Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball Hosts Navy to Complete Round One of Patriot League Play
1/27/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2012
| Bucknell (2-19, 0-6 PL) vs. Navy (10-10, 3-3 PL) Women's Basketball |
| WHERE: Lewisburg, Pa., Sojka Pavilion |
| WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. |
| RADIO: WVBU 90.5 FM and SportsJuice.com |
STREAMING VIDEO: BucknellBison.com  |
LIVE STATISTICS: BucknellBison.com  |
COMPLETE GAME NOTES  |
ABOUT THE GAME
The first round of Patriot League play is nearly upon us. Bucknell will complete the first cycle of conference action when it hosts Navy at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Sojka Pavilion. In addition to the game, Bucknell will be celebrating National Girls & Women in Sports Day with a free skills clinic earlier in the evening. The Bison's annual Alumni Game is also set for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Fans can catch all the action - live stats, streaming video and online audio - at BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com. Live audio, with Kevin Foedinger doing the play-by-play duties, can also be found on WVBU 90.5 FM.
WITH A VICTORY OVER NAVY, BUCKNELL WOULD...
• Snap its current 11-game losing streak.
• End a six-game losing streak to the Midshipmen, the longest in the series.
• Earn its first win since defeating Fordham on Dec. 6.
• Earn its first Patriot League win of the season.
• Improve to 14-8 over the Mids when playing at home.
• Hand the Mids their first set of back-to-back losses in Patriot League play this season.
QUICK FACTS
• Shelby Romine became the first current Bison to 500 career points when the Bison played Yale on Jan. 3. She is currently at 567. Rachel Voss is looking to be the second to 500 and is currently at 480 points.
• Of Lindsay Horbatuck's 392 career rebounds, 44.1 percent (168) are off the offensive glass.
• Lindsay Horbatuck leads the Patriot League in free throw shooting with a 17-for-18 (.944) mark in conference games this winter.
• Bucknell's current 11-game losing streak is the third-longest single-season streak in program history.
• Bill Broderick debuted as Bucknell's head coach Jan. 14 vs. Lafayette.
• Rachel Voss was named the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week on Jan. 9. Lindsay Horbatuck also claimed the award on Dec. 13. It is the first time two women's basketball players have been named a Bison Athlete of the Week in the same season since 2007-08.
• Bucknell has scored more points off turnovers than its opponent in four games this year - vs. NJIT (17-7), Fordham (11-6), Yale (27-21), Holy Cross (23-18).
• 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 NAVY - MARCH 9, 2011
• Patriot League Tournament Semifinals: Navy 55, Bucknell 41 (Alumni Hall)
• Felicia Mgbada erupted in the second half, scoring a career-high 19 points, but the offensive outbreak did little to keep Bucknell's season alive as the No. 4 Bison fell to top-seeded Navy. Bucknell ended its season with an 11-17 overall record.
• Lackadaisical offense and difficulties on defense spelled the end of Bucknell's season. Navy got the shots it wanted throughout the opening half. Even when those shots weren't quite falling, the Mids maintained control of the action. Navy went on an 11-1 run midway through the first half, working its lead to 21-7 with five minutes to play. A free throw from Taylor Phillips was the only dent the Bison made in the score during an eight-minute stretch.
• It took more than 16 minutes for the Bison to reach eight points in the first half, but the scoring came more easily in the second as Bucknell hit eight before the first media timeout. Soon after Bucknell's hot start, the Navy of old returned and clamped down on any hopes of a comeback. Without much warning, the Mids' lead was up to 41-27.
• Navy advanced to take on American in the Patriot League Championship game and eventually ended up with the tournament title.
HISTORY VS. NAVY
• Bucknell leads Navy in the all-time series, 27-21. The Midshipmen have won each of the last six meetings, but the Bison were the victors in each of the previous nine.
• In their most recent winning streak, the Bison were outscoring the Mids by more than 18 points. The tides have turned, however, and in Navy's six wins since then, Bucknell is being outscored by 14.7 points per game. The Mids have also won the last three meetings at Alumni Hall by an average of 21.7 points.
• During its current six-game skid to Navy, Bucknell has placed at least three players in double-figure scoring just once. Amanda Brown (20 points), Cosima Higham (13) and Lauren Schober (12) were the high-scoring trio on March 7, 2009, which was the first loss in the streak. The Bison put at least three players in double-figure scoring in seven of the previous nine games, all of which put a notch in Bucknell's wins column.
• Bucknell has a 3-2 edge over Navy in the postseason. Both losses came in the last two meetings, however, in 2009 (53-51) and 2011 (55-41).
• Bucknell's 79 points against Navy in the 2003 Patriot League quarterfinals is the fourth-most for the Bison in a tournament game. Bucknell also set its tournament record in free throws made with 35 as a team (on a record 47 attempts), while Molly Creamer shot 18-for-22 from the line. Her 18 made free throws was a school record until last season when Shelby Romine went 19-for-21 at Colgate. The Orange and Blue won the contest vs. the Mids, 79-69 in overtime.
• Recent Results:
Jan. 8, 2010: Navy, 70-40
Feb. 6, 2010: Navy, 61-46
Jan. 8, 2011: Navy, 62-56
Feb. 5, 2011: Navy, 66-45
March 9, 2011: Navy, 55-41 (PL Tournament Semifinals)
ABOUT THE MIDSHIPMEN
Navy has had its share of ups and downs in Patriot League play. The Mids have alternated wins and losses, taking victories over Lafayette (60-55), Army (58-56) and Colgate (61-52) but losing to Holy Cross (55-38), American (49-44) and most recently Lehigh (50-46). Navy and Bucknell's common opponents from earlier in the season include Mount St. Mary's, Fordham and NJIT. The Highlanders were the only among that trio that that the Midshipmen were able to upend, 67-51.
The third-ranked team in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, Navy returns from its 2011 NCAA Tournament appearance with Jade Geif back on its roster. Geif was voted the league's Rookie of the Year at the end of last season and then was selected the Preseason Player of the Year this fall. The forward leads the Midshipmen in scoring (10.6) and rebounding (8.1) this season. Stefanie Pemper is also the reigning Patriot League Coach of the Year.
HORBATUCK DOUBLES IT UP ... AGAIN
Lindsay Horbatuck recorded her fourth double-double of the season when she posted 11 points and 10 rebounds at American on Wednesday night. The junior also has double-doubles against Fordham, Colgate and American this winter. Of her six career double-doubles, only one has played out at Sojka Pavilion, a 12 point-14 rebound performance against Fordham on Dec. 6.
CAREER SCORING IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Nearly every Bison has improved her career Patriot League scoring average over the last six games. Alyssa Dunn has seen the most improvement, going from 2.2 points per game entering the season to her current 3.3 scoring average. Only Shelby Romine and Shelby Trotter have seen a dip in their averages, although Romine leads Bucknell in scoring during league play this winter with 10.5 points per game.
PATRIOT LEAGUE CAREER SCORING AVERAGES
|
Following |
Current Career Average |
|
| Christina Chukwuedo | 2.4 ppg | 2.5 ppg |
| Alyssa Dunn | 2.2 | 3.3 |
| Lindsay Horbatuck | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Felicia Mgbada | 4.0 | 4.4 |
| Rachel Voss | 5.9 | 6.7 |
| Shelby Romine | 12.4 | 11.8 |
| Shelby Trotter | 0.9 | 0.6 |
THREES FROM UNLIKELY PLACES
Three Bison have tallied 3-point field goals during Patriot League play - Shelby Romine (10-for-32), Rachel Voss (4-for-7) and Jen Heider (2-for-2). Romine is the only guard in that trio since Voss made the transition to playing primarily forward last season. As a team, Bucknell is 16-for-48 (.333) from behind the 3-point arc.
BIG SCORES FOR VOSS
With 11 points at American on Wednesday, Rachel Voss shared the team lead in scoring with Lindsay Horbatuck. Combined with her 17 points at Holy Cross on Jan. 21, Voss has now at least a piece of the team high in scoring in back-to-back games. It is just the third time this season, and the first time in Patriot League play, that the same Bison has led the team in scoring in two consecutive games.
TRAILING EARLY
Bucknell was never able to gain a lead against American on Wednesday. It was the fifth game this season, but just the second time on the road, that the Bison trailed the entire 40 minutes. Bucknell also went without a lead against Morgan State, Canisius, Cornell and Penn State this winter.
MISCUES ADDING UP
Bucknell outscored Holy Cross 23-18 on points off turnovers on Jan. 21. While the Bison hoped that might be the start of a trend, things did not continue on that route at American in the next game on Jan. 25. The Eagles took a 38-8 advantage on points off turnovers as the Bison turned the ball over a season-high 33 times.
NATIONAL GIRLS & WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY
Bucknell is celebrating National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Saturday. Prior to the women's basketball team's matchup with Navy, the Bison will host a free skills clinic in Davis Gym at 5 p.m. Open to all students in sixth through eighth grade, the clinic will feature instruction from Bucknell student-athletes in field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, rowing and volleyball. Participants can register at Davis Gym the day of the clinic or ahead of time by emailing NGWSD@bucknell.edu. Participants will receive a free t-shirt, free tickets for the student and one adult to the Bison vs. Midshipmen game that night, and a food voucher for the concession stand at the game.
UP NEXT
Bucknell will have a rare Wednesday off, then return to action on Saturday, Feb. 4 when it makes the trip to Army. The Black Knights earned the win in the first round of Patriot League play, a 67-64 decision at Sojka Pavilion in early January.
