Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Maine
Bucknell Drops 77-47 Decision to Maine in First Round of WBI
3/19/2014 10:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BANGOR, Maine – The Bucknell women's basketball team concluded its 2013-14 campaign on Wednesday night, dropping a 77-47 decision to the University of Maine – Orono in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. The Bison, who returned to the postseason for the first time since 2008, finished their season with a 16-14 overall record, while the Black Bears improved to 17-14 overall and will play Fairfield in the second round of the tournament on Saturday.
Senior Shelby Romine, the program's fifth all-time leading scorer, led the Bison in scoring for one final time, tallying 15 points to bring her career total to 1,543. Junior Audrey Dotson contributed 14 points to Bucknell's offense, and both Dotson and freshman Sune Swart had six boards, leading the Bison on the glass.
The Black Bears were led by Liz Wood, who scored 21 points, hitting 8-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from long range. Mikaela Gustafsson chipped in 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Lauren Bodine and Ashleigh Roberts had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Bison found their way onto the board first, as Romine worked herself through traffic for a layup 15 seconds in, but the Black Bears responded with the first of seven three-pointers that they would drain in the opening half, putting Bucknell on the chase. Back-to-back shots from Dotson and Romine in the low-scoring, opening minutes would give the team a 6-5 lead with 15:28 to play, but Maine couldn't miss from beyond the arc, sinking another three-point shot to reclaim the advantage.
Freshman Claire DeBoer's crafty footwork in the paint knotted the score at 8-8 with 14:30 to play, and the squads exchanged three-pointers, including a beautiful shot from sophomore Claire Maree O'Bryan at the left wing, remaining tied at 11-11 with 13:55 on the clock. Another long-range shot from the Black Bears flipped the score in their favor however, and while Swart, who led the Bison with five rebounds in the first stanza, scored a second-chance basket to bring her squad within one, the home team remained just slightly ahead.
Freshman Megan McGurk halted a three-minute scoring drought with a three-pointer at 9:30, and Romine backed that up with another tricky layup, drawing the two teams even at 18-18. The Black Bears took the lead on a three-point play however, and wouldn't relinquish it for the rest of the stanza, outscoring the Bison 20-9 over the last nine minutes to take a 38-27 edge into the locker room at the half.
Bucknell hit 35.7 percent (10-of-28) of its shots in the opening 20 minutes, while Maine turned in a 40 percent (14-of-35) performance from the field, and both teams collected 20 boards. The Bison outscored the Black Bears in the paint, but the home team was hot from three, hitting 46.7 percent (7-of-15) of its attempts.
The Bison never panicked, having proven their ability to bounce back from a deficit on multiple occasions this season, but the Black Bears hit another three to open the stanza, proving that they would be tough to beat. Dotson went 1-for-1 from the line and drained a three from the top of the key, exemplifying the talent and fight in her squad, but a quick 9-0 scoring run put Maine up 52-31 with 13:51 on the clock.
O'Bryan sunk two from the line to bring Bucknell within 19 of the home squad, but the momentum had very clearly shifted in Maine's favor, and while the Bison continued to find ways to break through with tough plays, they couldn't come any closer as time ran out. Back-to-back layups by Dotson and Romine narrowed the gap to 61-41 with just under eight minutes to play, but the Black Bears outscored the Bison 16-6 through the final buzzer, advancing to the second round of the WBI with the 77-47 win.
Bucknell finished the game at 30.9 percent (17-of-55) shooting, including 40 percent (4-of-10) from long range and 75 percent (9-of-12) from the line, while Maine hit 49.2 percent (31-of-63) of its shots, buoyed by its 50 percent (12-of-24) effort from three-point distance. The Black Bears also held a 38-33 advantage on the glass in the contest.
