Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette *
Bucknell Nipped in Women's Basketball by Lafayette, 55-53
1/21/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2005
EASTON, PA. - Brooke Tomovich scored a season-high 19 points, but the Bucknell women's basketball team dropped a 55-53 decision to Lafayette Friday night at Kirby Sports Center. The Bison dropped to 7-10, 1-3 in the Patriot League, while the Leopards improved to 3-13, 1-3 in the Patriot League.
Bucknell trailed 53-51 with just over a minute to play following a jumper by Lafayette's Kara Stetler from the left wing. The Bison answered with a jumper from Tomovich, who reached double figures for the fifth time in six games, as the shot clock ran down on its next possession to knot the score at 53-53 with 39 seconds left. The Leopards then came down the court and did not call a timeout despite having two remaining. Brianne Welte, who had nine points, converted a layup with 11 seconds on the clock to give Lafayette the 55-53 advantage.
Bucknell then decided not to call one of its final two timeouts on its last possession. The Bison worked the ball around the perimeter, but were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.
After trailing by as many as eight points during the first 11 minutes of the second half, Lafayette narrowed the score to 44-41 with 8:33 on the clock. Shannon Dorsey, who tied teammate Welte with a game-high seven rebounds, missed a pair of free throws that would have narrowed the Bucknell lead to 44-43. Tomovich then connected on her second three-pointer of the game to give the Bison a six-point advantage with 7:41 remaining. However, that was Bucknell's last field goal for more than five minutes as the Leopards ran off 10 straight points before Hope Foster converted a hook shot in the lane to cut the deficit to 51-49.
The first half featured a number of mini-runs by each team. After jumping out to a 7-1 lead by virtue of its defense not allowing a field goal until 3:39 elapsed, Bucknell allowed Lafayette to score six straight points to pull even at 7-7.
The Bison then went on a 9-0 run highlighted by five points from Tomovich. She ended the two-minute run with a three-point play with 12:11 left on the clock. However, that would be the last basket Bucknell would score for nearly five minutes as the Leopards closed to within 16-14 with a 7-0 run of their own.
Lillian Drumgold ended the Bucknell scoreless streak with a driving layup along the baseline, but the Bison would net just one more field goal over the final 7:19 of the first half when Tomovich connected on a three-pointer with just over five minutes on the clock.
Bucknell allowed Lafayette to take its first lead of the game at 22-21 after a jumper by Kara Stetler with 2:01 remaining in the half. The Bison reclaimed the lead on a pair of Lindsey Geosits free throws les than a minute later after she was tripped while picking up a loose ball. Bucknell held that 23-22 lead at halftime.
Lindsey Hollobaugh was held to just seven points as she failed to reach double-figures for just the second time in her last 23 games. She made just 2 of 8 field goals as the Bison converted just 20 of 48 (41.7 percent). After shooting 33.3 percent in the first half, they made 50.0 percent in the second half. Tomovich led the way making 8 of 16 from the field.
Bucknell's defense allowed Lafayette to shoot 42.6 percent, including 55.0 percent in the second half.
The Bison will continue their road trip to the Lehigh Valley Sunday afternoon with a game at Lehigh at 1 p.m.
