Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Opens Home Season Tuesday
11/22/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
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Bucknell opens its home season Tuesday night against Coppin State. The contest begins a stretch of three consecutive home games for the Bison, who will host Siena and Saint Joseph's this weekend. The Bison, who are 6-2 in the third game of the season under Kathy Fedorjaka, are in search of their first win of the year after falling to Stony Brook and Iona on the road. The Eagles enter the game with an 0-1 mark after losing to Xavier, 86-46, at the Coppin Center last Friday. The Bison have had a balanced scoring attack with three players averaging double figures and two more averaging 8.0 points per game. Junior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh, who is just 75 points shy of 1,000 for her career, is leading Bucknell with a 13.0 points per game average. Freshman Lauren Schober and sophomore Kesha Champion are also netting at least 10 points per game.
ABOUT COPPIN STATE: Coppin State, one of two 2005 NCAA Tournament teams on the Bucknell schedule, is coming off a 23-8 season and a first-place finish in the MEAC. The Eagles, who are led by seventh-year head coach Derek Brown, opened their 2005-06 season with an 86-46 loss at home against Xavier Friday night. Senior Sherrie Tucker, who tied for team-high honors with 12 points against the Musketeers, is the preseason player of the year in the MEAC. She averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last year on her way to conference player of the year honors. Junior guard Rashida Suber is a second-team preseason all-conference pick. She scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds against Xavier despite measuring just 5-8. As a team, Coppin State is chosen to repeat as MEAC champions. The Eagles will play 10 of their next 11 games on the road starting with Bucknell. Outside of the Xavier contest, their only home game until Jan. 14 is Dec. 10 against James Madison.
BISON VS. THE EAGLES: Coppin State leads the all-time series 4-1, including a 63-51 victory at the Coppin Center last year. The Bison, who won the first game in the series in 1985, broke a three-game losing streak to the Eagles the last time they visited Sojka Pavilion two years ago. Bucknell won that contest 69-64.
WITH A VICTORY OVER COPPIN STATE, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• ...break its fourth consecutive season-opening two-game losing streak
• ...win its home opener for the second consecutive season
• ...win its second consecutive home game after snapping a five-game losing streak at Sojka Pavilion
HOME OPENERS: Bucknell snapped a mini two-game losing streak in home openers with an 86-63 victory over Cornell last year. Since the beginning of head coach Kathy Fedorjaka's tenure in Lewisburg Bucknell has posted a 5-3 mark in home openers. Overall, the Bison are 20-12 all-time in home openers.
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
THIRD GAME VICTORIES: Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka's teams tend to improve significantly between the second and third games of the season. In her first eight years at the helm of the Bison the team has amassed a 6-2 mark in its third contest of the campaign. Bucknell is just 9-9 in its first two games of the season under Fedorjaka.
EARLY STRUGGLES: With losses to Stony Brook and Iona over the weekend Bucknell fell to 0-2 for the fourth consecutive year.
1,000 POINTS ON THE HORIZON: Through 59 career games, junior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh has amassed 925 points. Her 899 points at the completion of her sophomore year was 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 75 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 15.7 points per game in her career, good for fourth on the Bison career list.
NO REST: Junior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh played all 40 minutes against both Stony Brook and Iona. She has played the entire game 22 times in her career, including 11 times last year. She is averaging more than 37 minutes per game throughout her career.
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. With five more blocks this year she is up to 77 in her career, good for sixth on the Bison career list. In addition to moving up the Bucknell charts, Foster has quickly ascended the Patriot League blocks list, ranking 15th all-time.
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. Hope Foster, Bucknell 2005- 30 77
VETERAN STARTERS: Despite featuring a team with four freshmen and five newcomers, Bucknell did not have a rookie in its season-opening starting lineup for the first time since 2001-02. Ninth-year head coach Kathy Fedorjaka employed a veteran unit of Kesha Champion, Kristina Collymore, Hope Foster, Lindsey Hollobaugh and Sarah Latham. That starting unit was composed of four sophomores and one junior.
SUCCESS IN FIRST GAME: Freshman guard Amanda Brown came off the bench and played the entire second half in the season-opening game against Stony Brook. She tallied 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in her first college game. The 12 points were the most by a Bison freshman since current junior Lindsey Hollobaugh netted 20 points two years ago against West Virginia.
MORE OFFENSE: Bucknell scored 72 points in its 81-72 loss to Stony Brook last Friday. The total marked the most the Bison have scored in a losing effort since a 100-77 loss to Bowling Green Dec. 3, 2003. Bucknell, which averaged just 59.4 points per game last season, totaled at least 72 points just four times last year.
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 entered the season with 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 tied for sixth on Bucknell's career block list as a freshman.
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 started all 57 games her first two years, 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.
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 has a busy weekend ahead at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison host Siena and Saint Joseph's on back-to-back days this weekend. The host the Saints at 4 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the men's team Saturday. Sunday is a 1 p.m. tip-off against the Hawks.
