Bucknell University Athletics
First-Place Bucknell Women's Basketball Hosts Lehigh Wednesday
1/23/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2007
What: Lehigh (7-12, 2-3 PL) at Bucknell (12-8, 4-1 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007, 7 p.m.
Radio: WVBU 90.5 and SportsJuice.com
Live Video: Patriot League All-Access
Game Notes
Bucknell and Lehigh both enter Wednesday night's game on hot streaks. The Bison have won a season-best four of their last five games, while the Mountain Hawks have equaled their season best with two victories in a row. Despite its recent success, Lehigh has struggled to a 2-7 record on the road, a place it has played just twice since the Christmas holiday. Bucknell has been strong at Sojka Pavilion, posting a 6-3 record, including two consecutive wins. The Mountain Hawks were the last Patriot League team to hand the Bison a home loss, defeating them 56-55 last February. Bucknell's junior forward Hope Foster will look to get back on track against Lehigh. The league's second-leading rebounder has pulled down just 16 rebounds in the last three games. She averaged 10.3 in three meetings with the Mountain Hawks last year, including a 14-rebound performance in the Patriot League Tournament victory.
ABOUT LEHIGH
After enduring a five-game losing streak, Lehigh has won two contests in a row to improve to a respectable 2-3 in Patriot League play. The Mountain Hawks have just one player, Adrienne Blount, averaging in double figures at 11.8 points per game. She leads the league in rebounding at 8.6 per game and averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games against Bucknell last year. Three other Lehigh players are averaging between 7.9 and 9.8 points per game, including senior guard Sara Ellis, who poured in more than 14.0 points per game each of the last two years. She has taken on the role of point guard and has dished out a team-high 69 assists this season. An adept outside shooter, she has made 35 3-pointers and leads the team with 27 steals.
BISON VS. MOUNTAIN HAWKS
After losing all three games to Lehigh two years ago, Bucknell won two of the three meetings last year and trails in the all-time series by a slim 29-28 margin. Wednesday's meeting will mark the 58th game in the series, matching Bucknell's series with Lafayette for the most-played rivalry for the Bison.
WITH A VICTORY OVER LEHIGH, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• ...own a 5-1 record in PL play for the second consecutive season and the fifth time overall
• ...win back-to-back games against Lehigh for the first time since 2001-02
• ...win its third consecutive home game
• ...equal 2000-01 squad for earliest date to reach 13 wins
QUICK FACTS
Bucknell reached the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament for the fourth time in five years last year ... Hope Foster leads current Bison with 593 career rebounds, 84 shy of climbing into Bucknell's top-10 list ... the Bison were one of the best defensive teams in the nation last year as they ranked in the top 50 nationally in four defensive categories, including seventh in field goal percentage defense ... just once in the last 90 games has an opponent converted at least 50.0% of its field goals against the Bison defense ... Foster is 23rd on Bucknell's career scoring list ... Kesha Champion is 29th on Bucknell's career scoring list ... senior guard Lindsey Hollobaugh has 75 career double-figure scoring games ... Hollobaugh became the 10th Bison to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career against Navy ... Hollobaugh played her 100th career game against Holy Cross ... sophomore guard Amanda Brown became the fourth current Bison to eclipse 500 career points with 15 against Colgate ... Brown is 18 points behind current assistant coach Monique LeBlanc for 38th place on Bucknell's career scoring list.
SCORING BINGE FOR BROWN
Over her last five games, Amanda Brown has netted 85 points and has seen her average rise from 9.1 points per game to 11.1, which is third on the Bison. She now has 504 career points and became the fourth current Bison to reach that plateau on Saturday at Colgate. Brown, who has made at least two 3-pointers in four of the last five games, is second in the Patriot League in scoring in league games with a team-best 17.0 average. In addition to her recent offensive outburst, which features a pair of 20-point games and a career-best five consecutive double-figure scoring outings, Brown leads the Patriot League in steals and has registered at least two in each of the last seven games.
150 WINS FOR FEDORJAKA
Bucknell 10th-year head coach Kathy Fedorjaka is one win shy of 150 in her tenure as the Bison mentor. Already the winningest coach in program history, Fedorjaka will be going for her 217th career victory against the Mountain Hawks. She will also be aiming for her 75th career Patriot League triumph.
CHAMPION HOT VS. LEHIGH
After averaging just 4.3 points in her first four career games against Lehigh, Kesha Champion is averaging 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in her last two outings against the Mountain Hawks.
13 WINS ON JANUARY 24?
With its win at Colgate last Saturday, Bucknell equaled the 2000-01 squad for the earliest date to reach 12 wins in program history. With a win Wednesday against Lehigh, the Bison will again tie the 2000-01 team for the earliest to 13 wins. No other team has ever won 13 games by the end of January.
MOST-PLAYED RIVALRIES
Bucknell will be facing Lehigh for the 58th time Wednesday night. That will move the Mountain Hawks into a tie with Lafayette for the top spot in the Bison's list of most-played rivalries. The top six teams on that list all reside in the Patriot League.
Bucknell's Most-Played Rivalries
1. Lafayette 58
2. Lehigh 57
3. Colgate 45
4. Holy Cross 40
5. Navy 37
60+ POINTS (USUALLY) LEADS TO WIN
With its 74-48 win at Colgate on Saturday, Bucknell improved to 10-1 when netting at least 60 points. The Bison are just 2-7 when falling short of that figure. Bucknell was 14-4 when registering at least 60 points in 2005-06 and is 27-6 in its last 33 games with at least 60 points.
STRONG SECOND HALF
Entering last Saturday's game at Colgate, Bucknell had been outscored by 63 points in the second half. The Bison had "won" the second half only four times all year. That trend did not hold steady as Bucknell outscored the Raiders 42-24 in the final 20 minutes of play. It was the most the Bison outscored an opponent by in the second half since last Feb. 7 when they outscored American 45-25.
12-4 WHEN LEADING AT HALF
Bucknell led Colgate 32-24 at halftime on Saturday, marking the 16th time this season the Bison led at halftime and they are 12-4 in those contests. Bucknell is outscoring its opponents by nearly 100 points in the first halves of games this season.
500-POINT CLUB
Bucknell's 500-point club has swelled this year as Hope Foster, Kesha Champion and Amanda Brown joined teammate Lindsey Hollobaugh in the exclusive club. Brown was the latest addition, crossing the 500-point plateau last Saturday against Colgate as she became the 39th member of the club. Foster currently ranks 23rd on the list with 751 points, while Champion is 29th with 581. Brown is 39th, just 18 points behind current Bison assistant coach Monique LeBlanc.
SOJKA SUCCESS
Bucknell has posted a 6-3 home mark this year to improve its all-time record at Sojka Pavilion to 33-20 (.623). In their first four years playing at Sojka Pavilion, the Bison never finished below .500. Bucknell posted victories in six of its final seven home games in 2005-06.
Bucknell's All-Time Record in Sojka Pavilion
Year W-L Pct.
2002-03 4-2 .667
2003-04 8-5 .615
2004-05 7-5 .583
2005-06 8-5 .615
2006-07 6-3 .667
Totals 33-20 .623
UP NEXT
Bucknell wraps up the first half of Patriot League play Saturday, Jan. 27, when it hosts Army at 4 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The two teams are currently tied for first place in the Patriot League standings with matching 4-1 records. The Bison and Black Knights are the only league teams to have won 10 games overall this season.
