Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh *
Bucknell Drops 74-67 Game to Lehigh in Sojka Pavilion Debut
1/15/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - It was another bittersweet night for Bucknell senior Molly Creamer. The 5-10 guard became the Patriot League's all-time leading scorer with a 35-point game and 2,079 career points, but it came in a 74-67 loss to Patriot League rival Lehigh on opening night of Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell's brand-new 4,000-seat arena.
The Bison trailed by as many as 20 in the contest, before turning it on over the final 3:27 of the game to get within three. The score stood at 65-46 in Lehigh's favor when Creamer scored 14 unanswered for the Orange and Blue, including two three-pointers with girls in her face, over a two minute span to get Bucknell within five, 65-60. Less than a minute later, Creamer scored her 19th straight point for the Bison to make it a three-point game with less than a minute to play. The Bison were forced to foul, and the Mountain Hawks converted 6-of-6 down the stretch for the seven-point victory.
Bucknell let the game slip away in the first half, suffering through nearly an eight minute scoring drought to close out the frame. Leading 26-20 with 7:57 left in the opening half, the Orange and Blue went silent from the field, failing to score the rest of the half. The Mountain Hawks took advantage of the BU cold spell, outscoring the host team 17-0 until halftime.
The Orange and Blue drought continued in the second half with Bucknell's first field goal not coming until the 15:44 mark of the frame after 16-straight misses from the first half on. Lehigh had built a 20-point lead by that point, and it was too much to overcome.
The Mountain Hawks' Carli Toliver was a large part of their success, scoring a career-high 26 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the floor, six of those coming from downtown. Three other starters joined Toliver in double-figures. Jana Ransom scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Jessica DePalo and Anne Tierney tallied 10 markers each. Tierney led the squad with a game-high 17 caroms.
Creamer led all players with 35 points, her school record 13th 30-point game. The co-captain needed 32 points entering the contest to break Amy O'Brien's (Holy Cross) conference scoring record of 2,075. Creamer now stands just 34 points shy of the Bucknell career scoring record of 2,112, held by 1989 graduate Jen Walz.
Bucknell falls to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in the Patriot League for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Bucknell hits the road for a game at Navy on Saturday, January 18, at 1:00 p.m. The Mountain Hawks improve to 5-8 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
