Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Women's Basketball Powers Past Colgate 79-64 to Stay in Top Half of League Standings
2/19/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2011
Box Score |
Senior Night Photo Gallery 
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Cosima Higham (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) scored a season-high 22 points, two more Bison finished in double-digit scoring and Bucknell women's basketball shot better than 50 percent from the field, spurring them to 79-64 win over Colgate at Sojka Pavilion on Saturday night. The dominant offensive production on Senior Night kept the Orange and Blue tied for fourth place in the Patriot League standings with one week remaining in the regular season.
With its third consecutive win, Bucknell is 9-15 overall and 6-6 in the Patriot League. That league record puts them in a fourth-place tie with Army, which defeated Navy earlier in the day. The Bison are fighting for a top-four seed, which will give them home court advantage in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament on March 5. Only American has clinched a home game so far, defeating Holy Cross 73-62 on Saturday afternoon. Navy and Lehigh are currently tied for second and still in the hunt to host as well.
Higham did her best to keep her team in contention after she was recognized in Senior Night festivities along with Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) and Taylor Phillips (South Parkersburg, W. Va./Parkersburg South). Higham's 22 points came on 11 of 13 shooting (.846) and was accompanied by six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Novacek led all players with 10 rebounds, bringing her career total to 697 and moving her into ninth all-time at Bucknell. As a team, the Bison outrebounded the Raiders (7-19, 2-10) 45-24. The rebounding differential played a huge part in Bucknell's ability to get out in front early.
With a 27-10 advantage on the glass through the first half, the Orange and Blue had 16 second-chance points compared to just six for Colgate. Higham was responsible for many of those buckets as the Bison frequently got deep in the shot clock before being forced into a jumper. Higham cleaned up several misses and turned them into layups.
Bucknell's defense also helped to create some distance from its opponent. Colgate hit just one field goal in the final five minutes of the half, and the Bison ended the first frame on a 14-6 run.
At halftime, Bucknell led by a score of 39-27 on 48.4 percent shooting (15-for-31). Higham had 12 points after going 6-for-8 from the floor. Just behind her was Shelby Romine (Centreville, Va./Westfield), who had 11 points in the first half, most of which came from behind the 3-point arc. Romine finished the night 3-for-8 from 3-point distance. The freshman now has 44 made 3-pointers, ranking eighth all-time at Bucknell as the only rookie of the list.
Bucknell's offensive pace picked up as the game wore on and Higham got even sharper. She improved her scoring total to 22 points on 5-for-5 shooting.
The Bison never gave Colgate a chance to get back in the mix. Their 12-point lead at the half held steady for several minutes until a 7-0 Bucknell run gave the home team even more breathing room. Rachel Voss (Cincinnati, Ohio/Loveland) became the third Bison in double figures with an open jumper after breaking the press. The shot kicked off the run, giving Bucknell a 48-36 lead with 15 minutes to play. Three minutes later, the lead was up to 17 and never again dipped below 13 points for the remainder of the game.
Bucknell shot an impressive 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from the field in the second half, bringing their game percentage to 50.9 (27-for-53). The Bison have shot better than 50 percent three times this year and in two of their last three games. Bucknell was 56.9 percent from the field last Saturday vs. Holy Cross.
Their hot shooting has directly resulted in its longest winning streak since the 2008-09 season. The Bison have won three straight for the first time since defeating Holy Cross, Lafayette and Colgate in the second round of Patriot League play two years ago.
Joining Higham in her high scoring was Romine with 17 points and Voss with 10 at the final buzzer. Romine led the squad in assists with six. Felicia Mgbada (Edison, N.J./Blair Academy), Higham and Phillips each had two steals.
Colgate also had three players in double-digit scoring. Tayler Wejnert led with 17 points, followed by Jhazmine Lynch with 16 and Krista Moser with 12. Moser also had the team high in rebounds with six and shared the high in steals with Sami Kozlowski with five apiece. The Raiders finished the night with a 33.3 percent (21-for-63) field goal percentage.
Bucknell has a tough test in front of them for Wednesday. The Bison will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., for a 7 p.m. matchup with Lehigh.
