Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Drexel
Bucknell Women's Basketball Drops Home Opener 44-35 to Drexel
11/25/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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| Bucknell-Drexel Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) led the Bison with 10 points and nine rebounds, but the Bucknell women's basketball team (3-1, 0-0) still fell to Drexel (2-2, 0-0) by a score of 44-35 in the Bison's home opener on Tuesday night. Bucknell's Taylor Phillips (South Parkersburg, W. Va./Parkersburg South) also set a new career high with nine boards.
Bucknell and Drexel were very evenly matched. At the final buzzer, both teams finished 15-for-59 from the field and with 43 rebounds apiece. The major difference in points, however, came in free throws. The Dragons shot 11-for 12 from the charity stripe, but Bucknell made just four of their seven opportunities.
The teams' equal level of play was evident throughout the first half, although Drexel was carried largely by Gabriela Marginean. The junior, who entered the contest averaging nearly 30 points this season, started the game by scoring her team's first 15 points. With 6:55 to go in the first half, Bucknell trailed 15-13.
Several Bison contributed to the home team's point total, allowing them to remain as closely as they did. Novacek hit a layup off a fastbreak at 13:30 to give Bucknell its first lead of the night at 8-7. Trisha Krewson (Sandusky, Ohio/Perkins) extended the advantage to three with a jumper a few minutes later, putting the Bison up 10-7.
After Marginean took the lead back for the Dragons, a free throw by Christina Chukwuedo (Monessen, Pa./Monessen) tied the game and set the stage for Bucknell to take the lead on another layup by Novacek. The Bison went up 13-11 at 7:40 in the first half.
Although Drexel grew the lead to five with 3:46 left, Bucknell worked its way back in the game. Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) hit her lone three-point shot of the game, tying the score at 20 at halftime.
As play reopened for the second half, the Bison were unable to find the bottom of the net. The Orange and Blue shot just 6-of-10 from the field with none of those baskets coming from behind the arc. Novacek and Le'Le' LeSeur (Snellville, Ga./Wesleyan) led off the scoring, giving Bucknell a 24-20 lead. Drexel steadied itself and eventually worked its way to a five-point advantage at 33-28 off a free throw by Tyler Hale.
The Orange and Blue again worked their way back to a tie with a jumper by Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) at 5:03. Bucknell's troubles scoring at the end of the game resurfaced, however, and the Bison failed to make another shot for the rest of the game.
Marginean made it difficult for the Bison, finishing the game a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line, including 6-for-6 in the final four minutes. At the final buzzer, Marginean totaled 33 of the team's 44 points and 10 rebounds, eight of which came offensively.
In addition to Novacek's 10 points, Brown finished with six points and her first career block. Phillips added four points to her nine boards, and Chukwuedo had a career-best three assists. Chukwuedo also earned her first points from the field, giving her a total of three on the night.
The Bison's 35 points tied the least points scored in a game since the second season in program history in 1974-75 when Bucknell managed just 33 points in a loss to Elizabethtown.
Bucknell returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 29 when it takes on Loyola (Md.) at 2 p.m. in Baltimore.
