Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Romine Scores 26 in Bucknell Women's Basketball's 65-54 Comeback Win at Lafayette
2/11/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2012
EASTON, Pa. - Bucknell women's basketball trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half before outscoring Lafayette by 25 for the rest of the game, claiming a 65-54 win at the Kirby Sports Center on Saturday afternoon. The comeback effort gave the Bison (4-21, 2-8 PL) their first win this season in a game in which they trailed at halftime. Lifting Bucknell to their second consecutive victory was a 26-point performance from Shelby Romine (Centreville, Va./Westfield) and another double-double from Lindsay Horbatuck (Avon, Conn./Avon).
With 7:50 remaining in the first half, Lafayette (8-17, 2-8 PL) hit a jumper to take a 23-9 lead. The Leopards' progress throughout the first half had come largely in the paint. Eight of their first 10 points came on the interior with the other two coming from the free throw line on a layup attempt from Emily Homan.
Bucknell struggled with the Lafayette zone defense early and was forced to settle for jump shots that wouldn't drop. The Bison eventually broke the code, however, and went on a 10-3 run that set the tone for the rest of the game. After trailing by 14 points at 7:50, they drew to within four points at halftime.
After Bucknell's adjustments, Lafayette led by just 33-29 at the break as play had started to even out. The Bison had a 16-14 advantage in rebounds and had drawn to within 18-14 in points in the paint. Both teams were shooting 13-for-28 (.464) from the field.
Those adjustments continued to pay off into the second half when it quickly gained its first lead since 3-0. Horbatuck completed a three-point play to put the Bison up 34-33 just two minutes after play resumed. The teams continued to swap the lead for the next few minutes, but Bucknell soon gained control for good.
The Bison's game plan started clicking on both ends of the court. Their defense neutralized Lafayette's inside game. After scoring 16 points in the first half, Homan was limited to eight in the second, with only four of them coming from the field. The Leopards also went more than eight minutes without a field goal, a drought that was only snapped at 6:31. By that point, Bucknell held a 53-41 lead.
Offensively Bucknell had found its stroke. The Bison got better looks inside, jumpers began to fall and, after shooting just 1-for-2 from the free throw line in the first half, they went 14-for-15 in the second. Romine alone was 10-for-11 in the second half and 11-for-13 on the day. The sophomore guard closed out the game shooting 6-for-10 from the floor, including a 3-for-4 clip from 3-point range.
Romine also finished with five assists and only one turnover. Christina Chukwuedo (Monessen, Pa./Monessen) led all players with six assists.
Horbatuck also saw her options open up in the second half. After a relatively quiet beginning, the junior finished with fifth double-double of the season, totaling 11 points and 10 rebounds. Seven of those boards came in the second half and helped Bucknell win the team battle 37-29. Horbatuck also had three steals.
Bucknell finished the day shooting .418 (23-for-55) from the floor, while Lafayette was .404 (21-for-52).
Just as it did with its victory over Colgate on Wednesday, Bucknell cleared some hurdles with Saturday's 11-point win over Lafayette. The Bison have now won back-to-back contests for the first time since the end of last season and have claimed their first road win of the winter.
Bucknell will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 15 when it heads to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on Lehigh at 7 p.m.
