Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Bucknell Women's Basketball Stumbles Against Lehigh, Falls 66-53
1/28/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2009
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| Bucknell-Lehigh Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's basketball team was unable to dig its way out of a 22-point first-half deficit, falling to Lehigh 66-53 at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night despite having four players in double-figure scoring. Lauren Schober (Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican) finished one rebound shy of her first double-double of the season with 12 points and nine rebounds. The senior's dozen points also gave her 999 for her career.
Bucknell (10-9, 2-4) won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Lehigh (16-5, 5-1) 37-22 and limited the Mountain Hawks to just five offensive rebounds compared to 20 for the Orange and Blue.
The Bison hung close through the opening minutes of the game. After getting down by as many as six at 14:43, following a jumper from Lehigh's Alex Ross, Bucknell tied the game at 16 nearly seven minutes later. Morgan Wrightson's (Gaithersburg, Md./Notre Dame Academy) hit a fastbreak jumper in the paint to give her team its last opportunity at an advantage before suffering a scoring drought. The Mountain Hawks' Courtney Molinaro tallied six points, and Erica Prosser drained a three-point shot to lead their team on the attack.
Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) tried to break up Lehigh's streak with a free throw at 6:40 to make the score 20-17, but the Bison revisited their shooting woes of two games past. The squad went scoreless for nearly five minutes, while the Mountain Hawks continued to get their choice of shots.
Lehigh finished the half with a 23-2 run, giving it a 41-19 advantage at the buzzer. Bucknell shot just 26.7 percent (8 of 30) in the first 20 minutes compared to 60.0 percent (15 of 25) for its opponent. The Bison outscored Lehigh 34-25 in the second half, helped in part by some early baskets from Schober. After ending the opening stanza on a rough patch, Bucknell needed the offensive turnaround. Schober hit a jumper at 18:32 and a three-pointer two minutes later to bring the score to 48-26. A steal by the senior forward at 15:00 led to layup and her 10th point of night.
Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) earned a three-point play the old-fashioned way on the Bison's next offensive possession. The forward trailed the play giving her the momentum to connect for a layup and the foul.
Novacek's play got Lehigh's lead to less than 20 for the first time since the 43-second mark in the first half, and another Novacek layup brought Bucknell to within 11, but that was as close as the home team came. The team struggled to score in the final stretch and made just on field goal in the final 4:08. Despite the extra effort in the second half in which it shot 48.1 percent (13 of 27), Bucknell dropped its fourth Patriot League matchup of the season.
Amanda Brown (Richardson, Texas/L.V. Berkner) led Bucknell with 13 points and four assists. Higham and Novacek also finished in double figures with 11 points apiece. Six of Schober's nine rebounds came on the offensive glass. Higham chipped in four offensive boards for eight total on the night.
Lehigh's Tricia Smith led all scorers with 17 points. Prosser added 13 points and Ross finished with 10.
Due to inclement weather, the matchup will not be broadcast on television Thursday night as originally scheduled.
The Bison are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 31 as they take on Army at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The contest is Mother-Daughter Night and Upward Basketball Night.
