Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
George Mason
Bucknell Women's Basketball Outlasts George Mason in Double Overtime, 67-64
12/4/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2007
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) scored a career-high 23 points and Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) tallied her 15th career double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds as the Bucknell women's basketball team escaped Sojka Pavilion Tuesday night with a 67-64 double-overtime victory against George Mason. The game featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes with a three-point play from Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) in the final minute of the second overtime giving the Bison the lead for good.
Lateisha Wade led George Mason (3-4) with 25 points, but missed six of her final eight free throws, including four in the final overtime period. She finished the game 10 of 17 from the free throw line. Her 3-pointer with seconds remaining brought the Patriots to within 65-64, but Andrea Wright (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) connected on a pair of free throws with 0.3 left on the clock to give Bucknell (3-5) its final three-point margin of victory.
After relinquishing a three-point lead in the first overtime, the Bison failed to score in the first four-plus minutes of the second overtime as George Mason went up 61-59. Schober finally ended the more than six minute scoreless drought as she drove to the basket with the shot clock winding down, converted the basket, and was fouled. She made the free throw to put the Bison up 62-61 with 48 seconds left.
Bucknell got the ball back after a missed layup by Eugenia Broadus and Brown, who had not scored since 2:43 remained in regulation, made a pair of free throws to put the Bison up 64-61. Wright was whistled for a foul on Wade's wild drive on the next possession. She missed both free throws, but Moni Akintunde grabbed her game-high 15th rebound of the game for George Mason. She missed the ensuing layup and Schober gained control of the ball and got it to Kristina Collymore (Montclair, N.J./Montclair). Collymore was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Bison up 65-61 with 8.6 seconds remaining and all but seal the victory.
After ending regulation tied at 55-all, Bucknell jumped out to a 59-56 lead midway through the first overtime period. An off-balance shot from the right wing that banked in as the shot clock expired from Kesha Champion (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) seemed to give the Bison the momentum. However, Wade made 1 of 2 free throws after Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) fouled out, and Moni Akintunde made a runner in the lane to even the score at 59-59 with 1:30 left. Bucknell had possession of the ball the final 15 seconds of the stanza, but was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.
The Bison, who were playing their first overtime game since last December against Binghamton, had to come back from as many as seven points down in the second half. They trailed 44-37 midway through the frame, but six points from Foster and strong inside play from Novacek helped them draw to within 50-49. Champion capped the 14-6 run with a pair of free throws with 4:12 left that gave Bucknell its first lead since 34-33.
Coming out of a timeout with less than 15 seconds left, the Bison executed a beautiful backdoor play for Foster, who put them up 55-53 after a strong pass from Champion. The Patriots called timeout to set up their final play, and Champion ended up fouling Wade, who made both free throws to tie the score. After a Bison turnover, Rashauna Hobbs had an off-balance look at a 3-pointer from the right wing, but Champion blocked it, forcing overtime.
Much like last Saturday's game at Marist, Bucknell opened the game cold from the field, missing its first nine field goals and making just 1 of 14. During that stretch the Patriots only led 8-4. They did extend that lead to a game-high 25-16, but Brown hit a pair of 3-pointers and a foul line jumper in a span of three minutes to cut the Bucknell deficit to just 27-24. She had the Bison's final 10 points of the half as they trailed 29-26 at intermission.
Bucknell has struggled rebounding this year, but pulled down a season-high total of 55 boards in the contest. The Bison, who entered the game averaging just over 35 rebounds per game, had 29 in the first half alone. Foster led the way with a season-high 14, but five others hauled in at least five. George Mason had 47 rebounds.
While the Bison opened the game 1-for-14 from the field, they came back to 24 of 56 the rest of the way for a respectable 35.7 percent. They held the Patriots to 30.1 percent shooting,
Bucknell did struggle, turning the ball over 25 times, however, 16 of those came in the first half. It forced 19 George Mason miscues. The Bison were also just 15 of 27 from the free throw line.
In addition to her career-high 23 points, Brown played a career-high 49 minutes. She also posted a game-high four steals. Champion had a solid all-around game as well, totaling nine points, six rebounds and equaling her career high with eight assists before fouling out in the second overtime. She played 46 minutes, the second-highest figure of her career.
Novacek led a strong group of reserves who totaled 19 points and 18 rebounds in 82 minutes. She registered career highs with six points and six rebounds in 26 minutes before fouling out as well. Novacek also had three blocks, falling one short of Foster's team-high total of four.
The double overtime contest was the first multiple-overtime game for Bucknell since defeating Maryland Eastern Shore 93-92 in triple overtime in December 2005.
Hobbs joined Wade in double figures for George Mason, tallying 12 points in a team-high 45 minutes of action.
The Bison, who have won their final game before final exams each of the last five years, will now be idle until Dec. 15 because of end-of-semester exams. Bucknell will host Penn State on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.
