Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Navy
Bucknell Women's Basketball Gets Smooth Patriot League Opening Victory Over Navy, 66-50
1/10/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) posted her third career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and three other Bison scored in double figures as the Bucknell women's basketball team defeated Navy, 66-50, on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell (9-5, 1-0) won its fifth consecutive game to kick off the 2009 Patriot League season.
Bucknell was led by its inside game. Higham, Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) and Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) dominated in the point, helping the Bison to outrebound Navy (7-9, 0-1) 45-26. They also held the Midshipmen's Cassie Consedine, who averaging better than 14 points and eight rebounds entering the contest, to just five points and three boards on the night.
The Orange and Blue got out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Mids rattled off six unanswered points, giving them the one-point advantage. That was the last time Navy was on the winning side of the scoreboard, however, as Bucknell responded with its own scoring run.
Navy committed a number of fouls, sending Novacek to the charity stripe at 12:50. The sophomore forward tied the game with her first free throw, but missed the second. Higham helped clean up the miss, earning a basket off the offensive board. The quick three points started a 14-0 run for Bucknell creating a comfortable margin for the remainder of the game. With nine minutes to play in the opening half, a pair of free throws from Schober set the score at 21-8. Navy got the lead back down to as little as six points following a three-pointer from Whitney Davidson. Higham teamed with Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) on the next couple of possessions to deaden the Mids' hopes of a comeback. Just as it looked as if the Bison would settle for an eight-point lead at the half, Brown drilled a three-point shot at the buzzer, giving Bucknell the 37-26 advantage midway through the game.
After shooting 11-for-15 (73.3%) from the free throw line in the first half, the Bison shot just twice from the charity stripe in the second. Those shots came early, as Novacek sank them both to score her team's first two points of the second stanza.
Navy tried to keep the game close using its outside shooting and finished the half 5-for-8 from behind the arc, but the Bison's proved just as strong, going 5-for-9 from long distance in the half. Brown's three-pointer at 18:06 gave Bucknell the 13-point advantage, 42-29, and the Mids' K.C. Gordon shrunk the lead back down to six with her own three-pointer at 15:18.
Bucknell recovered with a pair of layups from Novacek and Schober, and Schober drained one of her two shots from behind the three-point arc to regain control. The Bison finished the final 10 minutes of the half with 6-for-12 shooting, including a pair of three-point field goals from Brown and two more jumpers from Higham.
Although Navy's Kalen Kropa hit a three-point shot with three minutes remaining in the game to save her team from going down by 20 points, the Mids were unable to make a dent in the score. Neither team tallied a basket in the final 1:38, setting the final at 66-50 for Bucknell's fourth consecutive game having a double-figure scoring margin in the win column.
Higham's 17 points was a career-high for the sophomore, bettering her previous by a single point set at Fordham in November. Her 13 rebounds was one shy of tying her career-high, also set at Fordham. Brown followed Higham with 16 points and five assists. Novacek just missed her third double-double of the season. She added nine rebounds to her 12 points. Schober rounded out the double-figure scoring for Bucknell with 10 points. She joined Brown with five assists and contributed six boards.
Kristin Bowen led Navy with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point distance. Davidson and Kropa also added 10 points apiece, while Gordon led with five rebounds.
Bucknell is back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 14 to take on American at 7 p.m. The contest is the final game in the Bison's three-game homestand. The game will be broadcast on SPORTSfever. Check your local listings for broadcast information. Live statistics and streaming video will also be available on BucknellBison.com.
