Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Wraps Up Non-League Portion of Schedule Wednesday at Buffalo
1/1/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 1, 2008
What: Bucknell (5-8) at Buffalo (6-6)
Where: Alumni Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008, 7 p.m.
Radio: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com
Game Notes
With a Victory Over Buffalo, Bucknell Would...
► Post its first two-game winning streak of the season
► Win its final road game before the start of Patriot League play for the third consecutive season
► Win for the fourth time in its last five games against Buffalo
► Improve to 13-4 in January since 2005-06
► Avoid opening the season 5-9 for the first time since 2002-03
► Improve to 7-10 on one day rest since the beginning of 2004-05
About the Game
Bucknell will close out its 2007-08 non-league slate with a road trip to Buffalo Wednesday. The Bison, who are 1-6 on the road this season, will be trying to string together back-to-back victories for the first time this year. The contest also kicks off a three-game road trip for Bucknell, which is in the midst of playing five of six on the road. While the Bison have not put many streaks together this season, Buffalo has plenty of times. The Bulls enter the game on a three-game losing streak, which immediately followed a three-game winning streak. The Bulls, who are 3-2 at Alumni Arena, have not played at home since Dec. 18 and will not return home again until Jan. 16.
Bucknell-Buffalo Series
Bucknell and Buffalo, which have met each of the last three years, are equal at 3-3 in their all-time series, with the Bison winning three of the last four meetings. Each of the last three games have been decided by at least 10 points. In the six games, Buffalo holds a slight 393-389 scoring edge.
Last Meeting - Dec. 29, 2006
► Buffalo 69, Bucknell 51 (Sojka Pavilion)
Rachelle Mathys made 5 of 7 3-pointers and led four Bulls in double figures with 15 points as Buffalo snapped Bucknell's modest two-game winning streak. Lindsey Hollobaugh moved into seventh place on the Bison career scoring list as she tallied a team-high 18 points. Outside of an early 2-0 lead Bucknell trailed the entire game and was 6 of 24 from 3-point range.
Bucknell vs. Mid-American Conference
Bucknell is 7-11 against teams that are currently in the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo is the most common opponent, although the Bison have faced Bowling Green and Akron since the senior class set foot on campus at the beginning of the 2004-05 campaign.
Scoring Explosion for Champion
Kesha Champion has totaled 57 points over the last three games, eight points better than her previous best in a three-game span. She started the scoring binge with a career-high 21 points against nationally ranked Duke and followed it with back-to-back 18-point outputs. Helping her out during the three-game stretch has been improved 3-point shooting. A career 23.8 percent shooter from behind the arc through the first 98 games of her career, Champion has made 7 of 13 from 3-point range over that last three contests.
Weary Travelers
A trip to Durham, N.C., late last 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 1-2 during the stretch as it begins a three-game road trip against Buffalo. The Bison were 1-2 on their only other three-game road trip this season.
Winning the Close Ones
While Bucknell has posted jsut five victories this year, it knows how to win the close games. The Bison are 3-1 in contests decided by five points or less. Despite a sparkling 20-11 record last year, Bucknell was 2-3 in games that were within five points.
Keys to Success
Shooting better than the opponent and piling up the assists have been keys in Bucknell victories this season. The Bison are 5-3 when outshooting their opponents, while they are 4-0 when dishing out at least 15 assists. Bucknell has been particularly unselfish the last 60 minutes of play. After not recording an assist in the first half of last Friday's game at Illinois-Chicago, the Bison had 14 in the second half on 16 field goals. That momentum carried into Monday's game with Loyola when they racked up an additional 18 assists.
Showing Endurance
After playing 11 people in the first half of Monday's game against Loyola (Md.), Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka used just one player (Andrea Wright) off her bench in the second half. Kristina Collymore was the only starter not to play the full 20 minutes in the second half. The Bison were able to outscore the Greyhounds 27-26 in the second half despite the limited use of the bench.
One Day of Rest
For the second time this season, Bucknell will be playing a game on just one day of rest when it faces Buffalo. The Bison defeated Howard 89-79 the last time they played on short rest. Since the beginning of the 2004-05 campaign Bucknell is 6-10 when faced with just one day of preparation.
2007 Calendar Year
Bucknell posted a 17-13 record in the 2007 calendar year, three wins shy of its total from 2006.
Final Non-League Game
Bucknell is taking on Buffalo in its final non-league game of the season Wednesday. The Bison will be trying to win their last non-conference contest for the fourth time in the last five years.
5-8 Start
Bucknell opened the season with a 4-8 record, its worst since 1994-95. With Monday's win against Loyola (Md.), the Bison improved to 5-8. The last time they were 5-8 or worse through 13 games was 2004-05. That squad went on to post a 10-18 mark.
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 earlier this year against Duke. She now has 829 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 eight of the last nine 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 818 points in her career. She is the 23rd played in Bucknell history to accomplish that feat. She is now second on the team in scoring with a career-high 10.5 points per game this year, while her career average is now up to 8.1.
No Winning Streaks
Bucknell has not put together consecutive wins yet this year. The last time the Bison had not won back-to-back games until January 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 64-33 record through Dec. 31.
Records of Opponents Bucknell has Lost to in 2007-08 (through Dec. 31) St. Bonaventure 11-3 James Madison 7-4 Hampton 5-6 Cornell 6-4 Marist 12-2 Penn State 9-4 Duke 10-3 Illinois-Chicago 4-7 Total 64-33
300th Game at Bucknell
Monday's game against Loyola marked 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 162-138 record. Overall, she has coached in 405 career games and has a career record of 229-176 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.
Rebounding Fact
Bucknell is at -7.7 in rebounding, but it is averaging 2.4 more per game than in 2006-07.
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. Kesha Champion 101
Foster Continues to Pile Up Blocks
Hope Foster has amassed 295 blocks in her career. As a freshman, she tallied 72 rejections to break Desire Almind's year-old Bucknell single-season record of 62. She easily eclipsed that figure as a sophomore with 95 blocks to pace the Patriot League for the second consecutive season. Last year she nearly broke her own record, but finished with 93 blocks, leading the Patriot League once again. Foster finished her junior campaign with a 3.0 blocks per game average, which ranked ninth in the nation. The year before she averaged 3.3 blocks per game, good for eighth in the country. With 35 blocks this season, Foster is just 14 blocks shy of the Patriot League career record, held by Kathy Courtney of Holy Cross.
Up Next
Bucknell will have its final significant break of the season when it takes 10 days off before opening Patriot League play at Navy on Saturday, Jan. 12. The Bison have won five in a row against the Mids and own a 23-15 advantage in the series. Bucknell has won its last two Patriot League openers, both against Navy.
