Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Hoops Hosts League-Leading Holy Cross.
2/28/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2003
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ABOUT THIS EVENING'S GAME: Bucknell comes into tonight's contest with a 11-13 overall record and a mark of 6-6 in Patriot League play. The Crusaders carry a 19-7 overall record and are 11-1 in conference action.
In their last weekend action, the Bison earned a thrilling 71-67 victory at Lafayette, before falling 91-79 at Army. The Orange and Blue come into tonight's game in fourth place in the league standings.
Holy Cross enters this evening's contest with the chance to clinch the top-seed at the Patriot League tournament next weekend. The Crusaders have been in first or in a tie for the lead throughout the whole league ledger.
THE HOLY CROSS SERIES: Holy Cross holds a commanding 24-5 lead in the series that began in 1991. The first four of the Orange and Blue wins against Holy Cross came at home in Davis Gym. With their win in the Patriot League Championship game last season, the Bison are now 1-15 in their attempts in Worcester.
Bucknell's last win against the Crusaders in Lewisburg came on January 15, 2000, when the Orange and Blue defeated Holy Cross 88-74.
HOLY CROSS, PART ONE: Senior Molly Creamer scored 21 of her game-high 33 points in the second half, but a hot shooting Holy Cross team was too much to overcome as the Bison women's basketball team fell, 86-76, to the Crusaders. Holy Cross shot a sizzling .654 (17-26) from the floor in the second half on its way to a .571 (32-56) clip for the game.
Freshman Lindsey Geosits capped a 7-2 first-half Bison run with a three-pointer to get the squad within two, 24-22, and the team only trailed 39-33 at halftime.
Holy Cross quickly built a 14-point lead, holding the Orange and Blue to just two points in the first five minutes of the second half. The Crusaders defense continued to stifle the Bison offense, going ahead by as many as 18 with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Bison got as close as seven, 79-72, with 2:13 left in the game after a Creamer three, but a Holy Cross offensive rebound on their next possession forced Bucknell to foul.
THE LAST TIME OUT: Army's Katie Macfarlane scored 17 second half points on her way to a game-high 32 to lead the Black Knights to a 91-79 victory over Bucknell.
The Bison opened the game with two quick three-pointers from senior Molly Creamer and freshman Lindsey Geosits, and led by as many as 10, 18-8, six minutes into it. The Black Knights came charging back with a 13-6 run, capped by a three-pointer from Mallory Fritz, to get within three, 24-21. A layup by Creamer pushed the Bucknell lead back to five, 26-21, but Army responded with an 11-2 run, fueled by six points from Lindsay Brent, to take over the game, 32-28.
The Black Knights led by only two, 35-33, after another Geosits triple, but went on to outscore BU 11-2 over the final 2:55 of the half. Macfarlane scored the final nine points of the frame for Army on the way to the 46-35 halftime lead.
Army carried momentum into the second, opening it up with a 7-0 run to jump out to a 53-35 lead. Junior Desire Almind got the Bison offense moving with a jumper at the 17:45 mark, in the process netting her 1,000th career point. The Orange and Blue proceeded to climb back into it with a 10-3 run over a three-minute span to get within nine, 56-47.
Over the course of the next four minutes, Bucknell saw its deficit grow to 19, 68-49, behind eight points from Macfarlane during a 12-2 Army run.
The Orange and Blue slowly chipped away at the disadvantage, getting within 10, 70-60, on the strength of two Kate Franks three-pointers.
LAST YEAR IN LEWISBURG: Bucknell trailed by just three at halftime, 34-31, but shot a dismal 26.5% from the field in the second half to drop a game to visiting Holy Cross, 76-55. The Bison were outscored 42-24 in the final frame to fall into a tie for first with the Crusaders at 5-2 in the conference standings.
The Orange and Blue led 13-11 after Kate Franks' third of five three-pointers on the night, but the Crusaders answered with a 7-0 run to take a five-point edge, their largest of the half, at 18-13 with 9:14 left in the frame. Bucknell battled back to tie the score four more times in the opening stanza, but could not regain the lead.
The Bison were down just one, 39-38, five minutes into the second half before eight straight points from Holy Cross made it 47-38 with just under 13 minutes to go. Holy Cross outscored Bucknell 25-5 in the final eight minutes to come away with the 76-55 victory.
WHAT'S THE SCENARIO?: Bucknell enters the final weekend of regular-season play in fourth place in the Patriot League standings. The Bison are assured no higher than a four seed, and no lower than a five seed.
With one Bucknell win over the weekend, the Orange and Blue will lock in the fourth seed. In that scenario, if Navy defeats Army on Saturday, BU will face the Mids in the opening round. If Army wins, Bucknell squares off against the Black Knights.
If Bucknell drops both games this weekend, and Army defeats Navy, the Bison will be the fifth-seed, facing the fourth-seed Cadets in the opening round.
This year is the first time in four years that Bucknell has not ended the regular-season in second place.
PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT GAME TIMES SET: Fans traveling to the Patriot League Tournament to watch the first-round of women's basketball action on Friday, March 7, can start making plans to leave work early.
The Bucknell women's team is assured no higher than a four seed, and no lower than a five seed, meaning the squad will be playing in the #4 vs. #5 game at 2:30 p.m. on the first day. A BU win in the quarterfinal round will mean the Bison will play again on Sunday, March 9, at 12:00 noon.
