Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Picked Second in Preseason Patriot League Poll
8/30/2002 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Aug. 30, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's basketball team, the 2001-02 Patriot League champions, have been picked to finish second in the conference in a preseason poll of head coaches and sports information directors, the Patriot League office announced Friday. In addition, senior guard Molly Creamer (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) has been tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year.
Holy Cross, the winner of six of the last eight championships, was picked to reclaim the Patriot League title in the preseason poll. The Crusaders garnered 11 of 16 first-place votes and 95 points overall. Bucknell earned three first-place nominations, picking up 84 points for second. Colgate was third with 66 points and one first-place vote, while Lehigh (65) finished just one point behind the Raiders for fourth in the voting. Navy (1) was the only other school to collect a first-place vote, picking up 44 points for fifth, and American fell in at sixth with 42 points. Army and Lafayette rounded out the poll with 37 and 15 points, respectively.
In addition to her Preseason Player of the Year selection, Creamer was also named to the Preseason All-Patriot League team. The squad, which mirrors the all-conference first-team from last season, includes Navy's Courtney Davidson, Katie Macfarlane of Army, Katie O'Keefe of Holy Cross and Lehigh's Anne Tierney.
The Patriot League Player of the Year the past two seasons, Creamer led the conference in 2001-02 in scoring and assists with 22.4 ppg and 5.8 apg. With her second-straight Player of the Year selection, Creamer became just the fifth repeat winner in Patriot League history, and only the second player to repeat the honor as a sophomore and a junior.
A starter in all 31 games last season, and 85 straight dating back to her freshman year, Creamer had one of the most impressive seasons by a Bucknell women's player in school history. The 5-10 guard entered the year with 1,008 career points as just a junior, and promptly became the first player in school or Patriot League history to score over 1,500 points, hand out over 400 assists and grab over 200 steals. Creamer set a Bucknell single-season scoring record with 695 points, passing the old mark of 619 held by Jen Walz, which had stood since 1988-89. She was named the MVP of both the Nassau Knockout and the Patriot League Tournament, in addition to garnering her second-straight Patriot League Player of the Year award. Including a school record-setting single-game scoring performance of 43 points in a contest against Army in January, Creamer enters her senior season with 1,703 career points.
In just three seasons, Creamer has already climbed to second-place on the Bucknell and Patriot League scoring charts. She is also second on the school's assist list, and sixth on the conference list, with 426 helpers. In addition, Creamer holds the Bucknell career record for three-pointers in a season (63) and career (133).
Bucknell ended its 2001-02 season with a 21-10 mark, setting a school record for wins. It is the second-straight 20-win season for the program, and only the second in Bison history. The Orange and Blue captured the school's first-ever Patriot League title, defeating four-time defending league champions, Holy Cross, to snap the Crusaders 61-game home win streak over Patriot League opponents. Bucknell's season came to a close with an 80-56 loss to seventh-ranked Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bucknell opens its 2002-03 campaign with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Penn State in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT on November 15.
2002-03 Preseason Patriot League Poll:
| Institution | Points (1st) | 2002 Overall | 2002 Patriot League | |
| Holy Cross | 95 (11) | 23-8 | 12-2 | |
| Bucknell | 84 (3) | 21-10 | 11-3 | |
| Colgate | 66 (1) | 14-17 | 7-7 | |
| Lehigh | 65 | 12-16 | 8-6 | |
| Navy | 44 (1) | 13-15 | 5-9 | |
| American | 42 | 12-15 | 7-7 | |
| Army | 37 | 11-18 | 5-9 | |
| Lafayette | 15 | 3-25 | 1-13 | |
2002-03 Preseason All-Patriot League Team:
| Name, Institution | Year | Pos. | Ht. | Hometown/Secondary School |
| Molly Creamer, Bucknell, Bucknell | Sr. | G | 5-10 | Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham |
| Courtney Davidson, Navy | Jr. | G | 5-10 | New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford |
| Katie Macfarlane, Army | Jr. | F | 6-0 | Clarence, N.Y./Clarence Central |
| Katie O'Keefe, Holy Cross | Sr. | C | 6-2 | Stratham, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas |
| Anne Tierney, Lehigh | Sr. | F/C | 6-0 | Hawthorne Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich |
Preseason Player-of-the-Year: Molly Creamer, Bucknell, Bucknell, Sr., Guard
