Bucknell University
American*
Bucknell Women's Basketball Defeats American, 70-57
2/6/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) equaled her career-high with 22 points and added a career-high eight rebounds to lead three Bison in double figures as the Bucknell women's basketball team defeated American 70-57 Tuesday evening at Bender Arena to win its season-high fifth straight game and equaled its best-ever start in the Patriot League at 8-1.
Bucknell improved to a season-high eight games over .500 as it moved to 16-8 overall. American lost its third consecutive contest and fell to 9-15 overall and 4-5 in Patriot League play.
Brown shot just 3 of 11 in the first half, including 1 of 5 from 3-point range, but bounced back to make 5 of 6 after halftime, including both of her 3-point attempts.
Bucknell jumped out to 8-0 and 12-2 leads in the first few minutes of the game as it limited American to 1-for-4 shooting from the field, 0-for-2 from the free throw line and forced three turnovers as it opened up the 10-point lead in the first five minutes of the game.
The Bison came out so strong they forced an Eagles' timeout just 41 seconds into the contest.
Bucknell extended their lead to 21-7 following a strong post move to the basket by Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar), who had eight of the first 21 points for the Bison. They then failed to convert a field goal for more than four minutes as American poured in eight consecutive points, including back-to-back baskets by Liz Hayes, who led the Eagles with 19 points.
A 3-pointer from the top of the key by Nicole Ryan with 5:17 left on the clock brought the Eagles to within 26-20, the closest they would get to the Bison outside of the opening minute of play. Another basket by Foster and three foul shots from Kesha Champion (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) and Brown helped give Bucknell a 31-22 cushion at the break.
In the second half Bucknell extended its lead out to 18 points on two occasions at 50-32 and 58-40, but each time the Eagles were able to cut the Bison advantage back to 11 points at 50-39 and 59-48, respectively.
Foster contributed 16 points in the contest on 7 of 10 shooting. Champion rounded out the Bison double-figure scorers with 14 points. She also dished out a team-high six assists as Bucknell totaled 22 on its 27 field goals. Champion also eclipsed the 600-point mark for her career and now has 612.
The Bison full-court defense forced 18 American turnovers and limited the Eagles to 34.0 percent shooting. Bucknell made 48.2 percent of its field goals as Foster, Brown and Champion all shot at least 50 percent.
Playing in her hometown of Washington, D.C., Foster eclipsed her freshman-year block total with two blocks. She now has 73 this year to rank second on the Bison single-season list.
Pam Stanfield, who tallied 15 points, and Ryan, who registered 11, rounded out a trio of Eagles in double figures in points. Maggie Smith-Davidson and Abby Lipskis led American with eight rebounds apiece.
By scoring 70 points in the victory, Bucknell improved to 13-1 this season when netting at least 60 points.
Bucknell, which remains in first place in the Patriot League standings, will host Holy Cross Friday at 4:30 p.m. in a game televised nationally on ESPNU.
