Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Cornell
Bucknell Women's Basketball Returns from Exams with 65-45 Loss at Cornell
12/18/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2011
ITHACA, N.Y. - Bucknell women's basketball's road woes continued as the Bison took a 65-45 loss to Cornell at Newman Arena on Sunday afternoon. Rachel Voss (Cincinnati, Ohio/Loveland) scored a season-high 13 points in the first half alone and ended the day with four assists, also a season high, as the Bison fell to 2-9 on the year.
It took more than three minutes for Bucknell to get on the board, and Voss broke the early scoreless streak with a jumper in the paint. At 16:30, the Bison trailed 6-2. The Big Red's advantage grew to 12-4 over the next few minutes as Shelby Lyman hit back-to-back threes and the Bison continued to have trouble finding the bottom of the net.
Although the shots weren't dropping, Bucknell had its looks. The Bison made some nice passes in the paint to work the ball around in Cornell's zone defense, but nothing came of them. Voss and Shelby Romine (Centreville, Va./Westfield) were the only Bison to score for the first 12:30 of the game when Lindsay Horbatuck (Avon, Conn./Avon) hit a layup and drew a foul. At that point, the scoreboard read 26-17 in favor of Cornell, and Voss had eight points while Romine had seven.
Horbatuck was unable to convert the three-point play, making the Bison 0-for-1 from the free throw line in the first half. Cornell was 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from the stripe but 15-for-27 (55.6 percent) overall from the field.
At halftime, Cornell (3-5) had earned a 38-27 lead in the score and a 22-10 lead in rebounding.
The Big Red's advantage continued to grow in the second half thanks to another early scoring drought for the Bison. Christina Chukwuedo (Monessen, Pa./Monessen) hit a pair of early buckets, but Bucknell then went 6:39 before it put another point on the board. By the time Romine broke the scoreless streak, Cornell's lead was 47-33.
Romine's long jumper opened the gates briefly for Bucknell. Horbatuck hit a touch layup and Alyssa Dunn (Mason, Ohio/Seven Hills School) finished a three-point play to bring Cornell's lead back down to single digits, 38-47, with 9:17 to play. Bucknell then went without a field goal for nearly five minutes, and Cornell went on a 9-1 run during that stretch to put themselves in a comfortable position for the rest of the game.
After shooting 42.9 percent (12-for-28) from the floor in the first half, Bucknell dropped to 24.1 percent (7-for-29) in the second. The Bison closed out the day at 33.3 percent (19-for-57), while the Big Red finished at 45.5 percent (25-for-55).
Voss was held scoreless in the second half, but still led Bucknell with 13 points, four assists and three steals. Romine also had four assists to go with nine points, and her six rebounds was a team high as well.
Clare Fitzpatrick led the way for Cornell with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Marissa Rakestraw added 12 points off the bench. As a team, the Big Red outrebounded Bucknell 43-33.
Bucknell will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts nationally ranked Penn State at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
