Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Closes Out 2007 on New Year's Eve Against Loyola (Md.)
12/30/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2007
What: Loyola (Md.) (7-4, 2-0 MAAC) at Bucknell (4-8)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Monday, Dec. 31, 2007, 2 p.m.
Radio: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com
Live Video: SportsJuice.com
Promotions: Camper Day
Game Notes
With a Victory Over Loyola (Md.), Bucknell Would...
► Win its final game in December for the first time since 2002
► Avoid its second three-game losing streak of the season
► Win for the fourth time in its last five home contests
► Win its final home game before the start of Patriot League play for the first time since 2004-05
About the Game
Off to its worst start since 1994-95, Bucknell will look to get back on the winning side of things as it returns to Lewisburg for its only home game in a six-game span. The Bison lost the first two contests in that span to nationally ranked Duke and Illinois-Chicago. Bucknell has had success at home, posting a 3-2 record at Sojka Pavilion this year. Loyola will be playing its second consecutive road contest after going 4-0 on a four-game homestand. The Greyhounds are just 1-4 away from Reitz Arena, including last Friday night's 72-48 loss at Towson. They are being outscored by more than 15 points per game in road outings. This year Loyola has had a knack for winning the close games, picking up three victories by two points.
Bucknell-Loyola Series
Bucknell and Loyola are tied 3-3 in the all-time series that began in 1984. The two squads have alternated wins and losses in the series, with the Greyhounds winning the last meeting 56-46 in November 2003.
Last Meeting - Nov. 25, 2003
► Loyola 56, Bucknell 46
Lauren Troupe scored a career-high 22 points for Loyola and Bucknell shot just 28.0 percent in the first half as the Greyhounds picked up the 10-point victory. Bucknell finished with 25 turnovers, while Loyola committed just nine miscues. Brooke Tomovich led the Bison with 15 points.
Bucknell vs. Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Bucknell is 29-30 all-time against teams that are currently in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. It is 13-8 against Rider, which is its most common opponent. Since the beginning of the 2004-05 campaign, the current senior class' freshman year, the Bison are 3-5 opposite MAAC teams. Earlier this season the Bison lost to MAAC foe Marist 68-56.
Back-to-Back Strong Outings for Champion
Kesha Champion netted a career-high 21 points two games ago at Duke and followed that with 18 more points at Illinois-Chicago. The 39 points the last two games are the most the senior co-captain has netted in consecutive contests in her career. Helping her out was her strong 3-point shooting. In the two games she connected on 5 of 9 from behind the arc. In her four-year career, which is 100 games old, she has made a total of 44 3-poointers, meaning more than 10 percent of her career total has come in the last two games.
Weary Travelers
A trip to Durham, N.C., earlier this month for a matchup with nationally ranked Duke kicked off a stretch where Bucknell will play five of six games on the road. The Bison have not played five true road games in a six-game span since 2003-04 when they went 4-3 during a seven-game stretch that featured six road outings. Bucknell is currently 0-2 during the stretch.
4-8 Start
Bucknell is just 4-8 this season, which is its worst start to a year since 1994-95. The Bison opened that campaign 4-10 on the way to an 11-17 record.
Final Non-League Home Game
Bucknell opens Patriot League play in less than two weeks and Monday's game with Loyola marks its final non-league home game before the beginning of conference play. The Bison have won their final non-league home contest before the start of conference play just once in the last four years (2004-05).
Brown Goes Past 800
Junior guard Amanda Brown, who earlier this year became the first Bucknell player since Molly Creamer in 2002-03 to lead the Bison in scoring in at least six consecutive games, went over the 800-point mark for her career last week against Duke. She now has 811 career points and is on pace to become the second Bison to join the 1,000-point club this year, following Hope Foster. Brown has netted double figures in points in seven of the last eight games. Additionally, she recently became the fourth Bucknell player to surpass 100 made 3-pointers and currently has 101 in her three-year career.
Champion Reaches 800
Thanks to her recent scoring outburst, Kesha Champion has now scored 800 points in her career. She is the 24th played in Bucknell history to accomplish that feat. She is now second on the team in scoring with a career-high 9.9 points per game this year, while her career average is now up to 8.0.
Alternating Results
Prior to last Friday's 70-62 loss at Illinois-Chicago, Bucknell had alternated wins and losses for a span of nine games, a program record. The Bison, who are in the middle of just their second losing streak of the season, went 4-5 during that nine-game stretch. They are still looking for their first winning streak of the year. The last time they had to wait until January for the first winning streak was 1994-95.
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 eight teams Bucknell has lost to this season owned a combined 61-31 record through Dec. 29. Additionally, upcoming opponent Buffalo (6-6) is playing .500 basketball.
Records of Opponents Bucknell has Lost to in 2007-08 (through Dec. 29) St. Bonaventure 11-2 James Madison 6-4 Hampton 5-5 Cornell 5-4 Marist 11-2 Penn State 9-4 Duke 10-3 Illinois-Chicago 4-7 Total 61-31
High Scoring
Bucknell is allowing its opponents to score 66.3 points per game this year. It marks the most the Bison have allowed since the 2002-03 squad yielded 74.0 points per contest. Five opponents have already netted at least 70 points, a figure just two foes reached in 2006-07 and only three eclipsed in 2005-06.
Scoring Dip
Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year Hope Foster entered this season averaging 10.2 points per game for her career, and 10.1 in her 18 career games played in December. In six games this December Foster has totaled just 48 points (8.0 ppg) and has not scored in double figures the last three games, the longest stretch for her since doing the same in December 2005 against Maryland Eastern Shore, Cornell and Buffalo. Only twice in her career has she gone more than three contests without netting double figures.
300th Game at Bucknell
Monday's game against Loyola marks the 300th game for Kathy Fedorjaka as the head coach at Bucknell. In her 11th season at the helm of the Bison, she has piled up an impressive 161-138 record. Overall, she has coached in 404 career games and has a career record of 228-176 at Connecticut College, Bloomsburg and Bucknell. No other Bison mentor has coached even 200 games, and Fedorjaka has more than twice as many victories as Lori Howard, who ranks second on the program's wins list with 77.
Consecutive Starts
Senior co-captain Kesha Champion joined an exclusive club last Friday against Illinois-Chicago when she started her 100th consecutive game. She has started every game of her career and is just the sixth Bison player to earn 100 consecutive starting assignments. Of the five others who have 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 100
100 Games for Seniors
Seniors Kesha Champion and Hope Foster each played in her 100th career game last Friday against Illinois-Chicago. They are two of just 24 players in Bison history to play at least 100 games. With 16 regular-season contests and at least one Patriot League Tournament game, both should at least equal Molly Creamer's program record of 117 games played. Current assistant coach Monique LeBlanc is tied for second on the list of games played with 116.
Up Next
Bucknell, which is playing three games in a six-day span, will have just one day off before facing Buffalo on Wednesday, Jan. 2. The Bison and Bulls have met each of the last three years with each game being decided by at least 10 points. Bucknell is 2-1 over that span, but Buffalo won 69-51 at Sojka Pavilion last year. Overall, the series is tied 3-3 with the Bulls leading slightly in overall scoring 393-389.
