Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Bucknell Women's Basketball Unable to Reverse Slump in 75-58 Loss at Lafayette
1/21/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2009
EASTON, Pa. - Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) scored 21 points and Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) added 16, but the strong scoring from the duo was not enough for the Bucknell women's basketball team to avoid its third consecutive loss as it fell 75-58 to Lafayette at the Kirby Sports Center on Wednesday night.
The Bison (9-8, 1-3 PL) were plagued by poor shooting in the first half as they connected on just 33.3 percent of their shots. Bucknell kept the contest close through the first five minutes of play and jumped out to an 11-9 lead, but a pair of Bison scoring droughts coupled with the Leopards' (8-11, 2-2) inability to miss a shot saw the lead disappear throughout the opening stanza. Following the game's first media timeout, Lafayette outscored Bucknell 32-11.
The home team was helped significantly by its outside shooting, finishing the half 7 of 8 (87.5%) from three-point distance, while going 13-for-24 (54.2%) from the field.
Despite the lopsided halftime score of 41-22, the Bison outrebounded Lafayette 17-15. That advantage held up at the end of the game as well, as Bucknell led on the glass, 33-26. Brown led all scorers at the buzzer with 12 points, including 2-for-2 from behind the three-point arc.
Bucknell wasted little time getting back on the scoreboard in the second half. Novacek tallied the first points with a layup, followed shortly by baskets from Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Domincan) and Trisha Krewson (Sandusky, Ohio/Perkins). The Leopards continued with their shooting however, and kept the Bison from closing the lead. At 15:18, the Lafayette lead was still in double digits at 51-32.
The speed of play picked up in the following minutes, giving Bucknell the opportunities it had been looking for. Novacek hit a couple more layups, including one on the right block on a tough pass from Schober. She earned two more points on a fastbreak layup after getting ahead of the defense. Despite scoring 12 of her points in the first nine minutes of the second stanza, the Bison still found themselves trailing 58-40 with 11:08 to play.
The Bison kept trying to chip away at Lafayette's defense, once going on a 9-2 run midway through the half. The Leopards were still soaring on confidence from the opening half, however, and would not allow Bucknell to truly gain any momentum.
Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) gave it her best effort, converting a three-point play from the free throw line with 3:36 to play, but the scoreboard still showed Bucknell down 69-52. The Orange and Blue scored just three more times in the game, eventually causing them to fall by a final score of 75-58.
Brown capped off her night with five assists in addition to her 21 points, and Novacek finished with seven rebounds to share a lead in the team high. Krewson and Higham also finished with seven boards.
LaKeisha Wright led the Leopards with 14 points, while Cristin Zavocki was close behind with 13. Wright also contributed five assists, while Emily Garner led with six rebounds. The Leopards shot 51.9 percent from the field on the night, which was a high for a Bucknell opponent this season.
Bucknell wraps up its three-game road trip with a Saturday, Jan. 24 contest at Colgate. Tip off is slated for 2 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y., at Cotterell Court. The Bison will then return home on Wednesday, Jan. 28 to take on Lehigh at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
