Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Faces Another Test at West Virginia
12/27/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2011
WHAT: Bucknell Bison (2-10) at West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3)
WHERE: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, W. Va.
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 12 p.m.
RADIO: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com
STREAMING VIDEO: MSNsportsNET.com 
LIVE STATISTICS: BucknellBison.com
Complete Game Notes 
ABOUT THE GAME
Bucknell won't get much of a break in the schedule after taking on No. 16 Penn State as it immediately begins to prepare for West Virginia on Dec. 28. The noon matchup in Morgantown, W. Va., rekindles a series that was last played in 2003-04. Mountaineers head coach Mike Carey will be looking for his 500th career victory, while the Bison will look to get their first road win of the season.
Kevin Foedinger will continue to call the action live on WVBU 90.5 FM and online at SportsJuice.com. Live stats are available on GameTracker at BucknellBison.com and live video can be found at MSNsportsNET.com.
WITH A VICTORY OVER WEST VIRGINIA, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• Win its first ever game against the Mountaineers.
• Win its first road game of the season.
• Claim its first non-conference road victory since Jan. 6, 2010 when it defeated Cornell 69-55 in Ithaca, N.Y.
• Improve to 4-3 against teams currently in the BIG EAST. The Bison have wins over Notre Dame (1 win), Pittsburgh (1) and Providence (1), and losses to Villanova (1) and West Virginia (2).
QUICK FACTS
• Bucknell hit a season-high four three-point field goals vs. Penn State on Dec. 21, and a different player made each shot.
• The last time Bucknell won more than one game in December was during the 2008-09 season.
• Bucknell never led against Penn State. It was the fourth game this season, and the second in a row, in which the Bison never had a lead.
• Six of Bucknell's 10 losses have been by eight or fewer points. The other four were by 17 or more.
• Lindsay Horbatuck was named the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week on Dec. 13 after recording her second double-double of the season in the win over Fordham.
• Seven different players have led Bucknell in scoring in its 12 games this season.
• Bucknell's recently ended eight-game losing streak is tied for the third longest in program history.
• With a 57-56 defeat to Youngstown State on Nov. 16, Bucknell suffered its first one-point loss since Jan. 3, 2007 (L, Iona, 45-44).
• The Bison went 8-5 at home but 3-12 on the road during the 2010-11 season. All three road victories came during Patriot League play.
• The Bison were fourth in the 2011-12 Preseason Patriot League Poll.
LAST MEETING WITH WEST VIRGINIA - NOV. 21, 2003
• West Virginia 77, Bucknell 57 (WVU Coliseum)
• Bucknell freshman Lindsey Hollobaugh scored a game-high 20 points, but it was not enough as the Bison dropped a 77-57 decision at West Virginia in the season-opener for both teams. Desire Almind was the only other Bucknell player in double-figures with 12 points, a team-best seven rebounds and a career-high three blocks.
• The game appeared to start off the way Bucknell wanted it when Hollobaugh forced a turnover and took the ball in for a 2-0 lead. That was the only lead the Bison would enjoy, however, as the Mountaineers proceeded to mount a 13-0 run that spanned nearly four minutes on their way to a 13-2 lead.
• The Orange and Blue got within 14 points five more times throughout the remainder of the half, but entered the intermission in a 41-26 hole. Bucknell came out in the second half and promptly cut it to 11, 41-30, with two quick jumpers from Brooke Tomovich and Almind, but West Virginia again capitalized on Bison miscues on its way to an 11-0 spurt to open up a 52-30 lead with 16:16 left to play.
• The Bison shot .421 (24-57) from the field for the game, including a 4-for-5 performance from the three-point line in the second half. The Mountaineers, who held a 41-32 advantage in rebounding, shot a .455 clip (30-66).
HISTORY VS. WEST VIRGINIA
• Although neither meeting with West Virginia has gone Bucknell's way, the Bison have not gone without some standout performances against the Mountaineers. The first time the two teams squared off, Molly Creamer finished with 30 points on 11 of 26 shooting and eight assists. Kristin Valdner also posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. One year later, Lindsey Hollobaugh dropped 20 points on West Virginia in her collegiate debut.
• Bucknell has shot well against West Virginia in each of the first two meetings. In 2002-03, the Bison finished at .439 (29-66) from the field. In 2003-04, they shot .421 (24-57). The Mountaineers were even better, however, shooting .536 (30-56) in 2002 and .455 (30-66) the following year.
• West Virginia holds a 39.0 to 32.5 rebounding edge in the series. The Mountaineers won the battle of the boards 41-32, and limited the Bison to 10 offensive rebounds, in their last game.
• Bucknell held a lead only once in the teams' last meeting - 2-0 after a layup from Lindsey Hollobaugh. The first game in series history was closer as the Bison had its last advantage with less than nine minutes to play.
• Bucknell has had limited time at the free throw line against West Virginia. Although the 2002 game saw the Bison shoot 10-for-14 from the stripe, only three players - Molly Creamer, Kate Franks, Jennie Ruth - made trips to the line. Bucknell was 5-for-8 in free throws.
• Series Results:
Nov. 25, 2002: West Virginia, 77-72
Nov. 21, 2003: West Virginia, 77-57
ABOUT THE MOUNTAINEERS
West Virginia has won five of its last six games. In its last outing on Dec. 20, the Mountaineers defeated Mount St. Mary's by a convincing 94-32. Five West Virginia players scored in double figures led by Taylor Palmer with 21. As a team, they out-rebounded Mount St. Mary's 46-21 and shot 60.0 percent (36-for-60) from the field. Some of the Mountaineers' earlier results include a 69-37 victory over Youngstown State and a 63-54 win over then-No. 25 UCLA.
West Virginia was selected ninth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing the 2010-11 campaign in sixth. At 24-10 overall last winter, the Mountaineers claimed their fourth 20-win season in five years. After going 8-8 in conference play, West Virginia went on to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Houston in the first round before falling to No. 1 seed Baylor, 82-68, in the second. Aysa Bussie, who averaged 8.2 points last season, is the only returning starter from that squad and currently ranks second among Mountaineers in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg).
COMING ALONG
Bucknell is slowly starting to find its stroke from the outside. After shooting 8-for-72 (.111) from three-point distance in the first 10 games of the season, the Bison improved to 7-for-26 (.269) in the last two outings against Cornell and Penn State. Christina Chukwuedo (2-3), Shelby Romine (2-12), Rachel Voss (2-4) and Katherine Harris (1-3) have all contributed to the total opposite the Big Red and Lady Lions. Only Romine (4-25), Harris (2-6), Felicia Mgbada (1-5) and Amy Zehner (1-16) had three-pointers previous to that. The Bison are 15-for-98 (.153) from behind the arc this season.
VOSS' DOUBLES IN DECEMBER
Dec. 18 and Dec. 21 must be some special dates for Rachel Voss. On Dec. 18, 2011, the junior scored 13 points at Cornell, then put up 11 points against Penn State on Dec. 21, 2011. It was the first time Voss recorded back-to-back double-figure scoring games since Dec. 18, 2010 against Iona (10 points) and Dec. 21, 2010 at Wofford (12). The 2011 set of dates was also just the third time in her career that Voss posted consecutive outings with 10 or more points. She also had 11 vs. Penn State, 13 against Fordham and 11 against Loyola (Md.) in November of her freshman campaign.
GETTING TO 100
With 96 rebounds this season, Lindsay Horbatuck is on the verge of a third consecutive year with at least 100 rebounds. The junior will likely reach the century mark faster this winter than in any previous one. As a freshman it took Horbatuck 22 games to get to 100 rebounds, while she needed 21 games as a sophomore. Horbatuck leads all current Bison with 325 career rebounds.
HORBATUCK HUSTLES FOR REBOUNDS
• With 96 boards on the year, Lindsay Horbatuck needs just 24 more to set a new personal single-season high. In getting to her total, the forward has recorded five double-digit rebounding games. That doubles her career total to 10, more than any other current Bison.
• Horbatuck registered 10 rebounds - four offensive and six defensive - against Penn State on Dec. 21. It was the second consecutive game against the Lady Lions in which she totaled 10 boards. She is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game in her career against Penn State.
• Horbatuck's four offensive rebounds against Penn State was a game high. Bucknell's 17 offensive boards in the game was a season high. The Bison also limited the Lady Lions to 10 offensive boards, a major improvement over the 22 allowed last season, which stood as a season high for Bison opponents.
• Of her 325 career rebounds, 132 (40.6%) have come on the offensive glass.
• Horbatuck currently leads Bucknell with 8.0 rebounds per game. The junior ranked third on the team in rebounding behind Joyce Novacek and Cosima Higham in each of the previous two seasons.
OUT INDEFINITELY
Amy Zehner was out of the lineup against Penn State. The freshman is taking an indefinite leave of absence due to personal reasons.
UP NEXT
For the third consecutive game, Bucknell will face an opponent it has never beaten. The Bison will travel to Mount St. Mary's, which has a 5-0 series lead, for a 1 p.m. game on Dec. 31 at Emmitsburg, Md. Although Bucknell historically has not had much luck against The Mount, the last time the series was contested was on Nov. 27, 1994. Mount St. Mary's won the game, 79-47, on its home court.
