Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Binghamton
Dotson Registers 1,000th Point in Bison's 68-57 Win at Binghamton
12/28/2014 4:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
VESTAL, N.Y. – Senior Audrey Dotson scored the 1,000th point of her career and Bucknell women's basketball head coach Aaron Roussell picked up his 200th career win on Sunday as the Bison went on the road to post a 68-57 win over Binghamton. Claire DeBoer scored 16 points to lead the Bison to their fourth straight win.
Dotson entered the game needing 12 points to become the 21st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. She was fouled with five seconds left in the game and hit one of her two free throws to finish the game with exactly 1,000 career points.
“She deserves it. She has worked incredibly hard,” Roussell said of Dotson's milestone achievement. “She has improved leaps and bounds and has been a great leader for us. It's a great accomplishment.”
Roussell upped his record at Bucknell to 39-33, including an 8-3 mark this season. Prior to joining the Bison, Roussell coached for eight seasons at the University of Chicago, where he posted a record of 161-50.
Bucknell's previous four wins had come by an average of 25 points and it looked early on as if Sunday's game would be another blowout. The Bison made three of their first four shots from beyond the arc, including two by junior Claire Maree O'Bryan, and jumped out to a 17-4 lead.
The Bearcats started the game 1-for-10 from the field before turning things around following the first media timeout. They made eight of their next 13 shots, including a 6-for-7 mark by senior Sherae Swinson, and eventually took a 27-26 lead with 5:28 left in the half. Swinson scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in a span of just over five minutes.
The lead, the only one of the game for Binghamton, lasted just 25 seconds before Dotson put Bucknell back up one with a jumper. The Bison would take a 36-34 lead into halftime.
The Bison opened the second half with an 8-0 run to up their lead to double digits (54-44). O'Bryan again sparked the hot start to the half, hitting two more 3-pointers. She tallied 12 points in the game.
Bucknell entered the game ranked third in the country in opponents' field goal percentage. It held Binghamton to 32 percent shooting. Imani Watkins, the Bearcats' leading scorer at 17 points per game, scored nine points on 2-of-15 shooting.
Both DeBoer and Dotson had outstanding all-around games for the Bison. DeBoer added six rebounds and six assists to her 16 points, while Dotson added eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. O'Bryan finished with seven boards and two blocks.
Senior Micki Impellizeri provided Bucknell with a huge spark off the bench, especially in the second half. In 16 minutes on the floor, she scored seven points, had eight rebounds and blocked two shots. She made her only two shots from the field and drained all three of her free throws.
With two forwards in DeBoer and Dotson leading the way with a combined 11 assists, the Bison registered 17 assists on their 23 field goals. They also won the rebounding battle for the ninth time in 10 games, pulling down 47 boards to 38 for the Bearcats.
Sunday marked the end of the non-conference portion of the schedule for the Bison. They will open Patriot League play with a home game against American on Wednesday.
