Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Youngstown State
Women's Basketball Falls at Hot-Shooting Youngstown State 69-54
11/25/2014 9:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Bucknell women's basketball team ran into an unbeaten Youngstown State team that that shot 53 percent from beyond the arc in a 69-54 loss at the Beeghly Center on Tuesday night.
The Penguins made nine of their first 14 3-point attempts and finished the game 9-for-17 as they shot their way to their fourth straight win to open the season. The Bison dropped to 2-2 following four straight games on the road.
Heidi Schlegel scored 14 points to lead a balanced attack for Youngstown State. Janae Jackson came off the bench to tally 13 points, while Latisha Walker and Indiya Benjamin scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Bucknell sophomore Claire DeBoer matched a career high with 15 rebounds, but the Bison shot just 37 percent from the floor. Juniors Tyler Craig and Claire Maree O'Bryan scored 10 points apiece, DeBoer and senior Audrey Dotson each added eight, and junior Sheaira Jones scored all of her season-high seven points in the first half.
Craig was efficient yet again, scoring her 10 points on six shots. She is averaging 10 points per game on 71 percent shooting for the season.
The Bison trailed by as much as 10 in the first half before battling back to get within one (26-25) on a jumper by DeBoer. But a 47-second stretch of mistakes erased much of the hard work they put in to close the gap.
Following two free throws by Janae Jackson that put Youngstown State up by three, Bucknell turned the ball over on an uncontested inbounds pass that went out of bounds. The Penguins took advantage of that error with a bucket to go up by five. The Bison missed an open layup at the other end and fouled Schlegel as she grabbed the rebound. Two free throws by Schlegel and a jumper by Jackson and the deficit was back to nine in less than a minute.
Freshman Carly Richardson gave Bucknell a positive ending to the half, hitting a shot with just seconds left on the clock to put the Bison down 36-29 at the break. Jackson, Schlegel and Benjamin combined for 27 of YSU's first-half points.
Despite the final score, it was still a game with less than four minutes to play as Bucknell cut the deficit to six (60-54) on a jumper in the paint by Craig. The Penguins went on a 9-0 run in the final 2:42 to notch their fourth consecutive double-digit win.
Bucknell will play four of its next five games at Sojka Pavilion, starting with the home opener against Cornell on Saturday at 2 p.m.
