Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Mount St. Mary's
Bucknell Women's Basketball Downed 58-46 at Mount St. Mary's
12/31/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2011
EMMITSBURG, Md. - Rachel Voss (Cincinnati, Ohio/Loveland) hit double digits with 13 points, but the individual offensive effort was not enough to keep Bucknell women's basketball from a 58-46 loss to Mount St. Mary's at Knott Arena on Saturday afternoon. Alyssa Dunn (Mason, Ohio/Seven Hills School) also finished with 11 points for the Bison as they wrapped up the 2011 portion of their schedule.
Voss' 13 points were came relatively quietly as the junior played a steady game throughout. After tallying four points in the first half, she eventually went 6-for-14 from the floor, including Bucknell's only three-pointer of the day.
Bucknell (2-12) came out of the gates with an energy on defense that held Mount St. Mary's (6-6) scoreless until the 13:47 mark and gave them a 6-0 lead. The Mount committed a turnover on two of their first three possessions, including a shot clock violation on their first offensive opportunity. At the end of the half, Bucknell had forced Mount St. Mary's into four shot clock violations and 12 overall turnovers. Felicia Mgbada (Edison, N.J./Blair Academy) also had two blocked shots.
After going up 8-2, however, the Bison suffered their own scoring drought and went nearly five minutes without a bucket. That gave the Mount the opening it needed to take the lead on a three-point play from Tara Lonergan. Mount St. Mary's then enjoyed a lead that hovered around five points for the final 10 minutes of the half.
The Bison were not immune from their own miscues on the offensive end and committed 13 turnovers before the break. The Mount capitalized on those chances and had 12 points off turnovers, compared to six for the Bison in the first half.
Bucknell's final offensive push of the first came on a three-point play from Christina Chukwuedo (Monessen, Pa./Monessen). That drew the Bison back within five points and set the halftime score at 25-20. Chukwuedo's free throw was just the second successful attempt of the half as Bucknell was 2-for-5 (.400) from the line. It was also 9-for-23 (.391) from the field.
Mount St. Mary's was more successful at the free throw line, going 5-for-6 (.833), and was 10-for-33 (.333) from the field. Neither team managed a three-pointer with the Mount shooting 0-for-3 and the Bison going without an attempt.
After a half of paint play and short jumpers, Mount St. Mary's started to benefit from its perimeter game as the second got underway. The Mount eventually finished the day just 2-for-12 from three-point range, but the two came at key points early in the second and helped grow its lead.
Neither team did anything flashy in the second half. Mount St. Mary's cut down on its turnovers and used free throws to increase its lead. Although the Mount went more than four minutes without a field goal late in the half, five straight points from the line on six attempts brought them to 50 points and a 12-point advantage.
Bucknell improved its shooting percentage slowly, but the shots still did not drop fast enough to make up the deficit. Voss' jumper brought Mount St. Mary's lead to 43-38 with just under nine minutes to play before the Mount went on its run at the free throw line. By the time power went out at Knott Arena and forced a delay, the score read 50-38 with 4:37 remaining in the game.
Katherine Harris ended a second-half scoreless drought of 5:33 with a pair of free throws, but the Bison went 6:23 between field goals. Bucknell hit just three field goals in the final eight minutes of play and ended the day 19-for-43 (.442) from the field.
Lindsay Horbatuck (Avon, Conn./Avon) was among the team leaders as she posted a game-high eight rebounds. Mount St. Mary's was led by Lonergan with 12 points and seven boards. Sydney Henderson and Kayla Grossett also finished in double-figure scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Bucknell will be back in action on Jan. 3 when it hosts Yale in the final non-conference game of the year. Tipoff at Sojka Pavilion is set for 7 p.m.
