Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Marist
Bucknell Women's Basketball Suffers 68-56 Loss at Marist
12/1/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2007
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Bucknell women's basketball team missed its first 28 field goal attempts and fell behind 23-3 on its way to a 68-56 loss to Marist Saturday afternoon at the McCann Center. Kesha Champion (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) posted her first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for the Bison, while Lynzee Johnson tallied a team-high 15 points for Marist, which won for the eighth consecutive game.
The Bison went nearly 15 minutes before Kristina Collymore (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) finally made the team's first field goal off a baseline inbounds play. They were behind 23-3 at that point and had trailed 19-0 before Ashton Sprouse (Dayton, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) put them on the board with a free throw with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Bucknell did end the first half making six of its last 11 field goal attempts to narrow the halftime score to 34-17, it lowest point output in the first half since netting just 15 against the same Marist team at Sojka Pavilion last December. Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner), who scored a team-high 15 points, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during that stretch and moved into fifth place in Bison history with 91 in her career.
The closest Bucknell got in the first half was 32-17 when Brown connected from the right wing on the second of her three 3-pointers.
In the second half, the Bison were much more competitive, outscoring 2007 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Marist 39-34 and battling back from as many as 27 points down to narrow the deficit to as little as 10 in the final minute. An 8-0 run midway through the half during which the Bucknell defense held the Red Foxes without a field goal for nearly four minutes helped swing the momentum in favor of the Bison. In fact, Marist netted just three field goals over the final 12 minutes.
Bucknell used a liberal substitution pattern and a full court pressure defense to help climb back into the game. Additionally, the Bison were able to get the ball inside as Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) scored all 10 of her points in the second half. Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) also provided a lift with a pair of 3-pointers.
While the Bison started the game slowly and shot 15.4 percent in the first half, Marist opened up making eight of its first 16 field goals and shot 44.8 percent in the first stanza. Bucknell ended up making 19 of its final 40 field goals and shot 27.9 percent from the field in the game.
For just the second time this season, the Bison were not outrebounded as they pulled down 42 boards to equal Marist's total. Champion paced Bucknell with her 12, while Brown added a season high-tying six. Meg Dahlman led the Red Foxes with 14, including nine in the first 12:30 of the first half.
Bucknell also took care of the ball in the contest, turning the ball over a season-low 12 times.
The loss dropped the Bison to 2-5 this season, while Marist improved to 8-1. Bucknell will return home for a 7 p.m. game Tuesday night against George Mason. It will be the final contest before finals for the Bison.
