Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh *
Bison Women's Hoops Drops Second-Straight at Lehigh, 69-58
1/14/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2004
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh forward Jessica DePalo connected on 14 of 20 shots from the field on her way to a game-high 28 points as the Lehigh women's basketball team handed Bucknell its second-straight Patriot League loss with a 69-58 decision in Bethlehem on January 14. The Mountain Hawks shot a sizzling 62.5% in the second half to Bucknell's 35.1%.
Bucknell jumped out to a 12-4 lead behind eight points from junior Lillian Drumgold and four from freshman Lindsey Hollobaugh. The Orange and Blue held Lehigh without a field goal for nearly five minutes during that stretch.
A Lindsey Geosits jumper with 11:05 to play in the half put BU back on top by four after Sara Ellis had closed the gap to two with two consecutive three-pointers for the host Mountain Hawks. The score stood at 16-14 in Bucknell's favor, before Lehigh turned the tables and held the Bison without a field goal for nearly four minutes while building its largest lead of the half, 22-16. DePalo put the Mountain Hawks ahead 27-21 with her jumper with 2:40 to go, but senior Desire Almind scored the final four points of the half to take her team into the locker room trailing just 27-25.
Lehigh quickly opened up a five-point second half lead behind a three-pointer from Jana Ransom, and a DePalo put back, but BU put together a 14-4 run over the next four minutes to take a 41-36 lead. Senior Kristin Valdner scored six points for the Orange and Blue during the stretch.
Ellis snapped a five-minute scoreless drought for her team with her third three-pointer of the night, jump-starting a Lehigh offense which missed only four of its 16 shots in the final 11:33 of the game. The Mountain Hawks were also 9-for-9 from the free throw line in that time.
Bucknell was actually tied with Lehigh, 43-43, with 9:30 to go, and trailed by just one at the 8:31 mark, before the host team mounted a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to jump out to an eight-point advantage. The Orange and Blue would only get within five the rest of the way.
Almind, the country's leading rebounder, led the Bison squad with 15 points and 10 rebounds for her Patriot League leading 11th double-double of the year. Also in double-figures were Drumgold with a career-best 12, and Geosits with 11.
In addition to DePalo, Ellis was also in double-figures with 15 and Ransom added 14, including a 9-of-9 performance from the charity stripe.
Bucknell, which concluded a four-game road trip this evening, will put its 7-8 overall record (0-2 PL) to the test when it hosts Navy on Saturday, January 17. Lehigh improves to 5-9 on the year and 2-0 in conference play.
