Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Opens Patriot League Play Saturday at Navy
1/10/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2008
What: Bucknell (5-9, 0-0 PL) at Navy (4-11, 0-0 PL)
Where: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
When: Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008, 7 p.m.
Radio: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com
Video: Patriot League All-Access
Game Notes
With a Victory Over Navy, Bucknell Would...
► Snap a four-game road losing streak
► Win its sixth consecutive game against the Mids
► Win its Patriot League opener for the third consecutive season
► Improve to 7-2 against Navy in PL openers
► Improve to 13-5 in January since 2005-06
► Avoid its first 5-10 start to a season since 1998-99
► Post a win in its first PL road contest for the third straight year
► Snap a three-game losing streak when idle for more than a week
About the Game
After posting a 5-9 record against a very difficult non-conference schedule, Bucknell begins its 18th season of Patriot League play Saturday night at Navy's Alumni Hall. The Bison, who have not played since Jan. 2, enter the contest having lost three of their last four games, while the Mids (4-11) come in having won two of their last three. Kesha Champion has been on a roll for Bucknell, averaging more than 17 points per game while tallying double-figures in a career-best four straight contests. In comparison to the Bison, who feature five seniors on their roster, Navy is a very young team with two freshmen and six sophomores making up the bulk of its 13-person roster. Freshman Cassie Consedine (12.9 ppg) and sophomore K.C. Gordon (9.9 ppg) are the team's leading scorers with no one else registering better than 7.0 ppg. The top five scorers for the Bison are juniors and seniors.
Bucknell-Navy Series
Bucknell leads the all-time series, which began in 1981, 23-15. The Bison own a five-game winning streak against the Mids, winning by nearly 19 points per game over that span. The last time the teams played a game closer than seven points was in January 2001 when Bucknell posted a 60-57 road victory. The Bison have won 18 of the last 20 meetings.
Last Meeting - Feb. 3, 2007
► Bucknell 76, Navy 66 (Alumni Hall)
Lauren Schober led four Bison in double figures with 16 points as Bucknell defeated Navy for the 18th time in 20 meetings. Jacquie Seawright and Amanda Brown chipped in 15 points apiece, while Hope Foster added 13, including 11 in the second half. Navy's leading scorer, Carly Meyer, was limited to just 20 minutes due to foul trouble. She finished with 12 points, while Margaret Knap led the Mids with 27 points on 11 of 19 shooting.
Patriot League Openers
Thanks to victories each of the last two years, Bucknell is 11-6 in the first game of the Patriot League season. The Bison and Mids have met eight previous times in Bucknell's Patriot League opener with the Bison holding a 6-2 edge in those contests, including victories each of the last two years.
Bucknell vs. Navy in PL Openers (6-2) 1992 - Navy 70, Bucknell 68 1995 - Bucknell 54, Navy 52 1996 - Bucknell 90, Navy 86 1999 - Navy 65, Bucknell 58 (OT) 2000 - Bucknell 64, Navy 58 2001 - Bucknell 60, Navy 57 2006 - Bucknell 88, Navy 51 2007 - Bucknell 67, Navy 47
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 1-3 during the stretch as it plays the middle game of a three-game road trip against Navy. The Bison were 1-2 on their only other three-game road trip this season and opened this one with a 13-point loss at Buffalo.
Winning the Close Ones
While Bucknell has posted just 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.
Scoring Explosion for Champion
Senior Kesha Champion is on an unprecedented scoring binge over the last four games. She has netted double figures in each of the last four contests to equal the longest stretch of her career and is averaging 17.3 points per game over that span. She has seen her scoring average go from 8.0 ppg to 10.6 ppg over the last four games. Helping her scoring output since the Dec. 21 Duke game 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 9 of 19 (47.4 percent) the last four outings.
Juniors Like Navy
The two members of Bucknell's junior class - Amanda Brown and Lauren Schober - have enjoyed facing Navy throughout their careers. A career 39.3 percent shooter who is averaging 11.4 points per game in her career, Brown has made 49.1 percent of her field goals and is averaging 18.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in four career games against the Mids. Two of her eight career 20-point games have come against Navy. Schober is averaging 13.5 points per contest opposite the Mids, well above her career 8.4 scoring average.
FG% Defense on the Rise
Over the last three years Bucknell has held its opponents well under 40.0 percent shooting from the field. This year opponents are connecting on 39.8 percent of their field goals, putting them close to that 40.0 percent plateau that opponents registered seven consecutive seasons before 2004-05. Each of the last four opponents for the Bison have hit at least 40.0 percent of their field goals, marking the first time that has occurred since late in the 2003-04 campaign.
Buffalo Hits 60.0%
Last Wednesday, Buffalo connected on 30 of 49 (61.2 percent) field goals, making it the first opponent to shoot better than 60.0 percent against Bucknell since Army was 30 of 44 (68.2 percent) in a 78-74 Bison victory Jan. 13, 1999.
Long Layoffs
Bucknell has struggled recently when faced with more than a week break between games. The Bison have lost three straight, and are 1-4 over their last five games, when faced with more than a week without a game.
5-9 Start
Bucknell opened the season with a 4-8 record, its worst since 1994-95, and now stands at 5-9. The Bison last opened a campaign 5-9 in 2002-03. That year they finished with a 13-15 mark, including 7-7 in Patriot League play.
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 more than 15 assists. Bucknell has been particularly unselfish the last 100 minutes of play. After not recording an assist in the first half of their Dec. 28 game at Illinois-Chicago, the Bison had 14 in the second half on 16 field goals. That momentum carried into a Dec. 31 game with Loyola when they racked up an additional 18 assists. They followed that with 15 more assists at Buffalo, giving them 47 in the last 100 minutes of play.
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 1993-94 when they went the entire season without winning at least two games in a row.
First-Half Struggles
Nine times this year Bucknell has fallen behind by at least nine points in the first half. Eight of those games have been losses, however, the Bison have staged impressive comebacks in many of those contests. In fact, in seven of those contests, Bucknell has trimmed at least seven points off its largest first-half deficit.
Opponent 1st Half Deficit BU Trimmed Lead to St. Bonaventure 15 2 James Madison 17 14 Cornell 12 9 Marist 22 10 George Mason 9 +4 Penn State 9 2 Duke 24 16 UIC 18 8 Buffalo 18 5
Weekends are Bad Luck
Weekends have not been kind to Bucknell so far this season. The Bison are a combined 0-7 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays this year. Bucknell has been successful in the early part of the week, going 5-2 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Bison are 0-3 so far this season on Saturdays, the day they take on Navy.
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 nine teams Bucknell has lost to this season owned a combined 81-42 record through Jan. 9.
Records of Opponents Bucknell has Lost to in 2007-08 (through Jan. 9) St. Bonaventure 12-3 James Madison 8-4 Hampton 6-6 Cornell 7-5 Marist 13-2 Penn State 11-4 Duke 12-3 Illinois-Chicago 4-9 Buffalo 8-6 Total 81-42
Consecutive Starts
Senior co-captain Kesha Champion joined an exclusive club Dec. 28 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 102
Lack of Weekly Awards
Bucknell has not had an individual earn a Patriot League Player of the Week or Rookie of the Week honor this season. The last time the Bison went this long into a campaign without a Player of the Week citation was 2004-05 when no Bucknell player was honored. However, that year, the Bison had Hope Foster, Kristina Collymore and Kesha Champion each pick up Rookie of the Week awards. The last time the calendar flipped to January and Bucknell had not earned a weekly citation of any kind was 2001-02, but Molly Creamer went on to win six of the next seven Player of the Week certificates beginning Jan. 7.
Foster Continues to Pile Up Blocks
Hope Foster has amassed 296 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 36 blocks this season, Foster is just 13 blocks shy of the Patriot League career record, held by Kathy Courtney of Holy Cross.
Unfamiliar Position for Foster
Hope Foster, one of the nation's premier shot blockers throughout her career, enters Saturday's game at Navy in strange territory. After entering nearly every game of her career with more blocks than anyone else in uniform, for the second time in five games she will now. Navy freshman Cassie Consedine has 36 blocks this year, matching Foster for the Patriot League lead. Foster entered the Dec. 21 game at Duke with 28 blocks, while the Blue Devils' Chante Black had 29, marking the only other time in recent memory she has not been the top shot-blocker on the floor.
Up Next
Bucknell will wrap up its three-game road trip Wednesday, Jan. 16, at American. The Bison are 9-8 all-time against the Eagles and have won five straight in the series, including three in a row at Bender Arena.
