Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Bucknell Women's Basketball Takes Down Lafayette 46-34
2/16/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2011
| Video Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell women's basketball held Lafayette to 18.0 percent shooting from the field, and Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) added six blocked shots to her 11th double-double in a 46-34 win at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night. The victory was the second straight for the Bison (8-15, 5-6) and moved them into a tie for fourth place in the Patriot League standings with three games remaining.
Lafayette (11-15, 4-7) shot just 11-for-61 from the field in the contest. The 18.0 percent field goals shooting and the 11 successful baskets were both Sojka Pavilion low records. The Leopards' 34 points were also the fewest allowed by the Bison since a 64-32 win over Colgate on Feb. 17, 2007 and is the ninth-lowest point total by a Bucknell opponent in the program's 38-year history.
Bucknell limited Lafayette to 14 points in the first half. The Bison opened play on an 11-2 run before the Leopards put together five straight points on a layup and three foul shots. Their three-point play at the 13:28 mark was the last they scored until 2:43 remained in the half. Sarah McGorry snapped the skid with a free throw. After going more than 17 minutes with seven points, Lafayette doubled its score in the final 2:43 and trailed 25-14 at halftime.
At the break, the Leopards were shooting 13.8 percent (4-for-29) from the field after a 2-for-26 start. Lafayette's inability to hit shots gave Bucknell the nine-point lead after the first half despite the Bison going just 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) from the field themselves.
Bucknell's interior game played a huge part in its success and nowhere was it quite as obvious as in Higham's performance. The senior tallied just four points and three rebounds in the first half but exploded in the second to claim her second double-double of the year and the 11th of her career.
Higham got the offense started in the second with an offensive rebound and layup. She soon as seven of the team's first 13 points, and her jumper in the paint at 13:26 gave Bucknell the 38-18 advantage on the scoreboard.
The Bison began to slow on the offensive end of the court soon after, getting just a 3-pointer from Taylor Phillips (South Parkersburg, W. Va./Parkersburg South) and a layup from Lindsay Horbatuck (Avon, Conn./Avon) in the next two minutes. Higham put her defensive stamp on that stretch, at one point recording two blocked shots in a single possession. Bucknell needed that effort as Lafayette went on a 12-3 run in the final nine minutes of play.
The Leopards whittled down the Bison lead to 10 points for 43-33 with 6:21 to go. The two squads then combined for a mere four points to finish out the night. At the final buzzer, Bucknell and Lafayette had combined for 80 points. That marked the lowest combined point total since Bucknell and Lehigh totaled 77 points in a 39-38 Bison win on Jan. 26, 1980.
Higham finished the night with 11 points and 14 rebounds to go along with her six blocked shots. The 14 boards are a season high for the forward. She also took sole possession of fifth place on the all-time blocks list at Bucknell with 101 career rejections. Eleven of Higham's rebounds came on the defensive end. Bucknell totaled 36 defensive boards in the contest, giving it a Sojka Pavilion record. As a team, the Bison outrebounded the Leopards 46-32.
LaKeisha Wright was the high scorer for Lafayette, totaling nine points. McGorry finished with a team-best six rebounds.
Bucknell is tied with Holy Cross and Army for fourth place in the league standings with three games remaining in the regular season. The Bison will try to make up some more ground in an effort to host a quarterfinal game in the Patriot League Tournament when they take on Colgate at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Higham, Phillips and Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) will be recognized prior to the game for Senior Night.
