Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Game Against Navy to be Televised on ESPN2
1/30/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Navy at Bucknell women's basketball game that was originally scheduled for Friday, Feb. 14, has been moved to Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. so that the contest can be televised regionally on ESPN2.
Admission to the Patriot League contest is free.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for the League to showcase our women's basketball programs, in particular Bucknell and Navy," said Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich. "This broadcast provides great exposure for these teams and the quality of women's basketball in the Patriot League."
The Navy-Bucknell women's basketball game, which is the first regular-season Patriot League women's basketball game to be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, will be part of a four-game package that will be seen throughout the country at 2 p.m. Virginia at Georgia Tech will be the primary ESPN2 national game, while Navy at Bucknell, Illinois at Purdue and Michigan State at Michigan will be shown in regional markets, which are yet to be determined.
"We are proud to be working with ESPN, which has contributed to the growth of women's basketball on a national level, not just during the post-season, but during the regular-season as well," Femovich added.
Interestingly enough, this is the 10th anniversary of ESPN's only other visit to Lewisburg. The network broadcast the 1993 Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship pitting Holy Cross against Bucknell in Davis Gymnasium.
"We are extremely excited about the opportunity to spotlight our women's basketball program on ESPN2," said Bucknell director of athletics and recreation John Hardt. "ESPN is providing wonderful exposure for the sport of women's basketball with its expansion of coverage, and this exposure is well-deserved for head coach Kathy Fedorjaka and her talented team.
"The Bucknell women's basketball program has a lot in which to be proud, including a 2002 championship trophy and an All-America candidate in Molly Creamer. Also, this represents a tremendous opportunity for Bucknell to showcase our beautiful new state-of-the-art arena, Sojka Pavilion," said Hardt.
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"The Bucknell women's basketball program has a lot in which to be proud, including a 2002 championship trophy and an All-America candidate in Molly Creamer."
John Hardt, Bucknell's Director of Athletics and Recreation
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"We are extremely excited about the opportunity to have our game against Navy televised on ESPN2," commented Fedorjaka. "It is a tremendous opportunity to showcase Patriot League basketball as well as our new 4,000-seat Sojka Pavilion. I know that both teams are looking forward to representing the Patriot League in this market."
The defending Patriot League champion Bison (8-9, 3-2 PL) are riding a three-game winning streak heading into weekend games at Colgate and Holy Cross, while the Midshipmen play Army and Lafayette this weekend. Navy owns an 11-7 overall record and a 1-4 mark in League action.
The contest, which will be played in the state-of-the-art Sojka Pavilion, features a match-up of two of the League's top scorers in Bucknell's Molly Creamer (West Morris Mendham, Pa.) and Navy's Courtney Davidson (New Oxford, Pa.). Creamer leads the league and is third in the NCAA statistics in scoring with a 26.6 point per game average. She has also become the league's and Bucknell's all-time leading scorer this season. Davidson is second in the PL and 23rd nationally in points per game with a 19.3 mark.
 Head coach Kathy Fedorjaka (center) and her coaching staff take on Navy on ESPN2 on February 16. |
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Bucknell leads the all-time series by a 15-13 count, including a 74-65 victory at Navy on January 18. In that game, Creamer, senior guard Kate Franks (Philipsburg, Pa.) and junior forward Desire Almind (Blairstown, N.J.) combined for 66 of BU's 74 tallies. Creamer and Franks shared team scoring honors with 23 points each, while Almind added 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Davidson led the Mids' offensive charge in the early-season meeting with a game-high 27 points, while junior center Adrienne Roseti (Williamsville, N.Y.) came off the bench to contribute 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Bucknell-Navy game is being televised as part of ESPN's regionalization technology test. The test will allow ESPN to prepare to cover all 63 games of the 2003 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament for the first time.
As had been scheduled for Friday, Bucknell will celebrate "National Girls and Women in Sports Day" on Sunday.
The Patriot League, an NCAA Division I athletics conference founded the principle of admitting athletes who are academically representative of their class, is in its second decade of academic and athletic excellence. Participation in intercollegiate athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of the undergraduate experience. A successful Division I-AA football conference since 1986 and an all-sport conference since 1990, membership includes American, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy, while seven additional institutions hold associate membership. Patriot League member institutions are among the oldest and most prestigious in the nation, graduating alumni who are well prepared for life with the ability to make meaningful contributions to their community and society in general. In the most recent NCAA Graduation Rate Report of student-athletes, the Patriot League ranked FIRST among NCAA Division I conferences.
