Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Hosts James Madison in Home Opener Tuesday
11/12/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2007
What: James Madison (1-0) at Bucknell (0-1)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007, 7 p.m.
Radio: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com
Live Video: SportsJuice.com
Promotions: Damon's Night/Free T-Shirts/Faculty Appreciation Night
Game Notes
With a Victory Over James Madison, Bucknell Would...
► Win its home opener for the fourth consecutive year
► End a four-game losing streak dating back to last year
► End a four-game losing streak to non-league foes
► Win its eighth consecutive home game
About the Game
Coming off a 61-55 loss at St. Bonaventure last Friday, Bucknell will be looking for its first win of the 2007-08 campaign Tuesday evening against James Madison. The Dukes will be aiming for their second consecutive victory after opening the season with an 89-73 win at home against Harvard. Four players netted double figures for James Madison, led by 30 from Tamera Young, while Kisha Stokes pulled down 16 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end. The game will feature contrasting styles as Bucknell limited opponents to a program-record 56.1 points per game last year, while James Madison averaged nearly 73 points per game.
Bucknell-James Madison Series
Tuesday nightÂÂ?fs meeting marks the first game Bucknell has ever played against James Madison.
Bucknell vs. Colonial Athletic Association
Bucknell is 31-66 all-time against teams that currently comprise the CAA. The Bison will also face CAA member George Mason in early December.
Quick Facts
Hope Foster was named the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year ... Amanda Brown and Hope Foster were selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team ... Bucknell won 20 games for the third time in program history last year ... Bucknell has four of the top 39 scorers in program history on this year's team ... the Bison were ranked among the national leaders in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and fouls per game in 2006-07 ... Bucknell returns four players who have been regular starters for at least two years ... Bucknell has not allowed a team to score 80 points since Maryland Eastern Shore tallied 92 in a triple overtime game Dec. 17, 2005, a span of 52 games ... the last Patriot League team to net at least 70 against the Bison was Colgate in final game of the 2004-05 regular season, a span of 32 games.
Home Openers
Bucknell will be trying to open its home schedule with a victory for the fourth consecutive year. The Bison are 21-12 all-time in home openers, including 7-3 under 11th-year head coach Kathy Fedorjaka. Since moving into Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell is 3-1 in its first game in its home arena.
Early Openers
Bucknell's season-opening game at St. Bonaventure last Friday marked the earliest starting date in program history, eclipsing last season's Nov. 10 opener by one day. Prior to last year, the Bison's earliest game had been on Nov. 14, 1998.
Season Openers
The 2007-08 campaign marks the 35th season of Bucknell women's basketball. With their loss to St. Bonaventure last Friday, the Bison fell to 14-21 in season openers. Bucknell is 5-6 in season openers under head coach Kathy Fedorjaka.
High Scorers
Four members of the current Bison squad have already eclipsed 500 points in their careers, headlined by Hope Foster and her 906 career points. She ranks 18th on the Bison career scoring list. Kesha Champion, Amanda Brown and Lauren Schober also have more than 500 career points, joining an exclusive club that has just 40 members. Schober, who has 529 points, scored 10 points against St. Bonaventure to move ahead of current assistant coach Monique LeBlanc '02, who finished her career with 522 points and ranks 40th on the Bucknell scoring list.
Current Bison with 500 Career Points and Rank on Bucknell Career Scoring List 17. Chiara Sockel 961 18. Hope Foster 906 26. Monica Nawarskas 701 27. Kesha Champion 681 28. Amanda Brown 672 37. Kate Rounsley 542 t-38. Lauren Schober 529
Welcome Back
James Madison assistant coach Jackie Smith is a former assistant coach at Bucknell. In her third year on the Dukes' staff, Smith worked on Kathy Fedorjaka's staff for two years (2003-05).
Double-Doubles
Lauren Schober recorded her fourth career double-double in the season opener against St. Bonaventure last Friday. The Chicago, Ill., native tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds. It marks the third straight year a Bison junior has registered a double-double in the season opener. In 2005-06 Lindsey Hollobaugh posted 14 points and 11 rebounds at Stony Brook, while Hope Foster tallied 20 points and 16 rebounds last year opposite Hampton.
Free Throw Hot Streak
Andrea Wright scored eight points and made all four of her free throw attempts against St. Bonaventure last Friday. She has now made eight consecutive free throws, and has been 4-for-4 from the free throw line in each of the last two season openers.
Strong Bench Play
With Kesha Champion in foul trouble and Kristina Collymore failing to get into a groove, Kathy Fedorjaka turned to her bench for 68 minutes last Friday at St. Bonaventure. The four reserves - Le'Le' LeSeur, Joyce Novacek, Taylor Phillips, Andrea Wright - combined to go 8 of 16 from the floor, 6 of 8 from the free throw line, and totaled 22 points.
Preseason Patriot League Honors
Defending Patriot League Player of the Year Hope Foster and Amanda Brown were honored by the Patriot League last month with places on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Additionally, Foster was selected as the Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year. As a team, the Bison were picked to finish first in the league for the first time in program history. Bucknell has finished better than or equal to its predicted finish seven times in the last nine years.
Ending the Streak
Bucknell lost its final three games of 2006-07 and has now lost four in a row overall. It is just the second time since ending a six-game losing skid in February of 2005 that the Bison have lost four contests in a row. The last time it occurred was when Bucknell lost the final two games of 2004-05 and the first two of 2005-06.
Strong Defense
Bucknell easily established a new program record by limmiting opponents to just 56.1 points per game in 2006-07. That figure eclipsed the previous standard, which had stood since 1975-76, by nearly one point per contest. The Bison finished 20th nationally in scoring defense, one year after placing 33rd. Bucknell has been especially stingy on the defensive end of the floor against Patriot League foes. In fact, no Patriot League opponent has scored more than 70 points against the Bison since Colgate netted 84 in the final contest of the 2004-05 campaign, a stretch of 32 games, including the Patriot League Tournament.
Bucknell's 2006-07 National Defensive Rankings Scoring Defense 20th (56.1 ppg) FG% Defense 32nd (.369) Fouls Per Game 33rd (15.3)
Foster Continues to Pile Up Blocks
Hope Foster has amassed 264 blocks in her career. As a freshman, she tallied 72 rejections to break Desire Almind's year-old Bucknell single-season record of 62. She easily eclipsed that figure as a sophomore with 95 blocks to pace the Patriot League for the second consecutive season. Last year she nearly broke her own record, but finished with 93 blocks, leading the Patriot League once again. Foster finished her junior campaign with a 3.0 blocks per game average, which ranked ninth in the nation. The year before she averaged 3.3 blocks per game, good for eighth in the country. With four blocks in the season opener against St. Bonaventure, Foster is just 45 blocks shy of the Patriot League career record, held by Kathy Courtney of Holy Cross.
Up Next
Bucknell returns to the road Saturday, Nov. 17, with a game at Hampton. The Bison defeated the Pirates 85-77 in last year's season opener at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison will then host Hampton next Monday, Nov. 19, in their only game this year that will be played with just one day rest.
