Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Fairleigh Dickinson
Bucknell Women's Basketball Holds Off Fairleigh Dickinson, 80-64
1/17/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lindsey Hollobaugh scored 27 points, one shy of her career high, and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Bucknell women's basketball team to an 80-64 victory over a pesky Fairleigh Dickinson squad in a non-league game Monday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison won their 10th straight home game and improved to 7-9 with the victory, while the Knights lost for the 12th straight time to fall to 1-13.
Bucknell is 6-0 at home this year and its 10 consecutive home victories are tied for the sixth-longest streak in the country. The Bison are tied with Lipscomb and Texas-Arlington. Western Illinois has won 33 straight home games and owns the longest current streak in the nation, while Duke is second with 16.
After falling behind 4-0 in the opening minutes, Bucknell reeled off a 15-6 run, keyed by five straight points from Kesha Champion to take a 15-10 lead with 12:31 to play. The Bison lead exceeded that five-point spread just once in the first half when Amanda Fleming came off the bench to can a three-pointer with 4:04 left on the clock and give Bucknell a 33-27 lead. That capped an 8-2 run after the Knights had evened the score at 25-25 two minutes earlier.
Hope Foster dominated the defensive end during the first half. The Patriot League's leading shot blocker, Foster tallied a career-high six rejections in the first 13 minutes of play. She finished the game with those six blocks after fouling out in 17 minutes of action to fall one shy of equaling Stacey Spitko's Bucknell single-game record of seven. She also climbed from 11th to fourth on Bucknell's single-season blocks list. She now has 34 this year.
Bucknell blocked seven shots in the first half, and forced 13 turnovers, but held just a 37-34 halftime lead despite outshooting FDU from the field, 40.5 percent to 34.5 percent. The Knights did connect on 13 of 15 free throws in the first half as the Bison were whistled for 12 fouls. Bucknell was 5 of 5 from the free throw line as FDU committed just five fouls.
Bucknell was able to extend its lead out to double-digits in the second half, although it led by no more than 13 points until the final minute. The final 16-point spread was the largest of the game for the Bison as they could not shake the Knights.
Hollobaugh netted 10 of the first 16 points for Bucknell in the second half as she and Brooke Tomovich led the way. Tomovich added 16 points in the game, with six coming in the opening minutes of the second half.
With sophomore forward Rachel Hanley out, and Foster battling foul trouble, Tomovich played a career-high 39 minutes. She was 8 of 18 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds.
Emilie Barruet, who fell one point shy of equaling her career high, was also a key offensive performer in the second half. She scored seven straight points in 90 seconds to help the Bison extend their lead from 63-55 to 70-57.
After back-to-back layups by Shanay Freeman and Erin Mills cut the Bucknell lead to 70-61 with 5:11 to play, the Bison defense clamped down and did not allow a field goal the rest of the game as they ended the contest on a 10-2 run.
Bucknell equaled its season high for field goal attempts as it connected on 32 of 69 (46.4 percent), including 17 of 32 (53.1 percent) in the second half. FDU made just 9 of 31 (29.0 percent) after halftime and 19 of 60 (31.7 percent) for the game.
Both teams tallied 40 rebounds. Hollobaugh paced Bucknell with nine, while Foster and Tomovich each added seven. Nikki Lockhart grabbed a game-high 11 boards to lead the Knights.
Mills, who was 8 of 9 from the free throw line, scored 19 points to pace three FDU players in double figures. Jennifer Walkling (16) and Kay Odenwaelder (11) joined her with at least 10 points. The Knights combined to shoot 24 of 29 from the free throw line with Mills, Walkling and Odenwaelder going 20 of 22.
Lindsey Geosits played 28 minutes and scored just two points for Bucknell, but registered a game-high seven assists. She is averaging 6.0 assists per game at Sojka Pavilion this season.
Bucknell returns to Patriot League play this Friday, Jan. 21, when it travels to Easton, Pa., to take on Lafayette. The Bison have won eight straight against the Leopards.
