Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Closes Homestand Tuesday Against Saint Francis (Pa.)
12/17/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2007
What: Saint Francis (Pa.) (3-5) at Bucknell (3-6)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, 7 p.m.
Radio: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com
Live Video: SportsJuice.com
Game Notes
With a Victory Over Saint Francis (Pa.), Bucknell Would...
► Continue its seven-game string of alternating wins and losses
► Avoid its worst 10-game start to a season since opening 1994-95 1-9
► Extend its all-time advantage over the Red Flash to 11-5
About the Game
For the second consecutive game, Bucknell will face another Pennsylvania team with a first-year head coach. The Red Flash, under the guidance of Susan Robinson-Fruchtl, are 3-5 this season and enter Tuesday's contest on a three-game losing streak. The Bison, who opened the season on a three-game losing streak of their own, have alternated wins and losses their last seven games. Coming off a nine-point loss to Penn State, the closest in the history of the four-game series, Bucknell will be aiming to improve to 3-2 at home this year. The game will mark the second of a four-game road trip for Saint Francis (Pa.), which has been idle for 10 days for final exams, and will not return home until after the calendar flips to 2008.
Bucknell-Saint Francis (Pa.) Series
Bucknell leads the all-time series with Saint Francis (Pa.) 10-5, but the Red Flash won the last meeting 81-61 in 2004. The Bison won the first seven games in the series, which began in the 1984-85 season.
Last Meeting - Nov. 26, 2004
► Saint Francis (Pa.) 81, Bucknell 61
Beth Swink scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Saint Francis (Pa.) to the 20-point victory over Bucknell. Brooke Tomovich led the Bison with 17 points, while Hope Foster pulled down 12 rebounds for her first career double-figure rebounding game.
Bucknell vs. Northeast Conference
Bucknell owns a 23-19 all-time record against teams that are currently in the Northeast Conference. The Red Flash are the most common opponent for the Bison from the Northeast Conference.
Sojka Success
While Bucknell has gotten out of the gate slowly and is 3-6, it is a solid 2-2 at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison are in the midst of a three-game homestand at Sojka Pavilion, where they are 40-22 (.645) all-time.
Foster Reaches 1,000 Points
Hope Foster tallied her 1,000th career point with 6:15 left in the second half of last Saturday's game with Penn State. Foster became the 16th player in Bison history to reach that plateau, and the first since Lindsey Hollobaugh two years ago.
Hot Streak for Brown
Last Saturday against Penn State, Amanda Brown led Bucknell in scoring for the fifth consecutive game. The last person to accomplish that feat was was Lindsey Hollobaugh in 2004-05, while Molly Creamer was the last to have a longer streak, leading the team in scoring nine consecutive games in 2002-03. Brown has netted double figures in five straight games, the second-longest stretch of her career, and is now averaging a team-high 13.0 points per game. She ranks 23rd on Bucknell's career scoring list with 776 points and could reach 1,000 later this year, which would give the Bison two 1,000-point scorers on the same team for the first time since Creamer and Desire Almind in 2002-03.
Close Loss
Bucknell lost by just a 64-55 score to Penn State this past Saturday. It marked the closest loss for the Bison in the four-game series with the Lady Lions, who are members of the Big Ten Conference. It was the second-closest loss for Bucknell in seven all-time games against teams from the Big Ten, with an 83-77 loss to Michigan in 1992 holding the top spot.
Experienced Starters
While Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka has utilized six different starting lineups this year, and has had just one player (Kesha Champion) start every game, she has usually turned to veterans. In fact, among the 45 possible starts this year, 41 have gone to juniors or seniors.
Starts by Class (2007-08) 1. Senior 28 2. Junior 13 3. Sophomore 2 Freshman 2
Alternating Results
Bucknell has alternated wins and losses over its last seven games. The Bison, who are 3-4 over that span, last alternated results for a longer stretch in 2004-05 when they went eight consecutive games without a winning or losing streak.
Large Crowds
Bucknell drew a season-high 1,682 fans to its Dec. 15 game against Penn State. It marked the fourth-highest women's basketball attendance for a game at Sojka Pavilion and it was the third time in the last four games the Bison have played in front of at least 1,000 people. The last time Bucknell had crowds, home and away, of better than 1,000 fans three times in a four-game span was in February 2003.
Largest Sojka Pavilion Crowds (women's basketball) 1. vs. Lehigh (1/15/03) 2,641 2. vs. Navy (2/16/03) 2,322 3. vs. Colgate (3/2/03) 1,861 4. vs. Penn State (12/15/07) 1,682 5. vs. Army (1/24/03) 1,088
Second Half Surges
Bucknell has played much stronger offensively in the second half than the first half this year. In fact, the Bison have scored 271 second-half points this season, the exact same figure as their opponents. However, in the first half, Bucknell has been outscored 311-265.
Taking Care of the Ball Does Not Equal Success
Basketball coaches routinely preach the importance of not turning the ball over. Interestingly, the Bison, who are averaging 19 turnovers per game, are 0-3 when turning the ball over fewer than 15 times this year, including last Saturday against Penn State. Bucknell has also turned the ball over fewer than 15 times against St. Bonaventure and Marist.
Difficult Schedule
Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka has put together a very difficult non-league schedule for her Bison squad this season. In fact, the six teams Bucknell has lost to this season owned a combined 40-15 record through Dec. 16. Additionally, upcoming opponents Duke (7-3), Loyola (Md.) (6-3) and Buffalo (6-3) are all above .500 this year.
Records of Opponents Bucknell has Lost to in 2007-08 (through Dec. 16) St. Bonaventure 8-2 James Madison 6-2 Hampton 4-3 Cornell 3-3 Marist 10-2 Penn State 9-3 Total 40-15
Changing the Starters
Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka has tinkered with her starting lineup throughout the early part of this season. In fact, the Bison used a program-record six different starting lineups in the season's first eight games. Only twice this year has Bucknell utilized the same starting lineup in back-to-back games.
Consecutive Starts
Senior co-captain Kesha Champion should start for the 98th consecutive time Saturday against Penn State. She is just four starts away from becoming the sixth Bison player to earn 100 consecutive starting assignments. Of the five who started at least 100 games in a row, only Stacey Spitko started every game she played in over the course of her career, something Champion has done.
Bucknell Consecutive Starts 1. Molly Creamer 113 2. Stacey Spitko 111 3. K.C. Vlah 107 4. Vicki Quimby 106 5. Kate Franks 100 -- Kesha Champion 97
Playing the Giants
Bucknell, which has an enrollment of 3,400, has looked exceptionally small recently. George Mason and Penn State, two recent opponents, have enrollments of nearly 30,000 and more than 40,000, respectively. The Bison will also play Illinois-Chicago and Buffalo, which both have enrollments of well over 20,000, in the upcoming weeks. Saint Francis (Pa.) is the opposite of those schools, with an enrollment of just 2,000.
A Tired Amanda Brown
Amanda Brown had a career game recently against George Mason. The junior guard registered a career-high 23 points and played a career-high 49 minutes. That figure tied for the second-most minutes played in a game in Bucknell history. She is one of two Bison averaging 30 minutes with a career-high 35.8.
Most Minutes Played in a Game 1. Kirsten Ellison (1/30/90 vs. Delaware) 50 2. Christine Center (2/9/89 vs. Hofstra) 49 Molly Creamer (2/16/00 vs. Lehigh) 49 Amanda Brown (12/4/07 vs. George Mason) 49
Up Next
Bucknell will travel to Durham, N.C., to face nationally ranked Duke on Friday.
