Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Returns Home Monday to Host Cornell
11/19/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2006
What: Cornell (0-2) at Bucknell (2-2)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Nov. 20, 2006, 7 p.m.
Game Notes
Bucknell returns home to Sojka Pavilion to take on Cornell Monday night after a difficult three-game road trip where it posted a 1-2 mark, but played well against difficult competition. The Bison defeated Columbia and lost to Saint Joseph's and nationally ranked Michigan State. Hope Foster had an outstanding road trip, averaging 15.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 6.7 bpg, including a record-breaking 11-block performance against the Spartans. Lindsey Hollobaugh helped shoulder the offensive load, averaging 14.0 ppg. The Bison, who are 28-17 all-time on the Sojka Pavilion floor, opened up the season with an 85-77 victory over Hampton at home and will aim for their eighth home win in their last nine opportunities. The Big Red, who have never beaten Bucknell in Lewisburg, will be looking for their first win of the season Monday night.
ABOUT CORNELL
Cornell has opened its season with back-to-back road losses to Syracuse and the Patriot League's Lafayette. The Big Red play their third consecutive road contest Monday night against Bucknell. Sophomore forward Jeomi Maduka has been Cornell's lone standout, averaging 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. She has accounted for nearly one-third of the team's points. The Big Red are shooting just 33.3 percent, including 20.5 percent from 3-point range. Thanks to Maduka's 17-18 showing at the free throw stripe, Cornell is shooting 66.7 percent. The 6-2 Maduka, however, has fouled our of both games and is averagign just 24.5 minutes per contest.
BISON VS. THE BIG RED
This is the fourth consecutive year Bucknell and Cornell have played. The Bison have won two straight, and three of the last four meetings, as they own a 12-3 edge in the series that dates to the 1981-82 campaign. Bucknell is 8-0 at home all-time against Cornell.
WITH A VICTORY OVER CORNELL, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• ...open a season with a 3-2 record for the first time since 2001-02
• ...open its home schedule 2-0 for the third consecutive year
• ...win its fifth consecutive game against Ivy League competition
• ...improve to 2-0 against Ivy League foes this season
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 473 career rebounds, 204 shy of climbing into Bucknell's top-10 list ... Lindsey Hollobaugh needs 359 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 ... Bison starters have played 651 of a possible 800 minutes through two games ... despite yielding more than 65 points per game, Bucknell is holding opponents to 35.0% shooting from the field ... just once in its last eight games has Bucknell allowed a team to shoot better than 40.0% ... no team has eclipsed 40.0% this year ... it has been a span of 75 games since an opponent has converted at least 50.0% of its field goals against the Bison defense ... Lindsey Hollobaugh has netted double figures every game this year.
NEAR TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Junior forward Hope Foster blocked a Bucknell-record 11 shots against Michigan State last Friday. She also grabbed 10 rebounds and scored six points. The 6-2 Foster entered the contest averaging 20.0 points per game. If she had reached double figures in points she would have recorded the first triple-double in program history.
FOSTER CONTINUES TO PILE UP BLOCKS
Junior forward Hope Foster, who already owns the Bucknell career and single-season blocked shots record, has piled up an amazing 28 blocks in four games this year. After setting a Bucknell record for blocks in a single game with eight against Hampton, she surpassed that with 11 against Michigan State one week later to tie the Patriot League single-game standard.
Hope Foster's Blocked Shots Accomplishments
• Bucknell single-game record (11 vs. Michigan State)
• Tied Patriot League single-game record (11 vs. Michigan State)
• 13 career games with at least five blocks (only 21 total in Bucknell history)
• Owns top two spots on Bucknell's career blocks list (Fr.-72/So.-95)
• Tied for Patriot League single-season blocks record (95)
• Third in Patriot League history in career blocks (195)
• First on Bucknell's career blocks list (195) - 63 ahead of second place
• At least one block in 57 of 61 career games
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. Hope Foster, Bucknell 2005- 61 195
IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING
While her defense has been grabbing headlines, Hope Foster has improved on the offensive end this year. Her scoring average has increased by more than six points per game, partly due to her improved free throw shooting. After making just over 62 percent of her free throws her first two seasons, Foster is making foul shots at an 82.4 percent clip this year. As a team, Bucknell is shooting 73.3 percent from the line. That figure eqauls the third-best in program history. The top three free throw shooting years have all come in this decade.
ALTERNATING WINS AND LOSSES
Bucknell has started off its 2006-07 campaign much like the Bison football team, which completed its 2006 season this past weekend with a 6-5 record by alternating wins and losses all season. The basketball squad has split its first four contests by alternating wins and losses. The last time that pattern continued four games into the season was 1993-94.
26 3-POINT ATTEMPTS
Due to the presence of 6-9 Allyssa DeHaan in the middle of the paint, Bucknell launced 26 3-point shots against Michigan State last Friday. The Bison, who made six of those long-distance attempts, came one shy of equaling the program record of 27 that came in 1994 against Xavier. Overall, Bucknell is making 34.5 percent of its 3-point attempts.
500 POINTS ON HORIZON
With 10 points against Michigan State, Kesha Champion increased her career total to 481. With 19 more points she will join Lindsey Hollobaugh and Hope Foster to give the Bison three players with at least 500 career points. Sophomores Amanda Brown and Lauren Schober, who each netted just less than 300 points as freshmen, could join the 500-point club by the end of this year.
20.0 POINTS PER GAME
Prior to her six-point outing against Michigan State, Hope Foster was averaging 20.0 points per game. 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 was the first person to achieve that since Creamer in 2002-03. The Washington, D.C., native still leads the Bison with a 16.5 ppg scoring average.
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 227 of the 263 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 four contests with four, she has not yet fouled out of a game. In fact, the junior shot blocker is averaging nearly 36 minutes per game and has fouled out of just four games in her career.
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 first 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.
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 8-5 .615
2006-07 1-0 1.000
Totals 28-17 .622
UP NEXT
Bucknell leaves the cold of the Northeast for a tropical climate over the Thanksgiving holiday as it heads to Cancun, Mexico, for the Caribbean Classic. The Bison will take on Monmouth Friday, Nov. 24, and Richmond Saturday, Nov. 25. Bucknell is just 35-82 all-time at in-season tournaments, but it has accumulated at least one victory in four of its last five in-season tournaments.
