Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Cornell
Bucknell Women's Basketball Opens Road Trip with 74-63 Loss to Cornell
11/25/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2007
ITHACA, N.Y. - Jeomi Maduka scored a game-high 24 points and Gretchen Gregg equaled her career high with 14 first-half points as the Bucknell women's basketball team lost to Cornell 74-63 Sunday afternoon at Newman Arena. Amanda Brown led nine Bison scorers with a season-high 17 points, including 13 in the second half.
Bucknell (1-4) trailed virtually the entire game, taking just three leads in the first half with the largest being a two-point cushion. Starters Hope Foster and Lauren Schober combined for just five points and six rebounds in 31 total minutes with just three minutes coming in the second half.
Freshman Cosima Higham was a bright spot for Bucknell. She made her season debut and scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds as she played the final 10 minutes of the game. The Bison outscored the Big Red 24-15 with her in the game.
Maduka paced Cornell (2-2) with 24 points and 12 rebounds as she connected on 8 of 15 field goals and 8 of 13 free throws. Gregg added her 14 points with all of them coming in the first half, including the first 11 of the game. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
In the first half, Bucknell played a solid middle 10 minutes, outscoring Cornell 22-12 during that span. A three-point play in traffic by Taylor Phillips after a nice baseline cut gave the Bison a 27-26 lead, their third of the half, with 4:27 remaining to cap the run. Andrea Wright also tallied six points on an array of short jumpers during the run.
The Big Red responded and took the lead for good as it held Bucknell without a field goal the rest of the half and rattled off 13 consecutive points, including the fourth 3-pointer of the half from Gregg, to take a 39-27 lead, its largest of the half. Wright brought Bucknell back to within 10 points (39-29) with a pair of free throws four seconds before intermission.
Cornell jumped out to an early 14-5 lead behind Gregg, who scored the first 11 points of the game for the Big Red with a short jumper and three 3-pointers before the first media timeout.
Cornell sealed the game early in the second half as it went on a 12-5 run to open the stanza. The Bison did not draw closer than 15 again until the final minutes when Brown made a short jumper and then canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key to bring Bucknell to within 71-59 with just under two minutes left.
A pair of free throws by Wright, who was 6-for-6 from the line, brought the Bison to within 71-62 in the final minute, but they never seriously threatened taking the lead from the Big Red.
The Bison shot a solid 43.6 percent from the floor, but Cornell made 48.1 percent of its field goals, marking the second consecutive team to surpass 40.0 percent against the usually stingy Bucknell defense. The Big Red also connected on 6 of 13 3-pointers, while the Bison were 4 of 8.
Bucknell was outrebounded 41-25 as Foster led the way with her five rebounds despite playing just 17 minutes. Higham and Brown each pulled in four.
Lauren Benson was the third Big Red player in double figures with 11 points, including 6 of 6 shooting from the free throw line. She also dished out a game-high six assists.
Bucknell will continue its three-game New York road trip Wednesday, Nov. 28, when it plays at Binghamton. Tip off for the contest is 7 p.m. in Vestal, N.Y.
