Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army
Bucknell Women's Basketball Comeback Falls Short in 67-64 Loss to Army
1/7/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Rachel Voss (Cincinnati, Ohio/Loveland) scored a career-high 21 points, and Shelby Romine (Centreville, Va./Westfield) added another 17, but the duo's high-scoring efforts could not keep Bucknell women's basketball from its sixth straight loss as the Bison dropped a 67-64 decision to Army at Sojka Pavilion on Saturday night. Bucknell (2-14, 0-1 PL) shot better than 51 percent for the game and nearly came back from a 13-point second-half deficit. The Black Knights' Anna Simmers finished with 27 points for the win.
The Bison shot .512 (27-for-52) from the field against the Black Knights (7-9, 1-0 PL), including .591 (13-for-22) in the first half. Army put up equally impressive numbers, part of the reason for keeping Bucknell in check. The Black Knights closed things out at .521 (25-for-48) overall and .538 (14-for-26) in the first half.
Three-point shooting was also uncharacteristically high. Bucknell was .500 (5-for-10) for the game, including a .800 (4-for-5) success rate in the first half. At the break, the two teams had combined to shoot 11-for-15 from behind the arc. Army eventually finished the night at .571 (8-for-14) from 3-point range.
With the successful shooting came plenty of scoring. In a series where neither team has passed the 60-point mark in five years, the 131 combined points was the most in a Bucknell-Army game since Feb. 18, 2006 when the Black Knights claimed a 66-65 victory. It was also the first time the Bison had reached 60 points against any opponent since Feb. 19, 2011, ending a stretch of 19 games at fewer than 60 points.
Doing the bulk of that scoring were Voss, Romine and Felicia Mgbada (Edison, N.J./Blair Academy), who tied a season high with 12 points. The trio combined for 50 of the team's 64 points. Voss earned her second career 20-point performance, and the first since her freshman year, by shooting 9-for-13 (.692) from the field. She was also 2-for-3 from 3-point range.
At halftime, Voss had already claimed 13 points, equaling her season high mark. She and Romine were directly responsible for each of the team's first three scores on the night. Voss' 3-pointer, on an assist from Romine, gave Bucknell a 7-2 lead out of the gates.
While the Bison were shooting better than they had all season, the Black Knights kept pace thanks to Simmers and Jen Hazlett. Simmers and Hazlett accounted for Army's first 25 points. A third Black Knight did not get into the scoring column until 8:44 when Jessica Waggoner put in a layup off the offensive rebound.
Army outrebounded Bucknell 31-25 and held the Bison to eight offensive boards. The Black Knights doubled up the Bison on second-chance points, 14-7.
Army's 3-point shooting eventually gave it the lead late in the first half. Hazlett's three drew the Black Knights within one, 25-24 at the 5:29 mark. Another long-distance shot from the forward gave them their first lead shortly after, 28-25. After going up eight points at the break, Army continued to extend its lead into the second half. Another 3-pointer from Hazlett put the Black Knights in front 45-32 and capped off a 24-7 run for Army.
Hazlett ended the night with 19 points, which included a 4-for-8 performance from 3-point range. She also claimed a double-double with 12 boards.
Unwilling to call it quits, Bucknell countered with a 17-7 run. That brought the deficit down to three points with more than 10 minutes to play. Action continued to go back-and-forth for the rest of the game. The Bison's big scorers kept it interesting down the stretch. Mgbada had eight of her 12 points in the final 6:56, and Voss added another five. Alyssa Dunn (Mason, Ohio/Seven Hills School) was the only other Bison to score during that time, hitting the second of two free throws with :15 remaining.
After that missed free throw, Bucknell put Army on the foul line, the one place where it had been shaky throughout the game. With :13 left, Simmers hit the front end of a one-and-one but missed the second. Hazlett chased down the rebound and was rewarded with her own trip to the line. She was not as successful, missing the first attempt. Mgbada's rebound on Hazlett's miss was quickly pushed up the court, but Bucknell could not sink its final jump shot, falling 67-64.
Army finished the night .500 (9-for-18) from the free throw line. The team was .364 (4-for-11) in the second half.
Bucknell will attempt to collect its first Patriot League win of the season on Wednesday when it travels to Hamilton, N.Y. Tipoff against Colgate is set for 7 p.m.
