell within 12, 39-27, at the intermission.
BU quickly cut it to 10 to open the second half, but the Crusaders outscored the team 16-6 over the next eight minutes to build their lead to 20, 55-35. Things only got worse from there as Holy Cross went on another 16-6 run to increase its advantage to 71-41, the largest lead of the game, with 5:36 to play. With 4:05 to play, Creamer, Bucknell's leading scorer who had not taken her first shot of the second half until the 6:45 mark, hit a three-pointer to make it 73-48, but the Bison could only manage three points the rest of the way.
Bucknell, averaging 72.5 points per game entering the game, recorded its second-lowest offensive output of the season.
The Bison fall to 17-9 overall and 10-3 in the Patriot League. With the loss, the Orange and Blue will be the second seed in the Patriot League tournament for the fourth straight year. The Crusaders improve to 20-6 on the year and 11-2 in the conference while clinching their sixth straight regular-season title.
Bucknell (51)
LeBlanc 3-5 1-2 7, Quimby 6-10 0-0 12, Almind 4-13 2-2 10, Creamer 4-15 2-3 11, Franks 1-9 0-0 2, May 0-0 0-0 0, Hatalsky 0-1 0-0 0, Hettler 0-1 1-2 1, Florence 0-1 0-0 0, Valdner 1-2 0-0 2, Rounsley 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 22-62 6-9 51.
Holy Cross (75)
Zawadkas 5-8 0-0 10, O'Keefe 5-9 2-2 12, Paukert 2-8 0-0 5, Fontana 4-8 5-5 13, Abraham 6-10 6-8 19, Andrews 0-2 0-0 0, Campbell 4-5 4-5 12, Popovics 0-0 1-2 1, O'Connor 1-4 1-2 3, Fitzgerald 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-54 19-24 75.
Halftime: Holy Cross 39, Bucknell 27. 3-Point Shots: Bucknell 1-10 (Creamer 1-4, Hatalsky 0-1, Hettler 0-1, Franks 0-4), Holy Cross 2-11 (Abraham 1-3, Paukert 1-4, Fontana 0-1, O'Connor 0-3). Rebounds: Bucknell 31 (Quimby 8), Holy Cross 39 (Fontana 9). Assists: Bucknell 18 (Creamer 6), Holy Cross 22 (Fontana, Paukert 5). Steals: Bucknell 12, Holy Cross 13. Fouls: Bucknell 15, Holy Cross 12. Fouled Out: none. Technical Fouls: none. Attendance: 2763. Team Records: Bucknell 17-9, 10-3 PL, Holy Cross 20-6, 11-2 PL.
