Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Makes Short Trip to Saint Francis (Pa.) Sunday
12/26/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 26, 2008
WHAT: Bucknell (4-5, 0-0) vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) (3-6, 2-0) WHERE: DeGol Arena, Loretto, Pa. WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 28, 2 p.m. RADIO: WVBU 90.5 FM, SportsJuice.com TV: None STREAMING VIDEO: None LIVE STATISTICS: None Complete Bucknell-Saint Francis (Pa.) Game Notes
With a Victory Over Saint Francis (Pa.), Bucknell Would...
- Bring the Bison's record back to .500 at 5-5.
- Start a winning streak over the Red Flash with two consecutive wins.
- Claim a 5-3 record over Saint Francis on its home court.
- Split the Bison-Red Flash meetings on the court this year. The Bucknell men's basketball team lost to Saint Francis in overtime, 79-69, earlier this season.
About the Game
Bucknell women's basketball returns from its holiday break to take on the 3-6 Red Flash in Loretto, Pa. The Bison are entering the final stretch of their non-conference schedule with just four more games before beginning Patriot League play in January. Saint Francis (Pa.) will be seeking revenge after a 21-point loss to the Orange and Blue last season. Bucknell will be looking for a bit of redemption as well, having lost the teams' last meeting at DeGol Arena, 81-61, in 2004.
Bucknell-Saint Francis Series
Bucknell and Saint Francis have a long history playing against each other dating back to their first meeting in December 1984. The Bison lead the all-time series 11-5, including a seven-game winning streak starting at that first game and ending in December 1989.
Last Meeting - Dec. 18, 2007
- Bucknell was victorious, 64-43, over Saint Francis (Pa.) at Sojka Pavilion, earning its fourth win of the season. The Orange and Blue committed just 12 turnovers, tying what was then a season low. Eleven different Bison also scored in the game.
- Amanda Brown and Lauren Schober were the game's high scorers, tallying 16 and 14 points, respectively. Kesha Champion also led the Bison with eight assists and six rebounds in the contest.
- Emily Bollinger and Britney Hodges each scored 11 points to lead the Red Flash, while Bollinger also contributed nine rebounds. The loss was the Red Flash's fourth in a losing streak that eventually ended at seven.
Quick Facts
Three Bison scored in double figures at James Madison on Dec. 21, including Cosima Higham (14 points), Lauren Schober (10) and Trisha Krewson (10) ... Krewson's 10 points was a season high for the freshman ... Christina Chukwuedo followed a career-high six points versus Wofford with a career-best four assists two days later at James Madison ... After earning Patriot League Rookie of the Week, Morgan Wrightson posted her first 20-point game versus Wofford, while shooting 8-for-10 from the free throw line ... Amanda Brown scored 22 points against the Towson Tigers Dec. 3, which is her highest total since she scored 22 points in the season-opening game at George Mason and 21 points at Yale four days later ... Joyce Novacek recorded her first double-double of the season when she earned 14 points and 11 rebounds at Loyola (Md.) ... Novacek's 14 points also helped her to lead the team in scoring for the second consecutive game ... Cosima Higham recorded two double-doubles in the Bison's first three games, with the most recent one coming at Fordham (16 points-14 rebounds) ... Bucknell has two of the top 23 scorers in program history on this year's team in Amanda Brown (14th) and Lauren Schober (23rd).
History vs. Saint Francis (Pa.)
- Some of Bucknell's top scorers in history have had some big games against the Red Flash. In the teams' most recent meetings, Molly Creamer, Vicki Quimby and Kate Franks tallied some impressive point totals. In the Dec. 6, 2000 matchup, Creamer totaled 28 points, Quimby added 22 and Franks posted 16. Quimby's total as aided by 12-for-12 free throw shooting and came in just 29 minutes of play.
- Although Bucknell again came out on top in the Nov. 25, 2001 meeting, the Bison were unable to connect for a three-point basket. Regardless, Quimby led the team with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Creamer and Franks combined for 26 more points, and Kate Rounsely chipped in 14 on 8-for-8 free throw shooting.
- The Orange and Blue were not so fortunate in their Nov. 26, 2004 loss despite a team-high 17 points from co-captain Brooke Tomovich and 12 points from Kesha Champion. Hope Foster was extremely effective defensively for the Bison, finishing the game with 12 rebounds and two blocks.
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Most Recent Results:
About the Red Flash
Saint Francis (Pa.) enters the matchup with the Bison with a 3-6 record overall and 2-0 in the Northeast Conference. The Red Flash opened the season by losing their first five games by an average of more than 19 points. The team then won two in a row, first to Youngstown State in overtime (61-54) followed by St. Francis (N.Y.), 97-71. Most recently, Saint Francis defeated Long Island University, 71-48 on Dec. 21. Britney Hodges led the team with 16 points, followed by Brittany Lilley with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Last Time Out
Bucknell faced a tough James Madison squad at the JMU Convocation Center on Dec. 21, falling 76-56. The Bison played well, getting double-digit scoring from three team members, but the Dukes were difficult to catch as they finished the game 10-for-24 from behind the three-point line. Despite being behind on the scoreboard, Bucknell outrebounded James Madison, 41-33. The achievement marked the fifth consecutive game in which the Bison tallied more boards than their opponents.
Cosima Higham led Bucknell with 14 points and eight rebounds. It was Higham's first game in double-figures since she dropped 16 points on Fordham in November. Lauren Schober and Trisha Krewson each scored 10 points, while Amanda Brown and Christina Chukwuedo achieved milestones in assists. Brown's eight assists tied her career high, and Chukwuedo's four was the freshman's personal best.
Long Distance Woes
After starting the season with the best three-point field goal percentage defense mark in the country at .167, Bucknell has faced some strong outside shooting teams. Wofford first made a dent in the Bison's defense by going 9-for-18 (.500) from behind the arc, followed by James Madison, which finished the game 10-for-24 (.417) from long range. On the flip side, Bucknell was unable to connect on any of its nine attempts from three-point range against the Dukes.
Century Mark
With her appearance in Friday's contest versus Wofford, Lauren Schober reached 100 games in her career. The senior has played in every game in her three-plus years as a Bison and has started 83 of them. Schober is the only player on the 2008-09 squad to reach the milestone, although classmate Amanda Brown is seven games away from joining her.
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
Lauren Schober was named a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award on Friday. She is joined by 29 other Division I women's basketball players around the country exemplifying the “Four C's” - classroom, character, community and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings. The winner will be announced during the NCAA Women's Final Four.
Thousand Point Club
Bucknell women's basketball welcomed a new member to the 1,000-point club on Nov. 29. Since the game against the Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds, Amanda Brown reached 1,063 points in her career, making her the 18th player in program history to reach the milestone.
Hope Foster (1,256) and Kesha Champion (1,016) became the 16th and 17th members of the club last season. Foster, who is the ninth on the list of all-time scorers at Bucknell, crossed the threshold against Penn State. Champion, tied for 16th with former player Kim Delfs, achieved the milestone when she scored 13 points versus Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament. The two were the first teammates to reach 1,000 points in the same season since Desire Almind and Kate Franks in 2002-03.
Lauren Schober is the next Bison in the hunt for the 1,000-point mark. With 879 points, she is 121 points short of the milestone.
Turning the Tides
In the first three games of the season, the Bison were outrebounded by their opponents 41 rebounds per game to 36.3. The team started to turn things around in its home opener versus Drexel when they tied the Dragons with 43 boards. In the five games since then, Bucknell is back on top in the category, pulling down 42.6 rebounds per game compared to 34.6 for its opponents. That includes the matchup with Loyola (Md.) in which Bucknell outrebounded the Greyhounds 51-36.
Slides That Led to Success
The current four-game losing skid is the longest by a Bison team since the 2004-05 squad dropped six in a row. The slide came during Patriot League play and was finally stopped with a 66-60 win over American on Feb. 11. Before that, the 2001-02 team also experienced a five-game drought. The winless streak was not indicative of the team's final success, however, as the squad eventually went on to win the Patriot League Tournament and qualify for the program's first NCAA Tournament.
Quick to Three
The Orange and Blue wasted no time in stringing together three consecutive victories in the 2008-09 season. Although it earned victories in each of its first three games this year, Bucknell waited until the end of the season to accomplish the same feat last season. The 2007-08 Bison did not win at least three in a row until March when it defeated Army in the final regular-season game, before upsetting Army, American and Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament.
Plenty of Time
Three Bison are averaging at least 30 minutes through the first nine games of the season. Amanda Brown leads the trio, playing 37.4 minutes per game, including 40 minutes at Loyola (Md.). She is followed by Joyce Novacek (31.2 mpg) and Lauren Schober (30.1 mpg). The high quantity of minutes is not new for Brown and Schober who have played a minimum of 40 minutes in a game a combined 17 times during their Bucknell careers.
20-Plus Points for Brown
Amanda Brown started the season with back-to-back games with more than 20 points. That scoring total makes her the first Bison to post at least 20 points in the first two games of the season since Molly Creamer in 2001. Creamer, who is the all-time leading scorer at Bucknell, tallied 26 versus Albany before dropping 27 to help upset Pittsburgh a few nights later. Brown posted her third performance with at least 20 points when she scored 22 versus Towson on Dec. 3.
2008 Patriot League Champions
Bucknell captured the Patriot League Tournament championship last year despite being the No. 5 seed. With their win in the title game over Holy Cross, the Bison became the only team in history seeded as low as fifth to be crowned tournament champions. They also became the fourth team in the last five years to go from losing in the first round of the tournament to claiming the title the next season.
NCAA Tournament Appearance
The Bison made their second trip in history to the NCAA Tournament last year. With their automatic bid from winning the Patriot League Tournament, they earned the opportunity to face North Carolina in a first-round matchup in Norfolk, Va. North Carolina came out on top, 85-50. In Bucknell's only previous appearance at the NCAA Tournament in 2002, the Bison were defeated by Baylor 80-56 in Waco, Texas.
Patriot League Preseason Poll
Bucknell was picked fifth with 53 points in the 2008-09 Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Bison were voted to finish first in the league prior to the 2007-08 season, then slipped to fifth before claiming the Patriot League Tournament championship. Bucknell has finished at or better than predicted seven times in the last 10 years. Holy Cross was picked first with 90 points. Lehigh (83 points), American (75) and Army (60) rounded out the top four.
Preseason Patriot League Poll Team (First-place votes) Pts. 1. Holy Cross (8) 90 2. Lehigh (6) 83 3. American (2) 75 4. Army 60 5. Bucknell 53 6. Lafayette 38 7. Navy 35 8. Colgate 14Mixing It Up
The Bison have mixed things up after using the same starting lineup in each of their first three games. Since then, opponents have seen new lineups in five of their last six contests. The switches are not new to Bucknell fans, as the team used nine different sets of starters last year, including six different lineups in the season's first six games. That team tied for second on the list of most lineups used during a single season behind only the 1991-92 squad with 13. The 1981-82, 1983-84 and 1992-93 teams also had nine different starting lineups during the regular season.
Coaching Staff Additions
Bucknell welcomes two new assistant coaches to the program in 2008-09. Mandy Olley, a 2002 graduate of Old Dominion, joins the staff after a playing career that included four trips to the NCAA Tournament and a two-year turn as an assistant at Susquehanna University. Stephanie Marciano, a 2008 Yale graduate, ranks fifth all-time in assists for the Bulldogs, and brings valuable recent on-court experience to the coaching staff.
Small But Strong Senior Class
After having the largest senior class last season since 2001-02, the Bison are back to just two seniors on the roster in Amanda Brown and Lauren Schober. Bucknell graduated five seniors from the 2007-08 campaign – Kesha Champion, Kristina Collymore, Hope Foster, Ashton Sprouse and Andrea Wright.
All-Patriot League Honors
Bucknell was no stranger to All-Patriot League Teams during the 2007-08 season. Hope Foster was named the league's Preseason Player of the Year, while Amanda Brown joined her teammate on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Foster later received First Team All-Patriot League honors at the conclusion of the regular season. It was the third consecutive year Foster earned the selection. Three Bison also were named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team as they led Bucknell to its second tournament title. Brown, Kesha Champion and Lauren Schober were all honored. Champion was also named the tournament MVP.
90 PL Wins for Fedorjaka
With the Bison's final regular season victory over Army, head coach Kathy Fedorjaka earned her 90th career Patriot League win. Although that ties her for second-most league wins with Lehigh's Sue Troyan, Fedorjaka's Patriot League winning percentage at .616 is much better than Troyan's .529. Bill Gibbons of Holy Cross retains his commanding lead with 192 career Patriot League victories.
Patriot League “Growing Our Community”
In 2008, the Patriot League received a grant as part of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program that allows it to help its member schools further promote women's basketball during the 2008-09 academic year. The league is working with its eight member institutions to develop a number of activities and initiatives targeted to include youth organizations, senior groups, community and civic organizations and students and alumni.
The goal is to increase the home attendance for the entire 2009 Patriot League women's basketball campaign through a variety of promotions and engaging local organizations to attend and learn more about the Patriot league women's basketball programs, as well as expose individuals to the academic institutions.
Up Next
Following their matchup with Saint Francis (Pa.), the Bison return to Sojka Pavilion in the new year to face the Buffalo Bulls. The game is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2.
