Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Basketball Standout Makes Debut with WNBA
5/7/2003 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
May 7, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell senior women's basketball player Molly Creamer (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham), the first player from the school or Patriot League to get drafted by the WNBA, made the most of her professional debut, scoring 12 points off the bench in the New York Liberty's 81-73 win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, May 6. The contest was the first of the preseason for both teams.
After just five days of preseason training, the Liberty faced the newly formed Sun, in Uncasville, Conn., at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Creamer, the Liberty's first-round draft pick and the 10th selection overall, came off the bench in the first half to net two points, and then exploded for 10 in the second half, going 5-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown for the game. The point guard also recorded a game-high three steals, in addition to handing out two assists in just 14 minutes of action.
New York plays two more preseason games - another road game at Houston on Saturday, May 10, and a home contest against the Comets on Sunday, May 18 - before officially beginning the season at Cleveland on Saturday, May 31.
Creamer, the all-time leading scorer in Bucknell and Patriot League history, last month was named a 2003 NCAA Division I Kodak/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America, and an Associated Press All-America.
With her third-straight Patriot League Player of the Year selection this season, Creamer gave Bucknell only its third player of the year honor in the 13-year history of the league, all belonging to her. The 5-10 guard continued her assault on the Bucknell and Patriot League record books in her senior season, becoming both the conference's and school's all-time leading scorer (men or women) throughout the course of the year. Creamer, who spent a large part of the regular-season as the nation's leading scorer, finished her final season ranked second in the country at 27.1 points per game, a new PL single-season record (former record: 26.1 - Amy O'Brien, Holy Cross, 1998). Ending the year with 759 points, she became just the second player in league history, and the first Bison, to score over 700 points in a single-season, and just missed O'Brien's single-season record of 782. Her playmaking abilities often overlooked because she is such a scoring threat, Creamer also led the Patriot League in assists (6.0) for the third-straight year. Only one other player in NCAA history, Anja Bordt (St. Mary's, 1989-91, West Coast Conference), has led her conference in both scoring and assists three-straight years.
On February 21, 2003, the co-captain broke her own school and conference single-game scoring record with 44 points on 16-of-21 shooting at Lafayette. In that contest, Creamer scored 31 of Bucknell's 36 second-half points, including the final 29 for the team, on her way to setting an Allan P. Kirby Sports Center scoring record. In January, she also set a new women's single-game scoring record in Colgate's Cotterell Court with 37 against the Raiders.
This season, Creamer scored at least 20 points in 23 of 28 games, breaking her own record for 20-point games in a single-season, set last year (18). She tallied over 30 in 11 games, also a school record, and the point guard reached 40 points on two occasions, tying the Bucknell standard for a single-season. Creamer leaves Bucknell with her name in the top-3 on all but three all-time career lists, and as the holder of 16 school records. She has also broken or had a share of 19 Patriot League records. With 2,462 career points, Creamer stands in 33rd on the NCAA all-time scoring list and is only the 47th player in NCAA history to record over 2,400 career points.
Following is the remaining 2003 New York Liberty schedule.
| 2003 New York Liberty Schedule | ||||
| Date | Opponent | Time | NY Area TV | National TV |
| May | ||||
| Sat. 10 | at Houston Comets Preseason | 8:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sun. 18 | Houston Comets Preseason | 4:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sat. 31 | at Cleveland Rockers | 1:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| June | ||||
| Sun. 1 | Washington Mystics | 4:00 p.m. | MSG | -- |
| Fri. 6 | at Minnesota Lynx | 8:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sat. 7 | at Indiana Fever | 8:00 p.m. | MSG-Metro | -- |
| Tues. 10 | Cleveland Rockers | 7:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sat. 14 | Los Angeles Sparks | 4:00 p.m. | -- | ABC |
| Tues. 17 | Sacramento Monarchs | 7:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Fri. 20 | at Detroit Shock | 7:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sun. 22 | Charlotte Sting | 4:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Wed. 25 | Phoenix Mercury | 7:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Fri. 27 | Detroit Shock | 7:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| July | ||||
| Tues. 1 | Connecticut Sun | 8:00 p.m. | -- | Oxygen |
| Sun. 6 | at Connecticut Sun | 4:00 p.m. | MSG | -- |
| Thur. 10 | at Indiana Fever | 8:00 p.m. | -- | ESPN2 |
| Sat. 12 | WNBA All-Star Game | 4:00 p.m. | -- | ABC |
| Tues. 15 | Washington Mystics | 7:30 p.m. | MSG | -- |
| Fri. 18 | Charlotte Sting | 7:30 p.m. | MSG | -- |
| Sun. 20 | Indiana Fever | 4:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Wed. 23 | at Seattle Storm | 3:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Thur. 24 | at Sacramento Monarchs | 10:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sat. 26 | at Houston Comets | 4:00 p.m. | -- | ABC |
| Tues. 29 | at Phoenix Mercury | 10:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| August | ||||
| Fri. 1 | Detroit Shock | 7:30 p.m. | MSG-Metro | -- |
| Sun. 3 | Cleveland Rockers | 4:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Tues. 5 | San Antonio Silver Stars | 7:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Thur. 7 | at Charlotte Sting | 7:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sat. 9 | at Washington Mystics | 4:00 p.m. | -- | ABC |
| Sun. 10 | at Detroit Shock | 7:30 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Tues. 12 | at Connecticut Sun | 7:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Thur. 14 | Houston Comets | 8:00 p.m. | -- | ESPN2 |
| Sat. 16 | Connecticut Sun | 4:00 p.m. | -- | -- |
| Sun. 17 | at Cleveland Rockers | 7:00 p.m. | MSG | -- |
| Thur. 21 | at Washington Mystics | 8:00 p.m. | -- | ESPN2 |
| Fri. 22 | Indiana Fever | 7:30 p.m. | MSG-Metro | -- |
| Sun. 24 | at Charlotte Sting | 6:00 p.m. | MSG | -- |
