Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Fordham
Bucknell Women's Basketball Earns First Win of the Season, 63-56 Over Fordham
11/21/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2009
| Video Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Morgan Wrightson (Gaithersburg, Md./Notre Dame Academy (Va.)) led all scorers with 25 points to earn Bucknell women's basketball its first win of the season, 63-56 over Fordham at Sojka Pavilion on Saturday night. Novacek's 15 boards also helped the Bison to win the battle on the glass, 44-29.
Despite a relatively comfortable finish, the Bison (1-3) often waited until the clock was winding down to pull off some last-second heroics. The first half featured three ties and six lead changes, and neither team gained more than a five-point advantage. With Fordham (1-2) threatening to take an advantage into halftime, Wrightson hit a layup with 30 seconds remaining. That shot put Bucknell up one at 26-25. Wrightson extended that lead with virtually no time on the clock with a heave from well beyond the three-point arc. The long-distance connection gave the sophomore 12 points in the opening frame.
Wrightson also produced under some high-pressure situations in the second half. Again with 30 seconds remaining, the guard gave Bucknell a 10-point lead with a pair of free throws. Those hits from the charity stripe resulted in the team's first and only double-digit lead.
Wrightson made it clear from the get-go that she intended to have a big offensive night. After hitting the first shot of the game from three-point distance, she eventually gave Bucknell a five-point lead at 14:13 with another jumper.
Fordham did not allow things to get out of hand, however, and began to climb back in the contest. The Rams scored nine of 11 points midway through the action to eventually take back the lead at 20-18. The two squads then continued to trade baskets until the final minute. Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) split a double team on the block and dropped a hook shot in to start a 7-0 Bison run. Wrightson ended the run with her back-to-back buckets and sent her team to the locker room with a 29-25 lead at the half.
That long shot at the buzzer gave Bucknell the push it needed to make a dent in the score in the second frame. The Bison never fell behind as Novacek continued her assault on the glass, and Wrightson and Rachel Voss (Cincinnati, Ohio/Loveland) continued to drive the offense. Voss combined with Wrightson for 20 of the team's 34 second-half points, including her own three-pointer with the shot clock approaching zero.
Voss ended the night with a career-high 13 points on 6-for-7 from the field.
Novacek's presence on the glass was noticeable throughout the game and on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. She finished the career night with nine defensive boards and six off the offensive glass, many of which led to put-backs and trips to the free throw line.
Although Novacek earned her fourth foul with 4:37 remaining, that did not shake the junior, who completed the double-double less than 20 seconds later by making one of her two free throws.
The shot from the charity stripe put Bucknell in front 52-47 with just over four minutes remaining in the game, and the Bison grew that lead down the final stretch. Fordham tried to slow its opponent by fouling, but Bucknell found its stroke from the line, hitting eight of nine attempts in the final minutes. It was a prime opportunity to start hitting those free throws, as the Bison finished the first half just 1-for-8 from the line. Their second-half mark improved to 10-for-12.
Leading the way for Fordham was Randall Hurst with 23 points. Hurst also posted the team's high in rebounds with seven.
Bucknell will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 24 when it hosts Loyola (Md.) at 7 p.m. in Sojka Pavilion. The Bison will be looking for a bit of revenge after falling to the Greyhounds last year, 61-52, in Baltimore.
