Bucknell University Athletics
Second-Season Begins for Bucknell Women's Basketball Saturday Afternoon at American
1/9/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2004
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PATRIOT LEAGUE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ON THE AIR: Broadcasts of all Bucknell women's basketball Patriot League games will be carried live on the Bison Sports Network, which includes flagship station WMLP (AM-1380) in the Lewisburg area.
Doug Birdsong is in his fourth season as play-by-play announcer and is joined on the broadcast team by Chris Duffany.
Each broadcast will begin with a pre-game show 15 minutes prior to tip-off and conclude with a post-game show, featuring interviews with head coach Kathy Fedorjaka and select players.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: Bucknell was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League in a preseason poll of head coaches and sports information directors. Defending champion Holy Cross is the preseason favorite, followed by American, Navy, Colgate, Army, Lehigh, Bucknell, and Lafayette.
Senior Desire Almind was also selected to her first preseason all-league squad, joining the Preseason Player of the Year, Katie Macfarlane from Army. Also on the early season team were Navy's Courtney Davidson, American's Chanel Hunt, and Maggie Fontana of Holy Cross.
THIS AFTERNOON'S GAME: Today's game marks the Patriot League opener for both Bucknell and American.
The Bison enter the contest on a two-game win-streak, and as the victors of six of their last eight games. In its most recent action, BU defeated Iona 86-76 in New Rochelle, N.Y.
American comes into this afternoon's contest on a five-game slide after opening the season with a 5-2 record.
THE SERIES: Bucknell and American have met nine times in the 21-year history of the series with the Eagles holding a 6-3 lead.
Since AU joined the Patriot League, the Orange and Blue have gone 2-2 against the Eagles with the squad's only road win in the series history coming during that time.
Bucknell's only victory at Bender Arena came in a January 19, 2002 overtime win (85-76). Last season, BU dropped a 75-74 decision to the Eagles in the final game in Davis Gymnasium, and fell 72-60 at American.
BUCKNELL AND THE RPI: The RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is the measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule.
In the latest RPI rankings, updated Friday, January 9, Bucknell is ranked 203 of 324 schools. Of the seven Patriot League schools, Bucknell is the fourth-highest ranked team. Today's opponent, American, is sixth in the conference at 253. Army is the conference leader at 135.
As a conference, the Patriot League is 24th out of 32 conferences.
COMMON OPPONENTS: The Orange and Blue and American have only faced one non-conference common opponent, but the outcome was the same for both.
Bucknell dropped a 56-46 decision to Loyola (Md.) in the second game of the season, while the Eagles fell 59-64 to the Greyhounds on November 30.
LAST YEAR IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: The American squad capitalized on cold Bison shooting to start the game, jumping out to a 10-2 lead before Molly Creamer beat the shot clock with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 10-5. Creamer converted two free throws less than 40 seconds later to get the Orange and Blue within three, 10-7.
With the Bucknell behind 23-22 with 6:41 to go in the opening frame, the Eagles put together an 11-4 run that spanned nearly four minutes to match their largest lead of the half at 34-26. The Bison got within six on three different occasions in the last 2:12 of the half, but a basket at the buzzer gave the host team a 40-32 cushion heading into the locker room.
American opened up a 10-point lead just three minutes into the second half before Bucknell mounted a 10-4 run, fueled by six points from Desire Almind, to cut it to four, 50-46, with 11:41 left in the game. The Bison went cold from the floor at that point, missing nine-straight shots to fall in a 55-46 hole. A 9-4 spurt got the squad within four again, 59-55, with just under five minutes remaining, but that was as close as the team would get. American outscored the Orange and Blue 13-5 over the final five minutes of the contest to come away with a 72-60 victory.
Almind recorded a double-double against the Eagles for the second-straight game, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bison overcame a 14-point first-half deficit, turning it into a 15-point second-half lead, on its way to an 86-76 come from behind victory at Iona. Bucknell placed four players in double-figures on its way to its second-straight road win.
BU found itself down 28-14 with 12 minutes left in the first half, and the Orange and Blue still trailed by 10 with 7:03 to play before the intermission. The squad refused to quit, however, outscoring the Gaels 10-3 over the final 4:14 of the half to enter the locker room trailing by just two.
Bucknell opened the second-half on a 12-5 run, taking its first lead of the game in the process. Iona briefly regained the advantage with 14:19 remaining in the game, but the Bison outscored the Gaels 23-6 over the next 10 minutes to put the game out of reach.
