Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
American*
Bucknell Women's Basketball Wins Program Record-Tying Seventh Straight Game, 73-38 Over American
2/7/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's basketball team forced a season-high 30 turnovers, including 18 in the first half, as it won its program record-tying seventh straight game, 73-38 over American, Tuesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Five players netted double figures for the Bison, who were led by 13 points each from Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar), Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) and Jacquie Seawright (Olton, Texas/Olton).
The win kept Bucknell (15-7, 8-1 Patriot League) in first place by itself as it equaled its best-ever conference start. American fell to 6-16 overall and 3-6 in the Patriot League and saw its two-game winning streak come to an end. The Bison are in first place by one game over second-place Army, which defeated third-place Holy Cross 63-57 Tuesday.
American took its second, and final, lead of the game at 8-7 just over five minutes into the first half, but Bucknell ended the half on a 21-5 run and limited the Eagles to just two field goals over the final 14:45 of the first half. Foster scored seven consecutive points at one stretch during the run and tallied nine points and eight rebounds in the first half.
The Eagles knocked down just 19 percent of their field goals in the first half, and just 27 percent overall against the nation's seventh best defense in terms of field goal percentage. They also turned the ball over 18 times as Bucknell took a 28-13 lead into halftime.
The Bison opened up the second half with an 18-6 run capped by Lauren Schober's (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) second 3-pointer in a two-minute span.
Bucknell was able to extend the lead out to as many as 36 points following a pair of free throws from Seawright with 2:27 to play. Seawright scored 11 of her points in the second half, while Corrine Keller (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) contributed eight of her 12 in the second half with an array of jump shots. She fell one point shy of her career high. Schober was the fifth Bucknell player in double figures with 10.
In addition to forcing 30 turnovers, the Bison outrebounded the Eagles 48-31, including 23-16 on the offensive glass, which helped result in 22 more field goal attempts. Bucknell shot 43.5 percent in the game, including 52.9 percent in the second half. The Bison also made all eight of their free throws, with Seawright's 3-for-3 performance leading the way.
Corrine Keller came within one point of her career high with 12 points off the bench against American.  |
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Foster paced Bucknell on the boards with eight, all in the first half. Brown and Kesha Champion (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) each pulled in seven. Champion recorded a career-high seven assists as she played the point guard position much of the second half with Kristina Collymore (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) sick.
Tala Hadavi led the way for American with 12 points, but turned the ball over 11 times, including seven times in the first half. No other Eagle player tallied more than six points as they converted just 13 field goals and dished out just three assists. Tish Curry, who played all 40 minutes, led American in rebounding with nine.
The 38 points Bucknell yielded was the lowest since giving up 37 to Army in the 1992-93 season. It was just the fifth time since the 1980-81 campaign a team failed to score 40 points against the Bison, who held American to an average of just 40.5 points per game in two meetings this year.
Bucknell equaled the 1986-87 squad that opened the season with seven straight victories for the most consecutive wins in the 33-year history of the program.
Bucknell will open a three-game road trip Saturday at Holy Cross. Tip off for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. The Crusaders have lost two straight games overall and the Bison have won three of the last five in the series.
