Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Women's Basketball Explodes in 86-54 Victory at Colgate
1/24/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
HAMILTON, N.Y. - The Bucknell women's basketball team scored a season-high 86 points as it defeated Colgate 86-54 at Cotterell Court on Saturday afternoon. Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) set career-highs in assists with 10 and steals with eight as the Bison shot a season-best 55.6 percent from the field.
Eight Bison scored in the first half, including Morgan Wrightson (Gaithersburg, Md./Notre Dame Academy) who posted 11 points, as the team totaled 48 points. The tally marks the most points scored by the Orange and Blue in a half this season, bettering their previous total of 38.
The increased scoring was just what Bucknell needed coming into the contest with Colgate after struggling earlier in the week. Bucknell scored the first seven points of the game and held the Raiders to just four points in the first eight minutes.
The Bison put forth a well-balanced attack on both offense and defense, helping them to their 48-21 lead in the opening stanza. Colgate gave up the ball without scoring five consecutive times on its opening possessions, three times on turnovers, allowing the Bison to take a 15-4 advantage into the second media timeout.
At 16:42, Brown and Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) pressured Colgate deep in corner, forcing the home team to turn the ball over. As Brown came up with the steal, the senior dished the ball to Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) who beat her defenders down the court, giving her a layup and her fourth points of the half.
Brown repeated with another steal about seven minutes later as Colgate attempted to inbound the ball at the far end of the court. The resulting layup was Brown's second consecutive basket and two of her eight first-half points.
Higham got into the defensive action as well, recording a blocked shot on the Raiders' Tricia Oakes. Higham was repaid for her effort a few seconds later. She sprinted ahead of the defense, earning a basket to put the Bison up 24:10 with 9:28 to play.
The Bison shot 69 percent (20 of 29) in the opening half, including 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from beyond the three-point line.
Bucknell continued to force Colgate to work deep into its shot clock throughout the first 20 minutes, causing them to take some unwanted shots. At the halftime buzzer, the Bison had forced Colgate into 14 turnovers, and Brown had registered six of her steals.
Colgate came out in the second half shooting better and played some tight defense in the paint to start. Schober hit back-to-back three-pointers from the corner to delay the Raider run, but Colgate began to hit outside shots in abundance in the early moments. The Raiders hit four consecutive three-point shots, bringing the score to 61-38 with 13:20 to play. The home team went on an 8-0 run during that stretch that also included a layup by Gretchen Polinski. Higham put a temporary halt on the streak, however, making one of two free throw attempts.
Keeping with the trend, momentum began to swing back in favor of the Bison with a three pointer from Schober, her third of the half. Following that shot, Bucknell returned to its inside strengths, getting many of its final shots in the paint. Wrightson and Taylor Phillips (South Parkersburg, W. Va./Parkersburg South) finished with a pair of three-point buckets, however, bringing the final to 86-54, its most lopsided victory of the year.
Higham tied teammates Schober and Wrightson with the game high in scoring. Each Bison tallied 16 points as Schober moved into 19th place on the list of all-time scorers at Bucknell. The senior has 987 career points. Phillips finished with 10 points, a season high for the sophomore. As a team, the Bison shot 55.6 percent (35 of 63) for the game and 52.4 percent (11 of 21) from three-point distance. Higham's 14 rebounds tied a career high set at Fordham earlier this season.
Colgate's Tricia Oakes led her team with 10 points, the only Raider to score in double figures. She also tallied a team-leading seven rebounds and shared the team high in assists with three.
Bucknell returns home for its next matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The Bison will take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at 7 p.m. in Sojka Pavilion. SPORTSfever will broadcast the game on tape delay at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29 on WQMY (CATV channel 11). Live streaming video and stats can also be found on BucknellBison.com.
