Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
St. Peter's
Romine Scores 29 to Spark Bucknell Women's Basketball to 69-62 Overtime Win at Saint Peter's
12/22/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2012
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Bucknell women's basketball had an 11-point lead at halftime but needed overtime to claim its seventh win of the season as it defeated Saint Peter's 69-62 at the Yanitelli Center on Saturday evening. Shelby Romine (Centreville, Va./Westfield) finished with a career-high 29 points, 10 of which came in the extra period, to go along with her first career double-double. Audrey Dotson (Vienna, Va./Flint Hill School) and Lindsay Horbatuck (Avon, Conn./Avon) also registered double-doubles as the Bison improve to 7-4 on the year.
After leading Saint Peter's (0-9) at halftime by a score of 33-22, Bucknell found itself in a couple of tight spots as the game wore on. The Peacocks got the lead down to four points, 41-37, at the 13:55 mark and forced the Bison into a timeout. The break turned out to be a good one. After some early Bucknell turnovers, the tables turned and Saint Peter's began committing its own miscues and allowed the Bison to create some distance from their opponent again. Bucknell went on a 10-2 run that got its lead back up to 51-39 with less than 10 minutes to play.
Even that was short-lived, however. Bucknell's long-range shooting was not as successful as it had been in the first half, but Saint Peter's improved. While the Bison benefitted from some looks in the paint for the first time of the night, the Peacocks picked up steam from behind the 3-point arc. Bucknell had gotten its lead back up to double digits before Saint Peter's started hitting its jumpers again. With 5:55 to go in regulation, Antonia Smith hit a three from the corner to bring her team back within four points at 51-47.
A few minutes later, Kristal Edwards hit a jumper to tie the game at 53-53, the first tie since early in the first half. The Peacocks were never able to take the lead, but they did the next best thing by tying it at 55-55 at the end of regulation and forcing overtime.
Saint Peter's struck first in the extra period but it was Bucknell, and especially Romine, that struck most often. After struggling with free throws in regulation, the Bison righted things at the line and went 8-for-9 (.889). Romine alone was 4-for-4, bringing her overtime scoring total to 10 points. She ultimately accounted for 10 of Bucknell's 14 points in OT.
Bucknell was 3-for-5 (.600) from the field in overtime while Saint Peter's was 2-for-8 (.250). No Peacock had more than three points in overtime.
Romine finished the night shooting 10-for-20 (.500) from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Her 29 points and 12 rebounds were both career highs. She also tallied four assists, most of which came after halftime.
Not the only Bison to finish with a double-double, Romine was joined by Horbatuck with 11 points and 11 rebounds as well as Dotson with 13 points and 13 rebounds. It was Horbatuck's 11th career double-double and Dotson's second.
The speed of play in the first half fluctuated between frenzied and nearly stalled. The first few minutes saw several quick trips up and down the court but not a lot of scoring. At the first media timeout, Bucknell had the lead, although the scoreboard read just 5-2.
Offense for both teams eventually picked up and, with the paint jammed up with zone defense, it was all coming from outside as the game approached halftime. Although Dotson cashed in on a three-point play after getting fouled on a layup, the next three field goals for the Bison were all 3-pointers. Romine sandwiched her long buckets around another from Katherine Harris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) and gave Bucknell the 26-18 advantage with 3:39 to play until the break.
With that basket at just under four minutes, Romine upped her scoring total to 11 points. The junior had already grabbed 10 rebounds, giving her the first double-double of her career with more than 23 minutes remaining.
Bucknell's shooting percentage through the first half was not its best of the year, even from behind the arc, as it headed to the locker room shooting .333 (11-13) from the field overall and .385 (5-13) from 3-point range. Those threes often came at opportune moments, however, keeping Saint Peter's from really making a move.
The Peacocks entered halftime shooting .333 (9-27) as well. They improved to .500 (13-26) in the second half to spark their comeback, while the Bison were at .321 (9-28) from the field in the second.
Edwards led Saint Peter's with 20 points, 15 of which came after the first half. Jesika Holmes had the team high in rebounds with 11. As a team, the Bison outrebounded the Peacocks 50-35.
Bucknell is now 1-1 in overtime games this season. The Bison previously lost to Penn 58-53 on Dec. 3. By hanging on down the stretch, Bucknell has reached seven victories in 11 games or less for the sixth time in program history and the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Bucknell will now have a brief break for the holidays. It will return to action on Dec. 29 when it takes on Youngstown State in Youngstown, Ohio. Tip off is slated for 4:30 p.m.
