Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Announces 2004-05 Schedule
9/6/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sept. 6, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - A season-opening trip to the state of Florida, five non-conference home dates and a key four-game Patriot League homestand in January and February highlight Bucknell's 2004-05 women's basketball schedule.
Preparing for her 12th season as a collegiate head coach, and her eighth as mentor of the Bison, Kathy Fedorjaka has fashioned an impressive 27-game schedule for the Bison, who return four seniors from last year's team that advanced to the Patriot League semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons.
The 14-game Patriot League slate will once again be of paramount importance as Bucknell tries to position itself for a top position in the Patriot League postseason tournament. However, Fedorjaka has lined up a challenging non-conference lineup for the Bison as well.
Of its first six games, Bucknell will play just one at Sojka Pavilion, that coming against Cornell on Nov. 24. Prior to the home opener, the Bison will play a pair of contests at the Florida International Tournament. They will open up against the host Golden Panthers on Nov. 19. The other game in the four-team tournament involves Texas A&M and South Florida. The consolation and championship games will be held on Nov. 20.
Following its return to the Northeast and its home contest with Cornell, Bucknell will hit the road for three games away from Lewisburg against St. Francis (Pa.) (Nov. 26), Manhattan (Nov. 28) and Albany (Dec. 4).
The Bison will then host Buffalo (Dec. 7) before taking an 11-day break for final exams. After resuming the season with a road trip to Coppin State (Dec. 18), Bucknell will return to Sojka Pavilion for a contest with Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 20.
Highlighting the holiday break will be a trip to Ohio for games with Akron (Dec. 29) and Bowling Green (Dec. 30) on back-to-back days.
After a pair of home dates with Iona (Jan. 3) and Fairleigh Dickinson (Jan. 5), the Patriot League season opens with a trip to Holy Cross on Jan. 8.
Following a mid-week home contest with defending Patriot League champion Colgate (Jan. 12), the Bison hit the road for three key away games. The road swing begins at Army (Jan. 15) before wrapping up the next weekend with a trip to the Lehigh Valley to face Lafayette (Jan. 21) and Lehigh (Jan. 23). The games with the Leopards and Mountain Hawks begin a stretch of four straight Friday-Sunday weekend "doubleheaders," a new twist to the league schedule. Previously the two-game weekend sets were spaced throughout the conference schedule, but all four will come in succession this winter.
The weekend alignment puts Bucknell at home the next two weekends for its longest homestand of the campaign. The Bison will host American (Jan. 28) and Navy (Jan. 30) the first weekend. The second weekend Lafayette (Feb. 4) and Lehigh (Feb. 6) will visit Lewisburg.
The final of the Friday-Sunday weekend twinbills will send Bucknell on the road to Washington, D.C., to face American (Feb. 11) and Annapolis, Md., to battle Navy (Feb. 13).
The regular season wraps up with two of the final three games in the familiar confines of Sojka Pavilion as the Bison host Army (Feb. 19) and Holy Cross (Feb. 23) during the final week of conference play. A trip to Hamilton, N.Y., to take on Colgate on Feb. 26 concludes the regular season.
Another new twist introduced by the Patriot League this season is the format of the postseason tournament. This year, the top two seeds at the conclusion of the regular season will each host a four-team "mini" bracket on March 3 and 5. The winner of each of those brackets will advance to the tournament championship on March 9, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed. The winner of the championship game receives the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Bucknell last advanced to the field of 64 in 2002.
