Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Cornell
Bison Clipped By Cornell, 68-62
12/5/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2003
Senior Karen Force put forth a strong performance in the Big Red's home opener, tallying team highs of 15 points and seven assists to lead Cornell women's basketball team to a 68-62 come-from-behind win over Bucknell in the opening round of the 2003 Cornell Classic. The victory was the first of the season for the Big Red, which will play in the championship game of the Classic tomorrow at 7 p.m. against James Madison, which defeated Winthrop, 80-49, earlier in the day. Cornell and Bucknell both move to 1-4 on the year.
Cornell scored the first basket of the game on a layup by senior tri-captain Lauren Kilduff, but the Bison built an early 15-8 lead with under 13 minutes left in the opening half. The Big Red made sure that would be the visitor's largest lead before the half, as it put together a 13-4 run to gain a 21-19 edge with 6:51 remaining before the break. With the home team up 23-21, Bucknell went on to score six of the half's final eight points to take a 27-25 lead into the locker room.
Kilduff led all scorers at the break with 11 points. Freshman Lindsey Hollobaugh led Bucknell in scoring at the half with seven points and after missing her first four shots, senior Desire Almind made her final three attempts and had six points and a team-best six rebounds entering the second half.
The Bison came out strong in the second half, opening with a 14-5 run to take what would be their largest lead of the game at 41-30. Six different players scored for Bucknell during the run. Cornell would not back down, however, as it answered with a commanding 20-4 run that spanned just under eight minutes and culminated in a pair of baskets by sophomore Brittani Rettig. The result was a 50-45 lead for Cornell.
The Big Red was able to maintain its lead until Hollobaugh sank a pair of free throws with 3:10 left in regulation to knot the score at 58-58. Cornell played tough down the stretch, scoring the next six points, as Force hit two key baskets and found Romey, who was open on the left side and converted to make it a 64-58 contest. Almind got an offensive rebound and put it back up and in with 41 seconds left to cut the lead to four, but Force sank a pair of free throws after getting fouled on the Big Red's next possession to get the lead back to six. The team's traded baskets in the final 17 seconds before Cornell would go to celebrate its first win of the season.
Force entered the night with 335 career assists and with her game-high seven on the night, she passed Kim Ruck '98 (336) and Do Stevens '02 (339) to move into third all-time in that category in Big Red history. She also added seven rebounds on the year, but classmate Dani Aretino pulled down 13 boards to help Cornell hold a 35-31 rebounding edge. Kilduff finished with 14 points, while Romey and senior Tanya Karcic each netted 11. Sophomore Hillary Seidel made all three of her attempts from the floor and added a free throw to record a career-high seven points.
Almind tallied game highs of 18 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks to lead the way for the Bison. Hollobaugh finished with 16 points as she and Almind each went 7-of-13 from the field.
In the day's first contest, James Madison built a 37-21 halftime lead and cruised to an 80-49 victory over Winthrop. Lesley Dickinson led four Colonials in double figures with 15 points, while Shirley Brooks posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jolandra Crump paced the Lady Eagles with 10 points.
Winthrop and Bucknell will meet tomorrow (Dec. 6) in the consolation game of the Cornell Classic. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. Cornell will look to capture its third Classic title in the last four seasons when it takes on James Madison at 7 p.m. in the first ever meeting between the two schools.
