Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Shoots for Sixth Straight vs. American Wednesday
1/12/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2009
WHAT: Bucknell (9-5, 1-0) vs. American (10-6, 0-1) WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m. RADIO: WVBU 90.5 FM, SportsJuice.com TV: SPORTSfever STREAMING VIDEO: Bison Vision LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker Complete Bucknell-American Game Notes
With a Victory Over American, Bucknell Would...
- Win six games in a row, its longest winning streak since the 2006-07 team won nine consecutive contests between Jan. 20 and Feb. 20.
- Win its fifth consecutive game at Sojka Pavilion, having previously beaten Wofford, Buffalo, Cornell and Navy. The Bison lost their first two contests at home to Drexel and Towson.
- Head coach Kathy Fedorjaka will claim her 250th career win. Coming into the game she is 249-189 in her 16-year career and 181-151 in twelve seasons at Bucknell.
- Go 2-0 this season against teams from Washington, D.C., after defeating Howard, 63-53 on Jan. 2.
About the Game
Bucknell head coach Kathy Fedorjaka will go for her 250th career victory as the Bucknell women's basketball team takes on American University for the first time in 2009. The Eagles will be looking for some payback after falling to the underdog Bison in the Patriot League Tournament last season.
Amanda Brown will also look to play in her 100th career game.
Bucknell-American Series
Bucknell leads the series 11-9 entering the 2009 season, with one of those wins coming in the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals last season. Although American joined the league in 2001, the two teams first met in 1983 with the Eagles winning the first four contests. The Bison are 5-5 all-time against American at Sojka Pavilion.
Last Meeting - March 9, 2008
- Bucknell defeated the top-seeded American, 60-52, to earn a spot in the Patriot League Tournament Championship. The Bison played strong defense throughout the game, holding American to 24.3 percent shooting despite the Eagles converting four of their final five field goals in the waning minutes. Bucknell's victory evened its record at .500 for the first time of the season.
- Joyce Novacek recorded her second career double-double with a team-leading 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting and 13 rebounds. Lauren Schober also added 14 points, and Kesha Champion contributed 11.
- Pam Stanfield led American with 17 points and five assists. Talicia Jackson finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Quick Facts
Amanda Brown moved into the Bucknell top ten in assists with 273 ... After recording two double-doubles in the first three games of the season, Cosima Higham repeated with 17 points and 13 rebounds vs. Navy on Saturday ... Lauren Schober tied the Sojka Pavilion record for seven steals by a Bison in a single game against Cornell ... Joyce Novacek posted her second double-double of the season and the fourth of her career with 19 points and 14 rebounds at Howard ... Trisha Krewson earned her first Patriot League honor Jan. 5, being voted Rookie of the Week ... Krewson's 11 points against Buffalo was a season high for the freshman ... After earning Patriot League Rookie of the Week, Morgan Wrightson posted her first 20-point game versus Wofford, 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 ... Bucknell has two of the top 21 scorers in program history on this year's team in Amanda Brown (14th) and Lauren Schober (21st).
History vs. American
- Bucknell leads American 11-9 all-time, including a series-high six game win streak from February 2005 to January 2008. The last game of that streak was the 67-64 overtime victory last season. Lauren Schober tallied 21 points and nine rebounds in 44 minutes of play. She was trailed by Kristina Collymore with 15 points, six rebounds, four steals and 3 assists. Andrea Wright (13 points) and Hope Foster (10) rounded out the double-figure scoring for Bucknell. Although the Orange and Blue made just one field goal in two attempts during the overtime period, they made their biggest impact offensively from the free throw line. Bucknell finished overtime 13-for-19 from the charity stripe.
- After the hard-fought battle in January, American made a comeback in February with a four-point victory. Liz Leer led the Eagles with 18 points and three blocks, while Liz Hayes added 13 points. Foster was the only Bison in double-figure scoring with 17 points, although Joyce Novacek contributed eight points and 13 rebounds.
- Most Recent Results:
About the Eagles
American enters the matchup 10-6 overall and 0-1 in the Patriot League. The Eagles got an early-season 74-65 victory over Drexel, followed by a 77-50 win over Howard. Their longest winning streak of the season totaled four games in early December with the wins coming against Cleveland State, Maryland Eastern Shore, Rhode Island and Princeton. American also lost 69-45 to its local rival, Georgetown, and 67-63 to Virginia Commonwealth in December. The Eagles are 3-4 on the road this season.
Most recently, American fell 77-69 to Lehigh in its Patriot League opener. Michelle Kirk scored a career-high 21 points against the Mountain Hawks. American tallied the first two baskets of the game, but Lehigh answered with a 12-1 run that gave them the lead for the remainder of the contest.
American finished first in the Patriot League last season with an 11-3 record. The Eagles fell to Bucknell in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament.
Last Time Out
Bucknell won its 2009 Patriot League debut and its fifth consecutive game with a 66-50 victory over Navy on Saturday. The Bison once again received well-balanced offensive production with four players scoring in double figures. Cosima Higham posted a career-high 17 points, followed by Amanda Brown with 16, Joyce Novacek with 12 and Lauren Schober with 10. Higham also led the team with 13 boards. The Orange and Blue dominated on the boards, outrebounding Navy 45-26. The +19 rebounding margin was the largest of the season for the Bison.
Impact Off the Bench
Cosima Higham has found her niche coming off the bench this season. In the five games the sophomore forward has started this season, she is averaging 4.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. In nine games coming off the bench, Higham is averaging 11.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Bucknell is 9-0 with Higham as the first player off the bench.
Dishing It Out
While most fans recognize Amanda Brown as the team's leading scorer, she is also the Bison's most adept passer, dishing out 4.8 assists per game. That average is good for first in the Patriot League. The success is not new for the senior either, who is eighth in program history with 273 career assists.
Keeping the Opponent Down
Bucknell has continued to play strong defense throughout the season and most recently held both Howard (29.8%) and Cornell (29.6) less than 30 percent shooting from the field. The contest against the Big Red marked the fourth time this year the Bison held their opponent to less than 30 percent shooting (Fordham, 27.4%; Drexel, 25.4%), although they also came close to the feat against George Mason (30.9%), Buffalo (30.5%) and Navy (31.6%). Bucknell held its opponents to a sub-30 shooting percentage seven times last season.
Balanced Attack
The Orange and Blue are no longer relying on just one player for point production. Bucknell has received double-digit scoring from at least three players in six of its last seven games, and six total players have contributed to that count. Amanda Brown has accomplished the feat in six games, followed Cosima Higham and Lauren Schober in five apiece, Joyce Novacek in three and Morgan Wrightson and Trisha Krewson in two each.
Road Warriors
Bucknell has played just six of its 14 games within the friendly confines of Sojka Pavilion. Despite the difficult schedule, the Bison are 5-3 on the road, including an 11-point victory over Colonial Athletic Association member George Mason in November and the most recent 10-point win over Howard.
Mixing It Up
After using the same starting lineup in each of their first three games, the Bison mixed it up for the next five. Bucknell again changed the starting five four games ago but has since stuck with the successful combo, having used the same lineup in each of those 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.
Connecting with the Community
The Bucknell women's basketball team has always understood the importance of community service, but with the players in the midst of the winter break from classes, the Bison are taking their involvement to another level. The Orange and Blue spent the afternoon playing basketball and other games with children at the Donald Heiter Community Center in Lewisburg on Tuesday. Players and coaches also visited recently with families at the Ronald McDonald House in Danville and residents at the RiverWoods senior living community in Lewisburg.
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 1,132 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 943 points, she is 57 points short of the milestone.
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. The Orange and Blue bounced back at Saint Francis (Pa.), going 4-13 (.308) from behind the arc and holding the Red Flash to just 2-of-16 (.125).
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 it tied the Dragons with 43 boards. In the next five games, Bucknell pulled back on top in the category, claiming 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. The Orange and Blue has also outrebounded its four most recent opponents, Buffalo (43-37), Howard (42-30), Cornell (39-36) and Navy (45-26).
Slides That Led to Success
The four-game losing skid earlier this season was 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.
Plenty of Time
Three Bison are averaging nearly 30 minutes per game through the first 14 games of the season. Amanda Brown leads the trio, playing 37.4 minutes per game, including two games with 40 minutes. Her generous amount of time on the court ranks Brown first in the Patriot League for most minutes per game. She is followed by Lauren Schober (29.9 mpg) and Joyce Novacek (28.8 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 18 times during their Bucknell careers.
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 14Coaching 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.
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
After a successful stretch at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell will return to the road to take on Holy Cross on Saturday, Jan. 17. Tip off at the Hart Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.
