Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Hosts Lehigh on Go Green Day at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday
1/26/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2009
WHAT: Bucknell (10-8, 2-3) vs. Lehigh (15-5, 4-1) WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. RADIO: WVBU 90.5 FM, SportsJuice.com TV: NoneSTREAMING VIDEO: Bison Vision LIVE STATISTICS: BucknellBison.com Complete Bucknell-Lehigh Game Notes
With a Victory Over Lehigh, Bucknell Would...
- Even its Patriot League record at 3-3.
- End a two-game skid against the Mountain Hawks.
- Improve its Patriot League record at Sojka Pavilion to 2-1. The Bison defeated Navy (66-50) and lost to American (61-55) earlier this month.
- Even the all-time series with Lehigh at 31 wins apiece.
About the Game
Bucknell will try to maintain momentum from its 86-54 victory at Colgate as it takes on the 15-5 Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday. With a 4-1 record in the Patriot League, Lehigh shares the league's best record with American. Lehigh will try to continue its winning streak after taking the win in each of its two games last week.
Bucknell-Lehigh Series
The series between Bucknell and Lehigh is one of the oldest, having started February 22, 1977. The Bison trail by a single game, 30-31, in those 32 years. Each team has had its share of streaks as well, with Bucknell's longest winning run coming from 1992 to 1994 when it took six straight. Lehigh's seven-game winning streak came between 1984 and 1987 when both teams were still members of the East Coast Conference. Bucknell also leads 16-12 in contests on its home court.
Last Meeting - Feb. 27, 2008
- Bucknell lost its second consecutive game to Lehigh, 55-48, at Sojka Pavilion in the teams' last meeting. The Bison committed 21 turnovers and suffered from a number of scoring droughts, keeping them from extending their winning streak to three.
- Hope Foster recorded the 17th double-double of her career with 14 points and 13 rebounds. She was not the only Bison in double-figure scoring, however, as Taylor Phillips tallied 11 points and Amanda Brown added 10.
- Tricia Smith and Erica Prosser, both of whom return in 2009, led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Melissa Rich, another returning player, led with nine boards.
Quick Facts
Cosima Higham posted her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds at Colgate ... Amanda Brown leads the Patriot League in both scoring (15.3) and assists (5.2) ... After tying her career high with 23 points against American Jan. 14, Brown set a new high with 26 points at Holy Cross last Saturday ... Brown's 21 points at Lafayette marked her sixth game this season and 14th of her career with more than 20 points ... Brown also moved into the Bucknell top ten in assists with 299 ... After recording two double-doubles in the first three games of the season, Cosima Higham repeated with 17 points and 13 rebounds vs. Navy Jan. 10 ... Lauren Schober tied a Sojka Pavilion record against Cornell with seven steals by a Bison ... 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 for her play during the week of Dec. 28, being voted Rookie of the Week ... Morgan Wrightson also collected a Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor this season (Dec. 7) ... Bucknell has two of the top 20 scorers in program history on this year's team in Amanda Brown (13th) and Lauren Schober (19th).
History vs. Lehigh
- Bucknell is 4-3 in the last seven games against Lehigh. The most lopsided victory in that set came on Jan. 24, 2007 when the Bison defeated Lehigh 64-37. The Mountain Hawks' 37 points was the fewest by a Bucknell opponent since Army also managed just 37 points against the Orange and Blue during the 1992-93 season. The outcome also marked the second-largest margin of victory by either team. The 27-point win was bettered only by the 34-point Bucknell win (90-56) on Jan. 27, 1993.
- Lehigh has outrebounded the Bison in four of the last seven meetings, including a 48-33 defeat on the glass on Jan. 18, 2006. The Mountain Hawks' rebounding total was helped by Adrienne Blount and Jenny Callan who combined for 32 boards. Both players also earned double-doubles as Blount scored 18 points to go with her 15 rebounds and Callan finished with 13 points and 17 boards.
- Amanda Brown is averaging 11.8 points per game in six contests against Lehigh. The senior missed one of last season's meetings due to injury. Classmate Lauren Schober is averaging 6.3 points and better than three rebounds and three assists per game over seven matchups. The scoring average includes a 14-point performance in 2006.
- Most Recent Results:
About the Mountain Hawks
Lehigh brings a two-game winning streak to Sojka Pavilion, having recently defeated Colgate and Lafayette at home last week. The Mountain Hawks are 15-5 overall and 4-1 in the Patriot League. Although Lehigh has won 10 times at Stabler Arena this season, it has been victorious on just five occassions away from the friendly confines of its home court. One of those road wins came in Annapolis, Md., against league foe Navy. The Mountain Hawks needed overtime to pull out the 66-63 win over the Mids.
Lehigh's most recent wins against Colgate and Lafayette came in convincing fashion. The Mountain Hawks finished the game up 61-43 against the Raiders and 73-51 against the Leopards. Erica Prosser, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Week, tallied 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting against Colgate before dropping 24 points on Lafayette a few days later.
Lehigh finished in a tie for third place in the Patriot League last season. The Mountain Hawks lost to Holy Cross, 46-44, in the second round of the league tournament.
Last Time Out
After struggling to find the bottom of the net at Lafayette last Wednesday, Bucknell turned its luck around with an 86-54 win at Colgate on Saturday. Head coach Kathy Fedorjaka earned her 250th career victory in the contest, as the Bison shot 55.6 percent from the field on 35 of 63 shooting. The Orange and Blue also made 69 percent of its first-half shots, going 20-for-29 in the opening stanza.
Cosima Higham recorded the fourth double-double of her career with 16 points and 14 rebounds. All of the sophomore's double-doubles have come this season. Lauren Schober and Morgan Wrightson claimed a share of the game-high scoring total with 16 apiece as well. Schober's scoring outburst came on 6 of 6 shooting, including 4-for-4 from three-point distance. Wrightson also finished 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Taylor Phillips rounded out double-figure scoring with 10 points, a season high for the sophomore. Although Amanda Brown finished with just eight points, the senior registered career highs in assists with 10 and steals with seven.
250 Wins for Fedorjaka
With the win over Colgate on Wednesday, head coach Kathy Fedorjaka earned her 250th career victory. In 16 years as a head coach, Fedorjaka has amassed a 250-192 (.566) record and is 183-154 (.543) in her 12th season at the helm of the Bison. Prior to Bucknell, Fedorjaka coached at Connecticut College and Bloomsburg. She returned to Lewisburg after serving as a Bucknell assistant from 1990-93 to take over as head coach in 1997. Since then, she has led two teams to the NCAA tournament and twice earned Patriot League Coach of the Year honors.
Going Green
The contest with Lehigh is Go Green Day at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is partnering with Coca-Cola and its "Give it Back" program to increase recycling efforts and reduce its carbon footprint. Among its many initiatives, the athletic department has placed recycling containers throughout all athletic facilities. Bucknell is encouraging its fans to recycle by reading public address announcements encouraging the practice at all events and games, while the video boards in Sojka Pavilion, Davis Gym and Kinney Natatorium also convey the message to fans. Reusable grocery bags will be handed out for the Bison-Mountain Hawks matchup.
Block Party
Joyce Novacek and Cosima Higham are approaching the program leaders in single-season blocks. Novacek has rejected 25 shots, while Higham has blocked 28 this year. Susie Hopper and Marie Kocornik are tied for 10th on the list with 32. Two pairs of teammates have made the top-10 list previously - Kocornik (36 blocks) and Ann Kirwin (33) in 1985-86, and Hopper (32) and Julie Bachman (34) in 1989-90.
Big Scores
With 21 points at Lafayette on Wednesday, Amanda Brown earned her sixth game this season and the third consecutive game with more than 20 points. The senior is the first Bison to score more than 20 points in three consecutive games since Lindsey Hollobaugh recorded 20+ points in six straight in February and March 2004. Brown also has 14 career games with more than 20 points, ranking her 12th in program history. Former Bison Molly Creamer heads the list with 65 games.
Stepping Up
Although she is averaging 15.3 points on the season, tying her for first in the Patriot League, Amanda Brown has upped her point production in league play. Through the first five games of conference action, the senior is averaging 18.8 points per game. That includes a 23-point performance versus American, a career-best 26 points at Holy Cross and 21 points at Lafayette. In non-league play, Brown averaged 14 points per game.
Milestones Surpassed
Several Bison recently passed some season and career milestones. Head coach Kathy Fedorjaka earned her 250th career win with the victory over Colgate on Saturday. Lauren Schober reached 450 career rebounds, and Le' Le' LeSeur scored her 104th point as a Bison. Amanda Brown set a new personal single-season high in assists at Lafayette last Wednesday as she reached 83 on the year. Cosima Higham passed the 200 mark in career points and rebounds, and Joyce Novacek grabbed her 103rd rebound of the season against the Leopards.
Still looking for career milestones are Taylor Phillips with 98 rebounds, and Brown with 149 three-point field goals and 299 assists.
Century Mark, Part II
With her appearance against American last Wednesday, Amanda Brown became the second Bison this season to play in 100 career games. Classmate Lauren Schober reached 100 against Wofford on Dec. 19. Brown played in all 31 games a sophomore before suffering injuries that limited her playing time last season. The senior has been a starter in 74 of her 103 career contests.
Protecting the Ball
Bucknell recorded its lowest turnover total of the season against American on Jan. 14. The Bison gave up the ball just nine times, a major improvement on their 18.9 turnovers per game average this year. Christina Chukwuedo aided in the team's positive assist/turnover ratio, dishing out a career-high six assists without committing a turnover. Impact
Off the Bench
Cosima Higham has found her niche coming off the bench this season. In the six games the sophomore forward has started this season, she is averaging 6.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. The totals were boosted recently with her fourth career double-double in which she scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. In 12 games coming off the bench, Higham is averaging 9.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Bucknell is 9-3 with Higham as the first player off the bench.
Dishing It Out
While most fans recognize Amanda Brown as the Patriot League's leading scorer, she is also the Bison's most adept passer, dishing out 5.2 assists per game. That average is good for first in the Patriot League and 46th in the nation (as of Jan. 22). The success is not new for the senior either, who is sixth in program history with 299 career assists.
Mixing It Up
After using the same starting lineup in each of their first three games, the Bison have been mixing it up ever since. The team recently used its ninth different starting combination at Colgate on Saturday. The switches are not new to Bucknell fans, as the team also 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 1,210 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 987 points, she is 13 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 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 four of its most recent opponents in 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.
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.
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.
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 14Patriot 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
Bucknell will conclude the first trip through the Patriot League with a Saturday, Jan. 31 matchup against Army. The contest is slated for 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison are also hosting Mother-Daughter Night at the game.
