Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Releases Tentative 2006-07 Schedule
8/3/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Aug. 3, 2006
- 2006-07 Bucknell Women's Basketball Schedule
- Caribbean Classic Ticket/Fan Package Information (Cancun, Mexico, Nov. 24-25)
Of Bucknell's 11 scheduled non-league opponents, not including the possible opponents at the Caribbean Classic, four teams recorded 20 or more victories last season, while three of them made NCAA appearances, including the Spartans, who advanced to the second round. Overall, the Bison will face four NCAA teams from a year ago with Patriot League champion Army included in the mix as well.
"I am excited about the non-conference portion of our schedule this year," stated Fedorjaka, who enters her 10th season as head coach of the Bison in 2006-07. "We are coming off a successful campaign with everyone returning and we expect our players to step up to the challenges ahead of us."
In addition to seven holdovers from last year's non-conference schedule, Bucknell, which posted an 18-11 record last year and tied for second place in the Patriot League regular-season standings, welcomes four new non-league opponents to the schedule this winter.
For the first time since the 2001-02 campaign Bucknell will open its season at home, hosting Hampton at Sojka Pavilion Friday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. It is the earliest season opener in the 34-year history of the program. Ironically, the 2001-02 Bison were the last team to win their season opener and also made the only NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Bucknell, which won a program-record seven straight road games at one point last season, takes to the road for the first time Nov. 14 at Columbia, a squad it defeated by 18 points last January. The Bison then face their first Big 10 Conference opponent since Penn State in 2002-03 when they travel to Lansing, Mich., for a Nov. 17 date against Michigan State, a team that posted a 24-10 record, including 14-1 at home, last year.
After a brief trip home to take on Cornell, a squad it has defeated each of the last two years, Nov. 20, Bucknell embarks on an international road trip to Cancun, Mexico, for the Caribbean Classic. The two-game event takes place the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and features Drake, Marshall, Monmouth, Richmond and Southeast Missouri State. Pairings will be announced at a later date.
After no fewer than six games in the first 16 days of the season, the Bison return to Lewisburg for a brief two-game homestand, hosting St. Bonaventure on Thursday evening, Nov. 30, and Marist, a 2006 NCAA Tournament team, on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 3:30 p.m. A Dec. 5 game at Delaware State, which opens a three-game road trip, is the final contest before exams and an 11-day break for Bucknell.
The Bison resume their schedule at Coppin State, the MEAC champions and a 2006 NCAA Tournament squad, on Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. Five days later (Dec. 21) a trip to Siena closes out the road non-league portion of the schedule.
A four-game homestand, the longest of the season, gets underway following an eight-day break for the Christmas holiday. The Bison will close out their non-conference portion of the schedule with games at Sojka Pavilion against Buffalo (Dec. 29) and Iona (Jan. 3). The 14-game Patriot League slate then gets started with home contests opposite Navy (Jan. 6) and American (Jan. 9).
Highlights of the league slate include a three-game homestand in mid-February when Holy Cross, Lafayette and Colgate will visit Sojka Pavilion. Additionally, Army, the 2006 Patriot League representative in the NCAA Tournament, will pay its annual visit to Lewisburg on Saturday, Jan. 27.
"I expect the Patriot League to be very competitive this season," commented Fedorjaka, who picked up her 200th career victory last winter. "There was a lot of younger talent in the league last year, so I anticipate teams only improving. We are going to have to play at the top of our game every night."
Continuing with the schedule format that was introduced last year, all of Bucknell's Patriot League games will be played on Saturdays and Tuesdays. A number of the Saturday contests will be played as part of doubleheaders with the Bison men's team.
The Patriot League Tournament format has changed this year with Navy's Alumni Hall serving as the host of the first two rounds of the eight-team tournament on Saturday, March 3, and Sunday, March 4. The championship game will take place Wednesday, March 7, on the home court of the highest remaining seed. The winner of the title game receives the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Bucknell is still working on finalizing two open dates on its schedule, which should be filled shortly.
Single-game and season ticket information for the 2006-07 season will be released Friday, Aug. 4. Fans can call the Bucknell Ticket Office, which is located at the Weis Center on campus, at 570-577-1000 for ticket information or visit us online at www.BucknellBison.com and click "TICKETS".
Bucknell returns all 11 letterwinners from last season in 2006-07, including junior Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar), who was a First Team All-Patriot League selection, and senior Lindsey Hollobaugh (Loganton, Pa./Central Mountain), who earned her second consecutive Second Team All-Patriot League citation. Additionally, sophomore Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) and Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) were members of the league's All-Rookie Team.
