Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Pressure Defense Paces Bucknell Women's Basketball in 63-50 Win at Holy Cross
1/13/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2007
WORCESTER, Mass. - A relentless full court pressure defense forced 20 turnovers and Lindsey Hollobaugh (Loganton, Pa./Central Mountain) and Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) combined for 39 points as the Bucknell women's basketball team ended a three-game losing streak to Holy Cross with a 63-50 victory Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center.
An active Bison squad equaled its season high in steals (14) and set established new season highs in offensive rebounds (20), rebounds (47) and field goals attempted (72).
Hollobaugh posted her fifth career double-double as she equaled her career high with 12 rebounds to go along with 19 points. Brown registered a game-high 20 points, including 12 in the second half and equaled her career high with four 3-pointers.
After a relatively tight first half that ended with Bucknell on top 31-23, Hollobaugh and Brown keyed the Bison on the offensive end in the second half with a combined 23 points. The duo combined for 19 consecutive Bucknell points and Brown hit three consecutive jumpers for a personal 7-0 run that put the Bison up 54-37, their largest lead of the game.
A layup by Ashley McLaughlin, who scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the second half, and a 3-pointer by Brianna McFaddden, who registered 10 of her 13 points in the first half, cut the Bucknell advantage to 58-49 with just under four minutes to play, but the Bison yielded just one free throw, that coming with 15 seconds on the clock, on their way to victory.
Bucknell built that eight-point halftime lead by holding Holy Cross without a field goal for the final 7:30 of the first half. The Crusaders only points during a 13-4 Bison run came from McFadden at the foul line. Le'Le' LeSeur (Snellville, Ga./Wesleyan) tallied all of her career-high five points during the span as she also provided full-court pressure on Holy Cross' Ashley McLaughlin. A 31-21 lead late in the first half was the largest for Bucknell in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Bison set the tone for the game early as they built a 6-0 lead with four of the points coming on offensive rebounds off missed 3-pointers on their first two possessions. The only time they trailed was at 19-18 following a 3-pointer from the left wing by McFadden.
With two late field goals Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) reached 10 points to round out the trio of Bison in double figures. She also added seven rebounds as four players had at least six in the contest as Brown (6) and Kesha Champion (7) (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) rounded out that list for Bucknell.
In addition to her career-high five points, LeSeur played a career-high 22 minutes and pulled down a career-high five rebounds.
Bucknell's defense limited Brittany Keil to just 10 points after she entered the game averaging better than 17 points per game over the last two years against the Bison. She did grab seven rebounds, but was just 4 of 12 from the floor as the Crusaders managed to shoot just 32.7 percent from the floor, including 29.2 percent in the first half. In fact, Keil and Kaitlin Foley, two players that have given Bucknell matchup problems in the past, combined for just 16 points on 7 of 22 shooting.
With the victory, Bucknell moved to a season-high four game over .500 with an 11-7 record. It is also off to its first 3-0 start in conference play since 2002-03. The Bison also ended a three-game losing streak to Holy Cross and won at the Hart Center for the first time since 2003-04.
Holy Cross fell to 5-12 and is now 0-3 in Patriot League play for the first time in school history.
Bucknell looks for its first 4-0 start in Patriot League play since 2001-02 when it continues its three-game road trip Tuesday at Lafayette. The Bison swept the season series from the Leopards last year.
