Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball to Face No. 17 Michigan State Friday
11/16/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2006
What: Bucknell (2-1) at No. 17 Michigan State (0-0)
Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Mich.
When: Nov. 17, 2006, 7 p.m.
Game Notes
Bucknell faces a ranked opponent for the first time since opening the 2002-03 season against No. 14 Penn State Friday night when it battles No. 17 Michigan State. The Bison enter the contest with a 2-1 record, while the Spartans will be playing their first game of the year. Hope Foster (20.0 ppg), Lindsey Hollobaugh (16.7 ppg) and Amanda Brown (13.0 ppg) have been a very potent trio for Bucknell. All three players have reached double figures in every game and have combined to make 59.2% of their field goals (58 of 98), 71.4% of their 3-pointers (10 of 14) and 71.9% of their free throws (23 of 32). Foster has been dominant in the early going, although she will face a challenge Friday as Michigan State is expected to start 6-9 center Allyssa DeHaan. Foster is Bucknell's tallest player at 6-2. The Spartans are coming off their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and posted a 24-10 record last year.
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State is opening its 2006-07 season Friday against Bucknell. However, the Spartans have played a pair of exhibition contests, defeating Grand Valley State 64-55 and Ferris State 68-47. Michigan State is ranked 17th in the nation and will be playing a Patriot League opponent for the first time. The Spartans, who were picked to finish third in the Big Ten's preseason poll, are led by seniors Victoria Lucas-Perry and Rene Haynes. Lucas-Perry averaged 10.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last year, while Haynes scored at an 8.8 clip and dished out 115 assists, second on the team. Additionally, freshman Allyssa DeHaan is expected to start. The 6-9 center averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks in the two exhibitions contests earlier this month.
BISON VS. THE SPARTANS
Bucknell and Michigan State have never met, although the men's squads at both schools met in 2003 with the Spartans coming away on top, 64-52. The Bison will be playing a Big Ten foe for the first time since falling to Penn State to open the 2002-03 season. Michigan (1992) and Wisconsin (1989) are the only other Big Ten teams Bucknell has ever played besides Penn State. The Bison are 0-5 all-time against the Big Ten.
WITH A VICTORY OVER MICHIGAN STATE, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• ...open a season with a 3-1 record for the first time since 2001-02
• ...defeat a Big Ten opponent for the first time in six all-time chances
• ...open its road schedule 2-1 for the first time since 2000-01
• ...win back-to-back games with both on road for first time since Jan. 7 and Jan. 10 of 2006
QUICK FACTS
Bucknell reached the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament for the fourth time in five years last year ... Hope Foster leads current Bison with 463 career rebounds ... Lindsey Hollobaugh needs 373 points to pass Desire Almind for third place on Bucknell's career scoring list ... the Bison were one of the best defensive teams in the nation last year as they ranked in the top 50 nationally in four defensive categories, including seventh in field goal percentage defense ... Bucknell tops the Patriot League in scoring this year (70.7 ppg) ... Bison starters have played 483 of a possible 600 minutes through two games ... despite yielding more than 64 points per game, Bucknell is holding opponents to 35.9% shooting from the field ... just once in its last seven games has Bucknell allowed a team to shoot better than 40.0% ... it has been a span of 74 games since an opponent has converted at least 50.0% of its field goals against the Bison defense.
PL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hope Foster was named the Patriot League Player of the Week Monday after an impressive start to her junior campaign last weekend. The 6-2 forward averaged team-highs in points (19.5), rebounds (11.5) and blocks (6.5) in the first week of the season. She just missed a rare triple-double as she tallied 20 points, 16 rebounds and a school-record eight blocked shots against Hampton. Foster followed that performance with a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds at Saint Joseph's. A member of the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, Foster shot 15 of 24 (62.5%) from the field last week.
20.0 POINTS PER GAME
Hope Foster is averaging 20.0 points per game to lead Bucknell as well as the Patriot League. Just four times in the history of the Bison program has a player averaged at least 20 points over an entire season. Molly Creamer and Jennifer Walz, the top two scorers in program history, each accomplished the feat twice. With a pair of 20-point outings in the first three games, Foster is the first person to achieve that since Creamer in 2002-03.
FIRST GAME OF SEASON FOR OPPONENT
For the third time in the last week Bucknell is taking on an opponent that is opening its season. The Bison also faced Hampton and Saint Joseph's in their first contests.
STEALS FOR BROWN
Sophomore guard Amanda Brown has tallied a career-high five steals twice in the season's first three games. She has a team-high 12 steals on the season, which is just 16 shy of her total from her entire freshman campaign.
STARTERS STAYING ON THE COURT
One of Bucknell's strengths last year was its depth and balance. While many of the same players are on the roster, the starters are logging many more minutes than a year ago. In fact, the starting five has accumulated 183 of the 212 points this season while playing more than 80% of the minutes.
CHAMPION FOULS OUT
In her first two years, junior guard Kesha Champion fouled out just twice in 57 games, all starts. She equaled that figure through the first two contests of this season and fouled out of three consecutive games dating to last year. One of the best defensive players in the Patriot League, Champion finished with four fouls in a game 11 times last season.
FOSTER STAYING IN THE GAME
While Hope Foster has had a propensity to pick up fouls this year, finishing each of the season's first three contests with four, she has not yet fouled out of a game. In fact, the junior shot blocker is averaging 35.0 minutes per game. She has fouled out of just four games in her career.
DUO WITH 20 POINTS
Lindsey Hollobaugh (22) and Hope Foster (20) each tallied at least 20 points in the season opener with Hampton. It marked the first time since Dec. 28, 2005 two Bison reached the 20-point plateau. In that contest, a 74-63 win at Buffalo, Amanda Brown and Jacquie Seawright netted 22 points apiece.
20 POINTS AT SOJKA A RARE OCCURENCE
With Lindsey Hollobaugh and Hope Foster each scoring at least 20 points against Hampton, it marked a rare occurence at Sojka Pavilion - a Bison player netting 20 points at home. Before last Friday, Bucknell had totaled just one 20-point contest at home since Hollobaugh poured in 27 against Fairleigh Dickinson in January of her sophomore year. Overall, the Bison posted 10 20-point performances last year and nine came away from Sojka.
22 POINTS IN OPENER
Lindsey Hollobaugh's 22 points against Hampton marked the most in a season opener for a Bucknell player since Molly Creamer netted 28 and Desire Almind chipped in 26 in the 2002-03 season opener against Penn State. That was also the last time a pair of Bucknell players tallied 20 points in the season opener.
HIGH-SCORING OPENERS
Bucknell's 85 points it totaled in its season opener against Hampton marked the most it had scored in the first game of a season since the 1986-87 campaign. That year the Bison opened their season with a 94-81 victory over Vermont. Bucknell went on to win 17 games that year.
SEASON OPENERS
The 2006-07 campaign marks the 34th season of Bucknell women's basketball. With their win over Hampton Nov. 10, the Bison have posted a 14-20 record in season openers. The 85-77 victory against the Pirates broke a four-game losing streak in season openers for Bucknell. Prior to this year, the Bison last won their first contest of the season in 2001-02 when they downed Albany 64-45. Bucknell advanced to the NCAA Tournament that year. Under head coach Kathy Fedorjaka Bucknell is now 5-5 in its first game of the season.
EARLY OPENERS
Bucknell's season-opening date of Nov. 10 was the earliest in program history. In fact, it is a full four days earlier than any other season opener. The Bison began the 1998-99 season on Nov. 14 with an 81-54 loss to Kent.
ANOTHER BLOCKS RECORD FOR FOSTER
Junior forward Hope Foster continued to add to her long list of blocked shots record as the tallied a career-high and school-record eight blocked shots in the season opener against Hampton. That figure eclipsed the previous record of seven she reached twice in a 16-day span last December. Only 20 times in the history of the program has a played totaled five blocks in a contest and 12 of those belong to Foster.
FOSTER CONTINUES TO PILE UP BLOCKS
Junior forward Hope Foster already owns every Bucknell blocked shot record and she is closing in on the Patriot League mark as well. As a freshman she tallied 72 rejections to break Desire Almind's year-old Bucknell single-season record of 62. She easily eclipsed that figure last year with 95 blocks to pace the Patriot League for the second consecutive season. She already has 17 this year in just three games. The Washington, D.C., native owns the Bucknell career record, accumulating 184 blocks in her 60 career games. She is fourth in Patriot League annals, nearly two-thirds of the way to Holy Cross' Kathy Courtney's standard of 309 that has stood for a decade.
CREAMER, WALZ, HOLLOBAUGH?
Senior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh became the 15th player in Bucknell history to eclipse 1,000 points last year. She currently stands tied for 11th on the Bison career list with 1,209 points. The Loganton, Pa., native is only 373 points shy of passing Desire Almind for third place behind Molly Creamer and Jennifer Walz, the only two Bucknell players to eclipse the 2,000-point plateau.
SOJKA SUCCESS
Bucknell has posted a 1-0 home mark this year to improve its all-time record at Sojka Pavilion to 28-17 (.622). In their four years playing at Sojka Pavilion, the Bison have never finished below .500. Bucknell posted victories in six of its final seven home games in 2005-06.
UP NEXT
Bucknell continues its grueling early-season schedule as it returns home Monday for a contest with Cornell. Tip off at Sojka Pavilion is set for 7 p.m. The Bison, who will have played three road games in a six-day span, will head back out on the road quickly as they depart for Cancun, Mexico, next Wednesday. Bucknell is taking part in the Caribbean Classic next week and will face Monmouth and Richmond.
