Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Faces No. 15 Duke Friday
12/20/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2007
What: Bucknell (4-6) at No. 15 Duke (8-3)
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, N.C.
When: Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, 7 p.m.
Radio: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com
Live Video: ACCSelect.com
Game Notes
With a Victory Over Duke, Bucknell Would...
► Continue its eight-game string of alternating wins and losses
► Win its final game before the Christmas holiday for the fifth consecutive year
► Defeat a current ACC team for the first time in six chances
► Win a game in the state of North Carolina for the first time since defeating Elon in the 1998 Davidson Tournament
► Avoid equaling the 1998-99 and 2004-05 teams for the worst 11-game start (4-7) during Kathy Fedorjaka's tenure as head coach
About the Game
After going three full seasons without facing a ranked team, Bucknell will take on its second ranked opponent in the last two years. The Bison lost to No. 17 Michigan State last November and will now face No. 15 Duke. Interestingly, Joanne P. McCallie was on the opposite sideline each time. Bucknell will be aiming for its first winning streak of the season, while Duke will be going for its fourth straight victory after enduring a three-game losing streak. The Blue Devils, who are 3-0 at home, recently lost 86-84 to Penn State, a team Bucknell lost just 64-55 to last Saturday at Sojka Pavilion.
Bucknell-Duke Series
Bucknell and Duke have never met in women's basketball. However, head coach Kathy Fedorjaka's family are not strangers to Duke The Bison men's lacrosse squad, headed by Fedorjaka's husband, Frank, scrimmaged the Blue Devils in 2006 and will play them Feb. 16 in Durham.
Bucknell vs. ACC
Duke is just the fifth team that is currently in the ACC that Bucknell will face. The Bison are 0-5 against other ACC teams, having played Maryland, Miami and Virginia once each and Wake Forest twice. Bucknell's last game against a current ACC school was in 1992 against Miami, which was not a member of the ACC at the time.
Soon to be Weary Travelers
While Bucknell has not played on the road since Dec. 1, the Bison are going to be logging a number of miles in the upcoming weeks. The Bison are on the road for five of their next six games. They have not played five true road contests in a six-game span since 2003-04 when they went 4-3 during a seven-game stretch that featured six road outings.
Foster Reaches 1,000
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
On Tuesday against Saint Francis (Pa.), Amanda Brown led Bucknell in scoring for the sixth consecutive game. The last person to accomplish that feat was all-time leading scorer Molly Creamer in 2002-03 when she led the team in scoring nine consecutive games. Brown has netted double figures in six straight games, the second-longest stretch of her career, and is now averaging a team-high 13.3 points per game, the most by a Bison since Lindsey Hollobaugh averaged 14.9 in 2004-05. She ranks 23rd on Bucknell's career scoring list with 792 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.
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 50 possible starts this year, 46 have gone to juniors or seniors.
Starts by Class (2007-08) 1. Senior 31 2. Junior 15 3. Sophomore 2 Freshman 2
Alternating Results
Bucknell has alternated wins and losses over its last eight games. The Bison, who are 4-4 over that span, have equaled the program record for consecutive games without a winning or losing streak. The 2004-05 squad also went eight straight games alternating wins and losses.
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 more than 18 turnovers per game, are 1-3 when turning the ball over fewer than 15 times this year. After losing to St. Bonaventure, Marist and Penn State, Bucknell picked up its first win when recording less than 15 turnovers Tuesday against Saint Francis. The Bison have seen their turnover average go down from 19.6 to 18.3 the last two games.
Approaching 300 Games
Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka coached her 400th career game Dec. 4 against George Mason. The 15th-year head coach has a career record of 228-174. She has coached 297 games at the helm of the Bison, where she has a record of 161-136 and is in the midst of her 11th season. She should coach her 300th game Dec. 31 vs. Loyola (Md.). No other Bucknell mentor has coached even 200 games.
Impressive Defense Returns
Bucknell's pressure man-to-man defense held nine opponents to less than 50 points last year, but had not done it even once this year heading into this week. However, the Bison limited Saint Francis to just 43 points on Tuesday. Bucknell's scoring defense plummeted from 65.7 to 63.4 with the strong defensive showing.
Defense Remains Strong
After allowing four of its last seven opponents to shoot better than 40.0 percent from the field, Bucknell's field goal percentage defense is 37.2. With teams scoring 7.3 points per game more than in 2006-07 it would seem logical the opponents are shooting better from the field. However, the 37.2 field goal percentage defense is only slightly higher than last year's 36.9 percent.
Eleven Players in the Scoring Column
Bucknell had a season-high 11 players tally points on Tuesday against Saint Francis. It marked the first time that many players had shown up in the scoring column since a Nov. 18, 2005 81-72 loss at Stony Brook.
Strange Territory
Bucknell's Hope Foster, one of the nation's premier shot blockers throughout her career, enters Friday's game with Duke in an unfamiliar place with Duke's Chante Black leading her in blocked shots 29-28. Foster, who is just 21 blocks shy of the Patriot League career record, was able to total 11 blocks the last time the Bison faced a ranked opponent (Michigan State).
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 304 second-half points this season, nine more than their opponents. However, in the first half, Bucknell has been outscored 330-296.
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 41-15 record through Dec. 19. Additionally, upcoming opponents Duke (8-3), Loyola (Md.) (6-3) and Buffalo (6-4) are all above .500 this year.
Records of Opponents Bucknell has Lost to in 2007-08 (through Dec. 19) St. Bonaventure 8-2 James Madison 6-2 Hampton 4-3 Cornell 4-3 Marist 10-2 Penn State 9-3 Total 41-15
Consecutive Starts
Senior co-captain Kesha Champion should start for the 99th consecutive time Friday against Duke. She is just two 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 98
Foster Continues to Pile Up Blocks
Hope Foster has amassed 288 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 28 blocks this season, Foster is just 21 blocks shy of the Patriot League career record, held by Kathy Courtney of Holy Cross, and she stands 16th in the nation.
Rebounding & Turnovers
Statistically, the biggest difference between last year's Bucknell team that posted the third 20-win season in school history and this year's squad that has opened up 4-6 are turnovers and rebounding deficit. The Bison are averaging 37.2 rebounds per game this season, which is actually an increase of 2.6 per game over last year. However, Bucknell's opponents are hauling in 44.1 boards per game, a 7.0 increase over 2006-07. In the turnover category, the Bison posted just 15.2 per game last year, but are averaging more than 18 per outing so far in 2007-08.
Up Next
Bucknell will have another lengthy road trip to face a first-time opponent as it travels to Illinois-Chicago next Friday, Dec. 28. The game will serve as a homecoming of sorts for junior forward Lauren Schober, who is a Chicago native.
