Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Women's Basketball Takes Another Closs Loss, 62-58, at Colgate
2/20/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
HAMILTON, N.Y. - Trisha Krewson (Sandusky, Ohio/Perkins) led the Bison with 19 points Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for her ninth career double-double, but Bucknell women's basketball could not overcome a 12-point halftime disadvantage, falling 62-58 to Colgate on Saturday. The Bison's record now stands at 7-18 overall and 3-9 in the Patriot League.
Colgate's (10-16, 5-7) dozen points at the halftime break was not indicative of early play. Both teams stayed evenly matched through the beginning of the first half as the lead for either team did not extend to more than four points until late in the frame. Bucknell was unable to put together much of a run as Colgate had an answer for each of its buckets. Many of those responses came from Krista Moser who claimed 14 of the Raiders' first 20 points before the Bison could shut down the forward.
The Bison's forwards did their best to keep their team in the mix as well. Novacek broke an 18-18 tie with an old-fashioned three-point play at 8:09. With the layup and the free throw, the junior put Bucknell up 21-18.
That was the last field goal for the Bison for more than seven minutes, however. Colgate went on an 18-1 run during that stretch, regaining its lead and improving it to 36-22. Krewson finally broke Bucknell's drought with a jumper at 1:06 remaining in the frame. She closed out the half for the Bison with a 3-pointer, but the Bison still trailed 39-27 at the half.
After ending the first half on a 21-6 run, Colgate had difficulty finding its stride in the opening of the second. Bucknell held the Raiders without a field goal for the first 5:12. The defensive effort gave the Bison an opportunity to close the gap between them and their opponent, but they struggled to make a major dent in the scoreboard.
The Bison's offensive progress eventually came as the game began to wind down. Bucknell began to cash in on its drives to the basket and Novacek made finished the three-point play for the second time of the day, but the Raiders maintained at least a four-point lead for several minutes.
That lead finally got down to just two points on a free throw by Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day). The forward missed her second attempt, but did her best to make up for it on the Bison's next possession. After Colgate's Tricia Oakes hit both her shots from the charity stripe, Higham hit a layup to bring Bucknell's deficit back down to two. With 2:41 remaining, Bucknell trailed 53-51. That shot snapped the Bison's stretch of nearly six minutes without a field goal.
With the clock making its way toward zero and the Bison offense coming nearly to a halt, Bucknell was forced to foul down the stretch. The strategy looked as if it were going to go in favor of the Bison as Colgate connected for just 7 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes. Unfortunately, Bucknell was unable to collect the rebounds and could not turn the misses into offensive opportunities.
Colgate simply took up too much time on its offensive sets, even with the free throws, effectively limiting the Bison's comeback. At the final buzzer and with the scoreboard reading 62-58 in favor of Colgate, Bucknell had been handed its fourth consecutive loss by fewer than six points.
In addition to Krewson and Novacek's strong scoring numbers, Higham finished with 11 points. No other Bison had more than six points. Higham also added eight rebounds.
In the Bucknell record watch, Krewson moved into a tie for fifth place on the single-season 3-pointers made list. The sophomore has 52 on the year, sharing a line with former Bison Amanda Brown. Novacek also moved into a tie for ninth place on the single-season blocked shots list. She now has totaled 34 this season, tying her with Julie Bachman.
Three Raiders finished the day in double-figure scoring, led by Moser with 16. Tayler Wejnert added 12, and Candice Green had 10. Wejnert also had the team high with eight boards.
Bucknell will return to Sojka Pavilion for the remainder of its regular season. The Bison are slated to take on Lehigh at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The game is slated as NCAA Pack the House Night and Camper/After School Programs Night.
