Bucknell University
St. Bonaventure
Bucknell Women's Basketball Holds off St. Bonaventure for 54-48 Win
11/30/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Hope Foster (Washinton, D.C./Dunbar) scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year as she helped the Bucknell women's basketball team hold off a pesky St. Bonaventure squad for a 54-48 victory Thursday evening at Sojka Pavilion. Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) added a team-high 14 points for the Bison, who led by as many as 13 points in the second half.
Foster was Bucknell's main offensive option in the game as she was 6-for-14 from the floor despite facing a double team every time she touched the ball in the post. However, Brown helped clinch the win for the Bison, who improved to 5-3 overall and 3-0 at home this year.
A 3-pointer by Audrey Latendresse, who led the Bonnies with a season-high 21 points, from the top of the key with just over two minutes left completed a 25-12 run that brought St. Bonaventure even at 46-46. It was the first time Bucknell failed to lead since midway through the first half. Lindsey Hollobaugh (Loganton, Pa./Central Mountain), who went nearly 36 minutes between field goals, gave the Bison the lead for good when she converted a driving layup coming out of a timeout right after Latendresse's 3-pointer. Brown then took over as she knocked down a long jumper from the right wing that was just inches shy of a 3-pointer to put Bucknell up 50-46 with less than 90 seconds to play. She then converted 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute to seal the game as St. Bonaventure missed three 3-pointers in that span.
Brown finished with 14 points and a season-high six rebounds with nine points and four boards coming in the second half.
Latendresse helped St. Bonaventure (3-4) jump out to an early 7-0 lead as she knocked down three field goals with Andrea Doneth getting an assist on each. Bucknell quickly came back and took its first lead at 12-11 behind back-to-back turnaround jumpers in the lane by Foster.
The Bison extended their lead out to 30-21 at halftime behind a 13-5 run that featured three 3-pointers by Jacquie Seawright (Olton, Texas/Olton), who netted a season-high 11 points in a career-high 30 minutes off the bench. She is averaging 9.8 points per game over the last four contests.
With Brown scoring the first four points of the second half on a pair of free throws and a wild driving layup, Bucknell opened up a 13-point advantage with just over 16 minutes to play. That basket was the final field goal by a Bison besides Foster for more than 14 minutes until Hollobaugh's driving layup in the final minutes.
In building its nine-point halftime cushion, Bucknell limited St. Bonaventure to 29.2 percent shooting in the first half, but the Bonnies made better than 42 percent of their field goals in the second. Bucknell was the opposite, shooting 39.3 percent in the first half and 31.6 percent after intermission.
After averaging nearly 20 turnovers a game in their first six contests, the Bison turned the ball over just 13 times, giving them only 22 turnovers in their last two games. St. Bonaventure turned the ball over 18 times, including six by Ashley Edwards.
Behind three 3-pointers from Seawright and one apiece from Brown, Hollobaugh and Kesha Champion (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River), Bucknell was 6 of 12 from behind the arc in the first half. In the second half the Bison were 0 of 4. The Bonnies were 3 of 12 overall from 3-point range with Latendresse making all three.
The 54 points in the winning effort marked the fourth time in the last two years Bucknell has won by scoring that many points. The last time the Bison recorded a victory with fewer points was in a 48-47 win over Akron two seasons ago.
Foster blocked just two shots in the contest as St. Bonaventure failed to challenge Bucknell's all-time leading shot blocker. She now has 43 blocks on the season, giving her three of the top four spots on the Bison single-season list.
Bucknell continues its two-game homestand Saturday against Marist at 3:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader with the men's team. The Bison men host Northern Iowa at 1 p.m.
