Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army *
Bison Women's Basketball Closes Home Schedule with 73-68 Win Over Army
2/22/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Senior Desire Almind closed out her home career with a bang, scoring a game-high 27 points and leading all players with nine rebounds as the Bucknell women's basketball team avenged an earlier loss to Army with a 73-68 victory on Senior Day in Sojka Pavilion on February 22. The Bison dropped a 51-46 decision at Army earlier in the year.
Freshman Lindsey Hollobaugh also had an all-around effort for the Orange and Blue, scoring 21 points for her second-straight 20-point game, handing out a career-high nine assists, pulling in seven rebounds and swiping a game-best three steals.
The win, coupled with Army (13-12, 5-7 PL) and Navy losses (79-60 to Holy Cross), gives BU (13-12, 6-6 PL) sole possession of fifth place in the league standings.
The first twenty minutes were tightly contested with neither team holding more than a six point lead. The Bison were ahead 8-4 early behind four points from Almind, and two each from Hollobaugh and junior Brooke Tomovich, but Army used an 11-2 run over the next 3:42 to take a 15-10 lead. Two quick scores from Bucknell made it a one-point game, 15-14, and the two teams exchanged buckets over the next three minutes before five-straight from Haley Edwards gave the Black Knights their largest lead of the game at 28-22.
A Megan Flynt three-pointer with 1:15 left until the break would be the only other points Army would score, however, as the Orange and Blue chipped away at the lead and trailed just 31-30 at the intermission after a Hollobaugh triple with just seven seconds left.
Senior Kristin Valdner and Almind combined to score the squad's first 10 points of the second half, but Bucknell still trailed 43-40 with five minutes gone in the frame. Four-straight points by Army's Katie Macfarlane put the visitors ahead 49-45 with just under 12 minutes to play before BU started to make its move.
A jumper by Almind, who scored 20 of her 27 points in the second half, with 10:14 left tied the game for the seventh time, and another score by the co-captain 36 seconds later gave the Bison a lead they would not relinquish. Hollobaugh capped a 9-0 Bucknell run with a three-point play that gave the host team a 54-49 cushion. The lead grew to seven, the largest of the game for either team, on a Tomovich jumper with 7:20 left before the Cadets started to make things interesting.
The Orange and Blue scored just four points over the next four minutes, while Army rattled off 11 to tie the game again at 63 with 3:39 to go. Almind, who scored eight of Bucknell's final 10 points, stopped the Black Knights' run with a jumper in the lane, drawing contact on the shot for the chance at a three-point play. The 6-0 guard/forward missed the free throw, however, and a Macfarlane jumper at the other end knotted the contest again 65-65 with 2:14 to go.
The score remained tied until junior Lillian Drumgold connected on two huge free throws with 1:46 to play to give BU the two-point lead. Army's Shavonne Holden was fouled 19 seconds later and converted just one of two, and Bucknell came out of a timeout with another Almind jumper in the lane for a 69-66 advantage with just over a minute to play. The Black Knights called a timeout of their own and got it into the hands of Macfarlane on the inbounds for a layup that cut it to 69-68.
Almind did it again, however, taking a pass from Hollobaugh for her 11th field goal of the night to put her squad ahead 71-68 with 27 ticks left. Army's Jen Hansen attempted to tie the game with her three-pointer with nine seconds left, but the shot was off and came down into the hands of Almind, who was fouled immediately and calmly sank both free throws to seal the victory.
The Bison shot 62.5% from the field in the second half, and 50.9% (27-53) for the game. Army was also hot from the field, nailing 52.4% of its shots in the second for a 46.3% (25-54) clip in the game. The Bison held a 33-26 advantage on the glass, and outscored the Black Knights 40-28 in the paint.
In addition to Almind and Hollobaugh, Valdner was also in double-figures with 13 points in her final regular-season home game. Macfarlane led four Army players in double-figures with 23 points.
The victory snapped a two-game losing streak to the Cadets. Bucknell closes out the regular-season with a road trip to Holy Cross on Friday, February 27, and Colgate on Sunday, February 29.
