Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Bucknell Women's Basketball Sweeps Season Series from Holy Cross for First Time with 63-37 Victory
2/9/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2007
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Hope Foster (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) scored seven points and tallied five rebounds before the first media timeout and the Bucknell women's basketball team jumped out to a 17-2 lead as it easily defeated Holy Cross, 63-37, before 826 fans at Sojka Pavilion and a nationally televised audience Friday evening. Foster finished with her eighth double-double of the season as she led all players with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Bucknell's 26-point victory was its third consecutive double-digit win and was its largest in the history of the 41-game series with Holy Cross. The Bison also swept the regular-season series from the Crusaders for the first time in history. Additionally, the 37 points scored by Holy Cross were the fewest by either team in series history. The Crusaders previous low was the 50 it netted in the first meeting this year.
By allowing just 37 points for the second time in five games, Bucknell equaled the lowest point total it has allowed in a game since yielding 36 to Coppin State during the 1985-86 campaign. The strong Bison defense that pressured the Crusaders, who are missing two point guards to season-ending injuries, the entire game, forced 20 turnovers and held Holy Cross to just 28.6 percent shooting, including 18.5 percent in the first half.
After jumping out to that early 15-point lead, which featured seven points from Foster and eight more from Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner), Bucknell never let Holy Cross get to within 11 the rest of the game. In fact, it took the Crusaders more than 10 minutes to net their first field goal. Kaitlin Foley, who led Holy Cross with 13 points and eight rebounds, hit a short jumper in the lane to end the drought at 0-for-12 to start the game.
A 3-pointer from the left wing by Kesha Champion (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) that hit nothing but net gave the Bison a 37-14 lead, their largest of the first half. Foley then connected on a layup and a pair of free throws in the final two minutes to cut the halftime score to 37-18.
Bucknell kept a lead of at least 17 points the entire second half and led by as many as 29 , equaling its largest advantage of the season, following a layup by Le'Le' LeSeur (Snellville, Ga./Wesleyan) with just over nine minutes to play.
The Bison managed just four points in the final four minutes, but held Holy Cross without a point over the final 4:15 of play. In fact, the Crusaders were 0-for-2 from the floor with four turnovers in the waning minutes of the contest.
In addition to her double-double, Foster added five blocked shots, marking the 17th time in her career she has recorded at least that many. Additionally, she connected on an efficient 8 of 10 field goals, including all four of her first-half attempts. Overall, Bucknell shot 41.0 percent behind a sparkling 53.3 percent in the first half.
Brown joined Foster in double figures with 14 points, including 11 in the first half. She made a career-high four 3-pointers, marking the seventh time in the last 10 games she has connected on at least three from behind the arc.
Jacquie Seawright (Olton, Texas/Olton) added 12 points and equaled her season high with seven rebounds. Champion chipped in nine points, including seven in a four-minute stretch late in the first half, and seven rebounds. Thanks to 24 combined rebounds from Seawright, Champion and Foster, Bucknell outrebounded the bigger Holy Cross team 37-36.
Ashley McLaughlin joined Foley in double figures with 10 points for the Crusaders, who were coming off a 34-point loss at Army on Tuesday night. No other Holy Cross player scored more than five points or shot better than 25.0 percent from the field. The Crusaders were just 1 of 18 from 3-point range, and outside of a combined 9 of 14 field goals from Foley and McLauglin, shot just 5 of 35 from the field.
The win helped Bucknell record its best-ever Patriot League start as it improved to 9-1 in conference play and 17-8 overall. The Bison have now won a season-high six consecutive games and are nine games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2001-02 championship season. Bucknell, which is 1.5 games ahead of second-place Army in the conference standings, also secured one of the top two seeds in next month's Patriot League Tournament.
Holy Cross fell to 9-16 overall and 4-6 in the Patriot League as it dropped its second consecutive contest. The Crusaders have lost as many as six games in Patriot League play just one other time.
Bucknell returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Lafayette in the second game of a three-game homestand. The Bison's lone league loss came at Lafayette. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
