Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Hampton
Foster, Hollobaugh Lead Bucknell Women's Basketball Past Hampton, 85-77
11/10/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lindsey Hollobaugh scored a game-high 22 points and Hope Foster just missed a rare triple-double with 20 points, 16 rebounds and a school-record eight blocked shots, leading the Bucknell women's basketball team to a season-opening 85-77 victory over Hampton before 1,075 fans at Sojka Pavilion on Friday night.
The Bison, who have returned all five starters from last year's 18-win team, got off to a terrific start in this one but had to sweat things out down the stretch as Hampton used an aggressive full-court press to cut what was once a 22-point deficit down to four in the final minute.
Bucknell shot 54.5 percent from the floor in the first half and parlayed 16 Hollobaugh points into a seemingly commanding 45-29 lead at intermission. The advantage grew to 22 points early in the second half after a crowd-pleasing flurry that saw Foster reject three straight shots on one Hampton possession, followed by a Kesha Champion transition 3-pointer at the other end.
The Pirates had plenty of fight left, however. Over the next four minutes they pressured the Bison into seven turnovers and scored 11 straight points after the Champion three. Six different players scored during that run, with Stephanie James' free throw making it 57-46 with 11:05 to play.
Foster's short jumper off a pretty touch pass from Lauren Schober ended a Bison scoring drought that lasted almost five minutes, and Bucknell was able to maintain a double-figure lead until the 6:13 mark, when Ashlee Finley made a pair of free throws to pull Hampton within nine at 65-56.
Two free throws from Andrea Wright and a layup by Foster off another Schober feed pushed the lead back to 11 at 76-65 with 2:23 to play. But over the next 60 seconds the Bison missed four straight free throws, keeping Hampton alive.
A 3-pointer from Rachel Butler - one of only two treys the Pirates would hit all night in 13 attempts - made it a five-point game at 76-71 with 1:03 left. But the Bison, and Amanda Brown in particular, turned things around at the charity stripe when they needed it most.
Brown hit six straight and 7 of 8 free throws in the final minute. A 3-point play from Butler actually brought Hampton as close as four with 24 seconds left, but Foster pulled down a big defensive rebounds and canned two free throws with 11 seconds left to close things out.
Brown's 3-pointer 39 seconds into the game gave the Bison their first points of the season, and Bucknell never trailed in the first half while getting just about any shot it wanted. The Bison shot 54.5 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Hollobaugh made all three of her 3-point tries and the team hit 5 of 10 from downtown in building a big lead.
Hollobaugh's slashing 3-point play with 9:14 left in the half pushed their cushion into double digits for the first time at 27-15, and the lead went to 16 on Andrea Wright's runner with 10 seconds left before intermission.
Foster's monster night was all the more impressive considering she had only four points, six rebounds and two blocks at halftime. She had a double-double in the second half alone, logging 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
The previous Bucknell record for blocks in a game was seven. Foster posted that total twice in a 17-day span against Cornell and High Point last December, while Ann Kirwin also had seven against Delaware in 1985-86.
Only one game into her junior season, Foster has already obliterated the Bucknell career blocked shots record. She now has 175, while no other Bison player has ever recorded more than 132.
Bucknell also tied the team record for blocks in a game with 10. It is the fourth time in school history the squad has reached that total, most recently in 1986-87 against Hofstra.
Brown also reached double figures in the scoring column, finishing with 12 points, six assists and a career-high five steals. Jacquie Seawright had nine points off the bench for the Bison, who held a 44-42 rebounding edge.
Bucknell shot 46.6 percent for the game, compared to Hampton's 37.8 percent. Butler and Artavia Burns each scored 15 points for the Pirates, while James tallied 10.
The Bison will be back in action on Sunday when the hit the road for the first time in 2006-07, visiting Saint Joseph's at 2 p.m. in Philadelphia.
