Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Basketball Wraps Up Road Trip at Buffalo
12/28/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2005
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After more than a one-week layoff, Bucknell returns to action looking to continue its recent hot play against a team that has been equally hot in Buffalo. Since junior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh went down with a knee injury against Air Force, the Bison have won three straight games to improve to 5-4, equaling their best start since 2000-01. The Bulls, who lost their first three games, equaled their win total from all of last year by posting a four-game winning streak. That hot spell was halted with an 82-80 overtime loss at Oakland last week, but Buffalo still enters Wednesday's contest having won four of its last five contests. The 2005 MAC Freshman of the Year, Heather Turner (13.0 ppg), combines with senior guard Brooke Meunier (15.0 ppg) to form a potent duo. Bucknell is very balanced with five players averaging between 8.2 and 11.3 points per game. Last time out against Cornell, Amanda Brown, Kesha Champion and Corrine Keller all netted double figures, while Hope Foster tied the school record with seven blocks on the defensive end.
ABOUT BUFFALO: Buffalo enters Wednesday's game with a 4-4 record, but recently had a four-game winning streak snapped with an 82-80 overtime loss at Oakland last week. After losing the first three games of the season, the Bulls, who are led by first-year head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald, a WNBA veteran coach, bounced back to win four in a row. Senior guard Brooke Meunier and sophomore forward Heather Turner, the 2004-05 MAC Rookie of the are leading the way for the Bulls as each is averaging more than 13.0 points per game. Turner also leads the team in rebounding with 8.6 per game, while Meunier hauls in 6.0 per contest despite being just 5-9. Turner was named the MAC East Player of the Week Dec. 19 after scoring 18 points on 7 of 7 shooting in Buffalo's win over Northeastern. Meunier won the same award Dec. 5.
BISON VS. THE BULLS: After not playing for more than a decade, this is the second consecutive year Bucknell and Buffalo have met. The Bison won last year at Sojka Pavilion, 68-56, to even the all-time series at 2-2. Wednesday's game will be just the second time the two teams have met in Buffalo, with the Bulls winning the initial meeting 58-55 in 1991.
WITH A VICTORY OVER BUFFALO, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• ...post its first four-game winning streak since December 2003
• ...win its third consecutive road game for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign
• ...improve its winning streak to three games over Buffalo
• ...improve to 3-2 against teams from New York this season
• ...be off to its best 10-game start since opening the 2000-01 season 7-3
NEW YORK TEAMS: Wednesday's game against Buffalo will be the fifth time Bucknell has faced a team from neighboring New York State this season. The Bison evened their record against New York foes at 2-2 with a win at Cornell last week. Bucknell is scheduled to play 11 games against teams from New York this season.
GOING FOR FOUR IN A ROW: Bucknell enters the game with Buffalo on a three-game winning streak. The Bison, who have won all three of those games away from the confines of Sojka Pavilion, will be aiming for their fourth consecutive win. They have not won four games in a row since defeating Winthrop, Akron, Albany amd Providence in December 2003.
THREE STRAIGHT ROAD WINS: Bucknell has won two consecutive road games for the first time since last February. Against Buffalo, the Bison will be trying to win their third straight road game for the first time since downing Lafayette, Colgate and Lehigh in succession in 2000-01.
MORE BLOCKS FOR FOSTER: Hope Foster, who is second on Bucknell's career shot blocks list with 109, blocked seven shots for the second time in three games against Cornell Dec. 20. The seven blocks tied the Bucknell single-game record she already shared with Anne Kirwin. Foster has 37 blocks this season. As a team, Buffalo has just six.
TRIO STEPPING UP: Freshman Amanda Brown, sophomore Kesha Champion and freshman Corrine Keller have stepped up their games since leading scorer Lindsey Hollobaugh went down with a knee injury against High Point. In the three games since Hollobaugh got hurt, the trio is averaging a combined 40.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 8.3 assists. Through the season's first six games, the threesome was averaging 19.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
FIVE GAMES AWAY FROM HOME: Wednesday's game with Buffalo is the fourth of five consecutive games away from home for Bucknell. It is the longest stretch of games away from home for the Bison since 2002-03 when they also played five consecutive games outside of Lewisburg.
CHAMPION PL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the first time since March 2004 a Bucknell player picked up the Patriot League Player of the Week this week with sophomore guard Kesha Champion earning the honor. Champion scored 12 points, tied her career high with seven rebounds and dished out five assists in the 62-57 win over Cornell. Desire Almind was the last Bison to earn the award. Since Almind last won that honor, Champion, Hope Foster, Kristina Collymore, Corrine Keller and Lauren Schober have each picked up PL Rookie of the Week honors once.
REPLACING HOLLOBAUGH: Freshman Corrine Keller was inserted into the starting lineup against High Point in place of the injured Lindsey Hollobaugh. The lone freshman to earn a starting assignment this year, she is averaging 12.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per game in her three starts. The Bison have won all three games with the Rochester, N.Y., native in the starting lineup.
OVERTIME FACTS: Bucknell played the first triple overtime game in program history against UMES Dec. 17 and won 93-92. A few facts about the overtime win:
• It was the first overtime game for the Bison since a 79-69 win over Navy in the 2003 Patriot League Tournament
• Bucknell has won its last four overtime games.
• Ninth-year head coach Kathy Fedorjaka has guided the Bison to an 8-3 record in overtime games
• Bucknell improved to 14-12 all-time in overtime games
• It was the fourth multiple-overtime game in program history and the Bison improved to 1-3 in those contests.
BROWN NETS 20 POINTS: Freshman guard Amanda Brown netted a career-high 20 points, including seven in overtime, during Bucknell's 93-92 triple overtime victory over UMES. She became the first Bison rookie to score at least 20 points since Lindsey Hollobaugh netted 20 in the 2004 Patriot League Tournament against Colgate.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Bucknell scored just 58 points in regulation against UMES, but exploded for 35 points in the three overtime periods. The 93 total points the Bison scored were the most since they netted 94 in a 94-75 win over Holy Cross in the 2004 Patriot League Tournament. It was just the third time in the last 87 contests Bucknell has topped 90 points.
CLOSE GAMES: After going 4-7 in games decided by six points or less in 2004-05, Bucknell is 4-1 in games decided by six points or less in 2005-06.
HOLDING OPPONENTS TO 60 POINTS OR LESS IN REGULATION: Bucknell's defense has not yielded more than 60 points in regulation to an opponent over the last seven games. It is tied for the longest streak in the 33-year history of the Bison program that an opponent has not eclipsed 60 points in regulation. The 1979-80 squad held seven straight opponents to 60 points or less, while the 1973-74 and 1974-75 squads also accomplished that feat. The 1996-97 and 1997-98 teams combined to hold seven straight opponents to 60 points or less in regulation, although Rider did score 64 points in an overtime game.
Most Consecutive Games Holding Opponent to 60 Points or Less Year W-L 1973-74 - 1974-75 7 1979-80 7 1996-97 - 1997-98 7* 2005-06 7* *includes an overtime game where opponent scored less than 60 in regulation
Seven Straight Games Bison Opponent has Failed to Eclipse 60 Points Opponent Regulation Score Coppin State 48 Siena 48 Saint Joseph's 59 Air Force 58 High Point 60 UMES 58 Cornell 57
ROAD VICTORY: Bucknell's triple overtime victory over UMES on Dec. 17 snapped a five-game road losing streak for the Bison. With a win over Cornell, Bucknell is now 2-3 on the road this season and will be searching for its first three-game road winning streak since December 2003 against Buffalo.
SOJKA SUCCESS: Bucknell has won two of its first three games at home this season to improve its all-time record at Sojka Pavilion to 21-13 (.618).
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 2005-06 2-1 .667 Totals 21-13 .618
NON-CONFERENCE SOJKA SUCCESS: Bucknell's 59-55 loss to Saint Joseph's Nov. 27 snapped a seven-game home winning streak against non-conference foes for the Bison. Prior to that defeat Bucknell last lost a non-conference home game Jan. 2, 2004 when it fell 59-49 to Manhattan. The Bison are 10-4 all-time in Sojka Pavilion against non-league foes.
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 37 more blocks this year she is up to 109 in her career, good for second on the Bison career list. In addition to moving up the Bucknell charts, Foster has quickly ascended the Patriot League blocks list, ranking seventh 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. Hope Foster, Bucknell 2005- 37 109
FOSTER TOPS NATION IN BLOCKS: Hope Foster leads the nation in blocked shots per game with 4.1. The sophomore has 37 blocks in nine games and is the only player in the country averaging at least 4.0 blocks per game. Foster had a career-high tying seven blocks against Cornell to up her average to 4.1. It was the second time in three games she blocked seven shots, tying a Bucknell record that had stood since 1986.
SOPHOMORE PRODUCTION: Without a senior on the roster, the Bison sophomore class of Kesha Champion, Kristina Collymore, Hope Foster, Sarah Latham and Ashton Sprouse has had to play like veterans. Each of the five members of the class has started at least one game this season and the quintet has piled up impressive statistics. They have combined to score 45 percent of the team's points, grab close to 49 percent of the rebounds and dish out more than 46 percent of the team's assists.
UP NEXT: After five games and more than a month on the road, Bucknell finally returns home to Sojka Pavilion Friday, Dec. 30, against Delaware State. The game is slated for 7 p.m. and is the first of a two-game homestand for the Bison.
