Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Bucknell Women's Basketball Suffers 70-53 Loss at Holy Cross
1/21/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2012
WORCESTER, Mass. - Twenty unanswered first-half points turned out to be the run Holy Cross needed to earn a 70-53 win over Bucknell women's basketball at the Hart Center on Saturday afternoon. Rachel Voss(Cincinnati, Ohio/Loveland) kick started the Bison offense and eventually finished the day with a team-best 17 points, but it was not enough to overcome the slow start.
Things could hardly have gotten off to a rockier start for the Bison (2-18, 0-5 PL). Although Bucknell scored first, its offense all but stopped for the next 10 minutes when Holy Cross (12-9, 3-2 PL) went on a 20-0 run. The Crusaders got production from just about everyone offensively as eight different players scored and Amy Lepley led the group with four points during that stretch.
Bucknell struggled with turnovers and found it difficult to get any kind of shot off. Nine minutes into play and the Bison had already amassed seven turnovers. The Crusaders capitalized on several of those opportunities, scoring 10 points off miscues. Even when Bucknell did get its shots off, Holy Cross turned rebounds into fast break opportunities, often leaking players past the defense and getting the easy layup. At the half, the Crusaders had 16 points on the fast break compared to two for the Bison.
Bucknell finally recovered from the scoreless streak thanks to Voss, who tallied nine straight points and ended a 10-minute drought. The Bison then out-scored the Crusaders 20-19 for the rest of the half and went into the break trailing 39-22.
Despite the progress they made at the end of the first half, the Bison had a hard time sustaining their momentum in the second. Meredith Ward hit a pair of quick jumpers and the Crusaders added a few more 3-pointers to extend their lead to more than 20.
Bucknell tried to make up some ground by driving to the basket more often. Shelby Romine (Centreville, Va./Westfield) made three trips to the free throw line early in the second half and Alyssa Dunn(Mason, Ohio/Seven Hills School) joined in as play wore on. The Bison were 12-for-17 (.706) from the line in the second half and 14-for-19 (.737) for the game.
Dunn also found success on a jumper in the paint. Lindsay Horbatuck(Avon, Conn./Avon), who spent much of the first half on the bench with two fouls, also found the bottom of the net on some hard-earned layups, but the deficit was just too big to overcome.
Bucknell also made some headway in the turnover department. The Bison committed just nine in the second half, down from 11 in the first. Holy Cross ultimately ended with 21 turnovers, 14 of which came in the second. That gave the Bison 23 points off miscues for the game, while the Crusaders managed 18.
Shooting percentage went the Crusaders' way from just about every range. Holy Cross ended the game at .547 (29-for-53) from the floor. They were also .571 (4-for-7) from 3-point range and .615 (8-for-13) from the line. Bucknell came in at .327 (18-for-55) from the floor and .375 (3-for-8) from behind the arc.
Voss' 17 points came on 7 of 15 shooting from the floor. She was also 2-for-3 from the free throw line. Dunn added 10 points and Romine tallied eight as well. Horbatuck grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.
For Holy Cross, Alex Smith led with 14 points, while Lepley added 12 and Brisje Malone had 10. Emily Parker totaled seven rebounds as the Crusaders out-rebounded the Bison 35-31 overall.
Bucknell's next contest will also be on the road. The Bison will head to Washington, D.C., for a 7 p.m. game against American on Wednesday.
