Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Begins Four-Game Road Trip at Colgate
1/30/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2003
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BUCKNELL VS. NAVY GAME TO AIR ON ESPN2: The Bucknell vs. Navy game, originally scheduled for Friday, February 14, has been moved to Sunday, February 16, so the contest can be televised regionally on ESPN2.
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.
ABOUT TONIGHT'S GAME: The Orange and Blue come into this evening's contest on a three-game win streak, picking up Patriot League victories over Navy, Army and Lafayette. The Bison are looking for their second-straight road-win of the season. Bucknell is 8-9 overall and 3-2 in Patriot League play.
Colgate enters tonight's game with a 6-11 overall record and a mark of 1-4 in conference action. The Raiders have dropped two-straight, including a 54-51 setback at American and a 73-57 loss at Navy.
THE COLGATE SERIES: Bucknell holds a 22-13 lead in the 30 year history of the series. The Bison have won six of the last nine contests versus the Raiders, but have dropped three of the last four at Colgate. Last year, the Orange and Blue traveled to Hamilton and fell to Colgate, 84-81.
The Orange and Blue lead 12-3 when playing at home, 8-7 in Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y., and trail the Raiders on neutral sites, 2-3.
THE LAST TIME OUT: Senior Kate Franks scored seven of her team-high 26 points during a crucial stretch in the second half, helping the squad to an 87-73 victory over Lafayette. The win was the third-straight for the Bison, improving to 3-2 in conference action.
Bucknell led by as many as five in the opening frame before a 7-2 Leopards run tied the contest at 15-15 with 11:59 to go. With the score knotted at 20 a piece just over two minutes later, Lafayette mounted a 12-4 spurt, capped by an Ashley MacLelland three-pointer, to take a 32-24 lead with just under six minutes left in the half. Colleen Fitzpatrick scored five of her game-high 29 points during the stretch.
The Bison slowly chipped away at the deficit, getting within two on a jumper by senior Molly Creamer with 25 seconds until the intermission. With one second remaining until the break, Elecia Kruise fouled freshman Chelsea Smith on a battle for a rebound. Smith went to the line and calmly sunk both attempts to send the teams into the locker room in a 42-42 deadlock.
It remained a back-and-forth battle for the first two minutes of the final stanza, before a layup by Desire Almind jump started the Bison offense to a 22-9 run, spanning nearly 10 minutes, and giving the Orange and Blue a commanding 70-56 lead. Bucknell got points from six different players during the stretch, including seven from Franks and six each from Almind and Creamer.
The Leopards would only get within eight the rest of the way as Bucknell cruised to the 14-point victory.
Bucknell shot .564 (31-55) from the field for the game, due to an impressive .607 (17-28) percentage in the second half. The trio of Almind, Creamer and Franks combined to shoot 25-of-42 (.595) from the field and score 70 of BU's 87 points. Franks led the squad with 26 points, while Almind and Creamer chipped in with 22 each. Creamer recorded her third double-double of the year with a season-best 13 assists.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET: Bucknell shot a sizzling 75.0% from the field in the first half on its way to a 59-32 halftime advantage, tying a school and Patriot League record for points in a half.
The Bison ended the game with a 66.1% field goal percentage, a new school record, and a 96-69 victory over the Raiders.
Molly Creamer registered a double-double by halftime with 21 points and 10 assists. She ended the contest with a game-high 29 points and 12 assists.
Bucknell trailed by three early in the game, but put together a 9-2 run to take a four-point lead, 17-13. Up 17-16 with 15:31 to go in the half, the Bison embarked on a 7-0 tear to go ahead by eight. The score stood at 29-21 in BU's favor when the Raiders offense went dry, missing seven straight shots while the Orange and Blue connected on 6-of-8 during a 12-0 run that put the Bison up 20, 41-21. Colgate got no closer than 18 the rest of the game.
