Bucknell University
Lehigh*
Bucknell Women's Basketball Clinches Patriot League Title with 63-53 Win over Lehigh
2/20/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2007
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - A 7-0 run, highlighted by five points from Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner), in the game's final minutes helped the Bucknell women's basketball team hold off Lehigh for a 63-53 victory Tuesday evening at Stabler Arena. The win, the ninth in a row for the Bison, clinched the first regular season crown for Bucknell since 1995-96.
The Bison will be the top seed in next weekend's Patriot League Tournament, which will be held in Annapolis, Md. They are 20-8 overall and 12-1 in league play, marking a school record for league wins. The Mountain Hawks fell to 9-18 overall and 4-9 in Patriot League play.
Bucknell led for all but 3:04 in the game, but could not build its lead larger than seven points until the final minute of the game.
A three-point play by Adrienne Blount, who tied Kristen Dalton for the team lead with 12 points, brought Lehigh to within 53-51 with just over four minutes to play. However, the Bison held the Mountain Hawks scoreless for more than three minutes and reeled off seven consecutive points to take a commanding nine-point lead in the final minute of play. A contested driving layup by Brown and then a 3-pointer from the left corner from her opened the game-deciding run.
In the first half it looked as though the Bison, who opened up a 27-0 first-half advantage against Colgate on Saturday, would jump out to another large lead as they took a 6-0 lead behind a trio of jumpers from Kesha Champion (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River), who led them with a season high-tying 17 points. The Mountain Hawks finally got on the board after missing their first seven field goal attempts more than four minutes into the contest when Blount, who tallied the first six points for Lehigh, knocked down a pair of free throws and less than a minute later connected on a short jumper.
Bucknell led by as many as seven points early in the first half at 11-4. However, Lehigh went on a 19-11 run over a span of 10 minutes to take a one-point lead with five minutes remaining in the first half. Kristen Dalton came off the bench to net seven of her 10 first-half points during that stretch.
Behind 3-pointers from Brown and Seawright in the final 90 seconds of the half, Bucknell took a 30-26 lead into halftime despite turning the ball over 10 times.
Champion, who had 13 points at halftime, and Seawright, who had eight points in the first 20 minutes, combined to shoot 8 of 10 from the floor and scored the first 15 points of the game for the Bison. The rest of Bucknell's players made just 4 of 14 field goals in the first half.
Brown equaled Champion for team-high honors with 17 points, including 12 in the first half. She also dished out six assists and grabbed four rebounds. Seawright added 13 points and equaled her season high with seven rebounds. Brown, Champion and Seawright combined to shoot 18 of 30 from the field for the game. Overall the Bison were 23 of 47 (48.9 percent).
After turning the ball over 10 times in the first half, Bucknell had just five turnovers in the second.
Blount, who went nearly 28 minutes between field goals at one point, equaled Dalton for the team lead for the Mountain Hawks with 12 points. She also pulled down eight rebounds, but made just 4 of 18 field goals. Lehigh shot just 32.7 percent.
In addition to winning its second Patriot League regular-season championship, Bucknell sewed up a postseason berth. The first-place team in every conference is guaranteed at least a WNIT bid if it fails to win its league's postseason tournament.
Bucknell wraps up its regular season Saturday at second-place Army, which defeated Lafayette Tuesday night. The Black Knights will be the second seed in next month's Patriot League Tournament.
