Bucknell University
American*
Bucknell Women's Basketball Defeats American, 70-62, to Improve to 2-0 in PL Play
1/10/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2007
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds as the Bucknell women's basketball team held off a late run by American to defeat the Eagles 70-62 after leading by double figures the majority of the game Wednesday evening at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison improved to 10-7 overall and 2-0 in Patriot League play for the second consecutive year, while American lost for the fourth time in five contests and fell to 6-11 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Despite yielding 45 second-half points, Bucknell's defense was strong, limiting the Eagles to 29.8 percent shooting. Liz Hayes, the third-leading scorer in the Patriot League at 15.8 points per game, was held to just 10 points and Nicole Ryan, who was averaging just shy of 11.0 points per game, tallied only eight. That duo combined to make just 4 of 19 field goals.
The Bison jumped out to an early 18-4 lead as they held American without a field goal for the first 6:31 of play. The Eagles opened the game 0-for-7 from the floor and were just 1-for-10 with five turnovers in the first nine minutes.
Bucknell held a 14-point lead on three occasions in the first half before Foster knocked down a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left in the first half to give the Bison a 33-17 halftime advantage, their largest of the first 20 minutes. The 17 points American scored in the first half was the fewest in any half for a Bucknell opponent this season. Going back to the second half of Saturday's game against Navy, opponents had tallied just 35 points in a 40-minute stretch against the stingy Bison defense.
Two more free throws by Foster, who was 9-for-9 in the game, minutes into the second half put Bucknell up 41-21, its largest lead of the game. Behind junior forward Stephanie N'Garsanet, who played all 16 of her minutes in the second half and entered the game averaging just 11 minutes a game, American started a series of comebacks that the Bison held off each time. N'Garsanet tallied four points in a 7-0 run that brought the Eagles back to within 41-28.
N'Garsanet finished with a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds as she made all 10 of her free throws and was 4 of 7 from the floor as she helped the Eagles bring the Bison to within striking distance every time the lead extended out close to 20 points. In fact, a layup by N'Garsanet with just under 10 seconds remaining brought American to within six points, the closest it had been since the score was 6-2.
Bucknell staved off the pesky Eagles, who tallied 45 points in the second half, with a balanced scoring attack that featured all seven players who scored registering at least seven points. Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) joined Foster in double figures with 10 points while Andrea Wright (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) and Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) totaled nine points apiece, which was a career high for Wright.
Foster's game-high 19 points, her most since the sixth game of the season, came on a very efficient 5-for-7 field goal shooting.
Both teams were excellent from the free throw line, especially in the second half. Bucknell was 23 of 25, including 18 of 19 in the second half. American was 25 of 29 overall and 23 of 25 after halftime.
Schober led the Bison in blocks with a career-high two as Foster failed to record a block for just the fifth time in her career. However, the junior forward, who is third in the nation in blocks, was a presence in the middle as a number of Eagles drove into the lane and either changed their shot or did not shoot because of her.
Bucknell opens a three-game road trip Saturday at Holy Cross, which has opened the Patriot League campaign 0-2 after a 13-point loss to Army on Wednesday. The Bison, who will be hitting the road for the first time in league play, were 0-3 against the Crusaders last year.
