Bucknell University Athletics
Two Road Tests Await Bucknell Women's Basketball on Opening Weekend of 2005-06 Season
11/17/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2005
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Bucknell will be busy through its first 10 days of the 2005-06 season, playing five games in that span. It kicks off its 33rd campaign Friday, Nov. 18, at Stony Brook. Two days later the Bison will continue their brief season-opening road trip at Iona, before returning home for their home opener with Coppin State Tuesday. Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka, who is the winningest coach in Bison history with 119 career victories, embarks upon her ninth season at the helm of the program with four freshmen combining with five sophomores and two juniors to form one of her youngest squads. Heading the list of returning players for the second consecutive season is junior Lindsey Hollobaugh. The Loganton, Pa., native is a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is coming off a year in which she averaged 14.9 points per game and was named Second Team All-League.
ABOUT STONY BROOK: Stony Brook posted an 8-20 record in 2004-05 under first-year head coach Maura McHugh. However, the Seawolves return all but one letterwinner from that team, highlighted by all-conference choices Jessica Smith and Mykeema Ford, along with Dana Ferraro, a member of the America East All-Rookie Team. Ford, a 5-8 junior and a preseason all-conference selection, led the league with 17.5 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 steals per game last year. Smith combined with Ford to form the highest-scoring duo in the America East by averaging 16.2 points and 8.1 rebounds in 2004-05. Ferraro contributed 5.1 points and 8.1 rebounds to tie Smith for the team lead. A team that relies on 3-pointers, the Seawolves attempted 429 last year and made 29.9 percent, while Bucknell shot just 289, but connected on 31.8 percent. Stony Brook did play one exhibition game and defeated Team Concept 90-82. Smith led all scorers with 21 points, while Ford added 17 points and seven assists.
BISON VS. THE SEAWOLVES: Bucknell and Stony Brook, who will play each other two times this year (Nov. 18 and Jan. 3), have met just two times previously. The two squads split meetings in 2000 and 2001 with each team winning at home. The Seawolves won the initial game in the series, 65-44, while the Bison posted an 83-72 victory one year later.
WITH A VICTORY OVER STONY BROOK, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• ...open its season 1-0 for the first time since 2001
• ...improve to 2-1 all-time against the Seawolves
• ...end a two-game losing streak dating to last year
ABOUT IONA: Iona will open its season Sunday afternoon at home against Bucknell. However, the Gaels, who were picked ninth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason poll, did defeat Adelphi 89-73 in an exhibition game Nov. 12. Toni Horvath, who scored 10 points in a 90-66 loss to the Bison last year, led Iona with 16 points against Adelphi. Iona returns nine letterwinners from a team that posted a 6-22 mark last year, although fourth-year head coach Anthony Bozzella has three of his top five scorers back from last year's squad, including Horvath, who averaged just over 10 points per game as a sophomore. Regan Pettijohn, a 6-2 center who averaged 8.9 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game last year, should anchor the frontcourt. She was one of three Gaels to haul in eight rebounds against Adelphi.
BISON VS. THE GAELS: Bucknell leads the all-time series with Iona, 2-1, having won by at least 10 points each of the last two years, including a 90-66 victory in Sojka Pavilion last year. The Gaels lone win in the series came courtesy of a 66-48 verdict at the Iona Tournament in 1992.
WITH A VICTORY OVER IONA, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• ...post a victory in its second game of the season for the first time since 2001
• ...improve to 3-1 all-time against the Gaels
FIRST GAME OF YEAR FOR OPPONENT: Much like the Bucknell football team, which faced teams playing their first game of the year three times this fall, the women's basketball team will battle more than one squad playing its first contest of the year. Both Stony Brook and Iona will open their 2005-06 campaigns with Bucknell.
SEASON OPENERS: The 2005-06 campaign marks the 33rd season of Bucknell women's basketball. The Bison have posted a 13-19 record in season openers, including losses each of the last three years to West Virginia, Penn State and Florida International. Bucknell last won its first contest of the season in 2001-02 when it downed Albany 64-45. The Bison advanced to the NCAA Tournament that year. Under head coach Kathy Fedorjaka Bucknell is 4-4 in its first game of the season.
EARLY OPENERS: Bucknell has opened its season on or before Nov. 18 on five occasions. The Bison are 3-2 in those contests with wins over Sacred Heart (1997), American (2000) and Albany (2001). The losses came opposite Kent State (1998) and Penn State (2002).
TWO AWAY FROM HOME: For the third time in the last four years Bucknell is opening its season with two straight games away from home. The Bison began 2002-03 at Penn State and at St. Bonaventure, while they opened last year at the Florida International Tournament and faced the host Panthers and Texas A&M.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR HOLLOBAUGH: For the second consecutive year guard Lindsey Hollobaugh was selected to the preseason All-Patriot League team. The junior, who was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection last year, led the Bison in scoring with 14.9 points per game in 2004-05. The 5-9 Hollobaugh became the fourth Bison to be named Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2004.
PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: Bucknell was chosen to finish fourth in the Patriot League preseason poll, three positions higher than it finished last season. The last time the Bison were chosen as high as fourth in the preseason poll was prior to the 2002-03 campaign when they were picked second and earned three first-place votes. Bucknell was awarded one first-place vote this year, its first since 2002-03. The Bison were picked behind Holy Cross, Lehigh and Army, but ahead of American, Navy, Colgate and Lafayette.
TEAM CAPTAINS: Juniors Lindsey Hollobaugh and Jacquie Seawright were voted co-captains by their teammates prior to the 2005-06 season. Hollobaugh, who was the 2004 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, earned second-team all-league plaudits last year after leading the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game. That figure ranked third in the Patriot League. The Loganton, Pa., native also completed her sophomore year third in the league in free throw shooting (.806) and 12th in field goal percentage (.417). Seawright, who is in her first year in Orange and Blue, is a transfer from South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, which placed fourth in last year's NJCAA Tournament and finished with a sparkling 31-4 record. She averaged more than 12 points and five rebounds in her two years at South Plains.
JUNIOR CAPTAINS: Juniors Lindsey Hollobaugh and Jacquie Seawright are just the third and fourth juniors to serve as captains in the nine-year tenure of head coach Kathy Fedorjaka. Lindsey Geosits, a junior on last year's squad, and current assistant coach Monique LeBlanc, who was team captain in 2000-01, are the only other juniors to be captain under Fedorjaka. Hollobaugh and Seawright join Irene Stein (1975-76), Barbara Castens (1977-78), Jennifer Burke (1981-82), Denise Cohen (1981-82), Ann Kirwin (1985-86), Stacey Spitko (1986-87), Jennifer Walz (1987-88), Molly Elliott (1988-89), Lisa Fink (1991-92), Joy Sandler (1991-92), K.C. Vlah (1994-95), LeBlanc and Geosits as the only junior captains in the 33-year history of the program. Castens and Spitko also served as captains during their sophomore campaigns.
THREE PATRIOT LEAGUE HONOREES RETURN: Bucknell is the lone team in the Patriot League with three players returning that garnered postseason awards last year. The Bison have junior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh, who was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection last season, along with All-Rookie choices Kesha Champion and Hope Foster back in the fold this year. Holy Cross, which also placed two players on the All-Rookie squad, is the only other conference team with multiple players on its 2005-06 roster that were cited by the league last March. Bucknell has had at least two players honored by the Patriot League in its postseason awards every year since 1996. Hollobaugh, who was the 2004 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, was third in the Patriot League in scoring at 14.9 points per game. She now has 899 career points and was elected co-captain by her teammates during the preseason. Champion joined Hollobaugh as the only Bison to start all 28 games last year and averaged 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Foster, who was third on the team in scoring, led the Patriot League with 72 blocks as a freshman. She broke the Bucknell single-season record and is tied for sixth on Bucknell's career block list.
1,000 POINTS ON THE HORIZON: Through two seasons, junior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh has amassed 899 points. That is the third-highest figure in Bucknell history, trailing only Molly Creamer's 1,008 and Jennifer Walz's 973. Creamer and Walz are the only two Bison to reach 2,000 career points. With 101 more points, Hollobaugh will become the 15th player in Bucknell history to tally 1,000 career points. Desire Almind, who reached that plateau at the end of the 2002-03 campaign, was the last Bucknell player to reach 1,000 points. Hollobaugh, who scored a Bucknell-record 483 points as a freshman, is averaging 15.8 points per game in her career, good for fourth on the Bison career list.
RETURNING STARTERS: For the first time since the 2002-03 campaign, Bucknell will have two players on its roster who started every game the previous year. Junior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh, who has started all 57 games in her career, and sophomore guard Kesha Champion each started all 28 contests last year. Molly Creamer and Kate Franks started every game in 2001-02 and returned to the Bison lineup in 2002-03.
SOJKA SUCCESS: Bucknell posted a 7-5 home mark last year to improve its all-time record at Sojka Pavilion to 19-12 (.613). In their three years playing at Sojka Pavilion, the Bison have never finished below .500. Last year Bucknell won its first six home games to stretch its overall home winning streak to 10 games. By the time American ended the Bison's winning streak, Bucknell had gone 362 days without a home loss.
Bucknell's All-Time Record in Sojka Pavilion Year W-L Pct. 2002-03 4-2 .667 2003-04 8-5 .615 2004-05 7-5 .583 Totals 19-12 .613
BLOCKS RECORD FOR FOSTER: Sophomore Hope Foster had a banner defensive year as a freshman. She blocked 72 shots to break Desire Almind's year-old Bucknell single-season record of 62. That figure tied Kim Delfs for sixth on the Bison career list and puts Foster more than halfway to Marie Kocornik's standard of 132 that has stood since 1988. In addition to moving up the Bucknell charts, Foster has quickly ascended the Patriot League blocks list, ranking 15th all-time after just one year.
Patriot League Career Blocks Player, School Years Games Blocks 1. Kathy Courtney, Holy Cross 1994-97 117 309 2. Lisa Andrews, Holy Cross 2002-05 118 201 3. Karen Juda, Holy Cross 1993-96 112 194 4. Kelly Roche, Fordham 1991-93 78 174 5. Leandra Fuller, Colgate 2002-05 119 170 6. Jessica DePalo, Lehigh 2002-05 114 136 7. Desire Almind, Bucknell 2001-04 109 108 8. Therese Kelley, Army 1998-01 112 105 9. Yolanda Ray, Navy 1992-94 80 93 10. Kim Cowling, Navy 1992-94 79 92 11. Adrienne Roseti, Navy 2002-04 110 84 12. Shannon McGowan, Bucknell 1994-97 85 80 13. Lori Peretta, Colgate 1993-96 110 79 Laurie Coffey, Navy 1996-99 105 79 15. Kim Delfs, Bucknell 1996-99 98 72 Summer Ivan, Holy Cross 1996-99 115 72 Hope Foster, Bucknell 2005- 28 72
NO SENIORS: Bucknell's 11-person roster is without a senior this year. The Bison roster is comprised of two juniors, five sophomores and four freshmen. It is the first time since the 2000-01 season Bucknell has not had a senior listed on its roster. That was the first 20-win campaign in the history of the program and was the year before the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
.500 STREAK BROKEN: With its 4-10 Patriot League record last year, Bucknell's string of 10 consecutive seasons with at least a .500 record in Patriot League play was snapped. The last time the Bison finished below .500 before last year was the 1993-94 campaign when they posted a 3-11 league mark. The next year they improved to 7-7 and the year after that (1995-96) the won their only Patriot League regular season title with a 10-2 mark.
DEJA VU?: Bucknell fell in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament last year as Lehigh's Jessica DePalo scored just before the buzzer to give the Mountain Hawks a 54-52 victory. It was the first time the Bison lost in the quarterfinals of the postseason since 2001. The following year Bucknell rebounded to win all three of its Patriot League Tournament games to claim the title and advance to its only NCAA Tournament.
99 PATRIOT LEAGUE WINS: With its first Patriot League victory this season Bucknell will join Holy Cross as the only two teams in the history of the league to reach 100 wins. In its 16th season, the Patriot League has consisted of nine different teams over the years. Navy, which has won 85 games, is third on the list of victories behind the Crusaders and Bison.
TRANSFERS ARRIVE: Bucknell has added two transfers from other colleges to its roster this year. One, Jacquie Seawright, is a junior who transferred from South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. She is eligible to play this year. The other, Andrea Wright, is a sophomore who is sitting out the 2005-06 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules after playing at Penn last year. Seawright, who averaged 10.8 points per game, earned the best overall student-athlete grade-point average last year. Wright averaged 1.7 points and 1.0 rebounds per game in limited action during her one season with the Quakers. The duo doubles the number of transfers during head coach Kathy Fedorjaka's nine-year tenure. Brooke Tomovich, who transferred from Loyola (Md.), and Lillian Drumgold, who was a transfer from UNC Wilmington, were seniors on last year's team.
NATIONAL ROSTER: After featuring a roster with six Pennsylvanians and not one player from west of Ohio last year, the 2005-06 Bison are much more diverse. Two players (Amanda Brown, Jacquie Seawright) hail from Texas, while one is from Illinois (Lauren Schober). The 11-person active roster represents nine different states and Washington, D.C.
COACHING FAMILIES: In January 2005, it was announced that Frank Fedorjaka, the husband of Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka, would succeed longtime coach Sid Jamieson as the head men's lacrosse coach at Bucknell. With the promotion, Bucknell became the second Patriot League school to have spouses serving as head coaches of two different sports at the same time, joining Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks women's basketball coach is Sue Troyan, while her husband, Fran, serves as the head softball coach.
LEBLANC RETURNS TO ALMA MATER: Assistant coach Monique LeBlanc, a 2002 graduate of Bucknell who was team captain as a junior and senior, has returned to her alma mater this year. She becomes the second former Bison women's basketball player to serve as an assistant coach at her alma mater, following K.C. Vlah. Vlah, who was also a two-time team captain and is a 1996 Bucknell graduate, served as an assistant coach in 1997-98 under then-first year head coach Kathy Fedorjaka. LeBlanc is one of five coaches throughout Bucknell's 27 varsity teams that are graduates of the school. Head women's rowing coach Stephen Kish '92, head women's soccer coach Ben Landis '96, head men's and women's water polo coach John Zeigler '91 and assistant softball coach Angie Stackhouse '04 are also coaches at their alma mater.
ACADEMICS AT BUCKNELL: Bucknell garnered a 2003 USA Today Academic Achivement Award after leading the nation in graduation rates with a perfect 100% showing, and the Bison agains ranked in the top 10 in the most recent graduation rates survey. BU also ranks third among all Division I institutions in total number of Academic All-Americans, with 110 since 1970. Bison teams also get it done on the playing fields, winning the Presidents' Cup - the Patriot League's all-sports crown - in 11 of 15 years.
UP NEXT: Bucknell returns home for a three-game homestand against Coppin State, Siena and Saint Joseph's. The Bison kick off their home campaign Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. against Coppin State, a 2005 NCAA Tournament participant. The contest against Siena is the first game of a doubleheader with the men's team on Saturday, Nov. 26, while the St. Joseph's game is the following day.
