Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Basketball Releases 2014-15 Schedule
9/30/2014 4:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell women's basketball team has announced its complete 2014-15 schedule, which includes 13 home games and 16 road contests. The slate is highlighted by seven teams that played in postseason tournaments last season.
The schedule features a challenging road trip to open the season, as the Bison will travel to play Bowling Green on Nov. 14, and will head to Ann Arbor to play Michigan on Nov. 16. The Falcons, who advanced to the WNIT quarterfinals a year ago, finished 30-5 and won the MAC regular season title with a 17-1 record. The Wolverines were also in the WNIT after a 20-win season and a .500 mark in the Big Ten.
Other non-conference opponents for the Bison this season that appeared in last year's WNIT include Delaware and Mount St. Mary's. On the conference schedule, the Bison will play home/away series against defending Patriot League champion and NCAA Tournament qualifier Army, and against WNIT qualifiers American and Navy.
“In addition to some very tough regional games that we have on our non-conference slate, we went out and scheduled two of the top mid-major programs out there in Bowling Green and Delaware,” said Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell, who is entering his third season with the program. “That is a level that we aspire to be with our program, so these opportunities will give us a great first-hand look at what it will take to get there.
“We also wanted to give our players an experience of playing in a big-time atmosphere against a Power 5 school which we will get with our trip to play Michigan. It will also be a nice homecoming for sophomore Claire DeBoer. Hearing that our men's team will be playing in Ann Arbor the following day will provide a unique experience for Bucknell basketball against a storied Big Ten program.”
Following road games at Fairleigh Dickinson (Nov. 22) and Youngstown State (Nov. 25), Bucknell will play their home opener against Cornell on Nov. 29. It will be the 24th meeting all-time between the teams. The Big Red hold a sizeable advantage in the series record, but the Bison won last year's matchup in Ithaca, New York, 72-59.
Four days later Morgan State will make the trip to Sojka Pavilion, before the Bison travel to Newark to play Delaware on Dec. 7. The Blue Hens won 20 games last season and have won two of the last three titles in the Colonial Athletic Association.
The Bison will host UMBC on Dec. 9, and will then take a 10-day break for exams before welcoming Yale on Dec. 19. They follow that up with two road games sandwiched around the holiday season as they will play at Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 21 and at Binghamton on Dec. 28. Mount St. Mary's was a 19-game winner last season, including a 13-5 mark in the NEC.
Bucknell opens play in the Patriot League when it hosts American for a New Year's Eve tilt. The game, which is scheduled for a noon tipoff, is part of a women's/men's doubleheader at Sojka Pavilion.
“Our league has risen to one of the top mid-major conferences in the land – we were rated the No. 11 league in the country last year based on RPI - so we know we will be challenged in Patriot League play,” Rousell said.
Also of note on the conference portion of the schedule is a unique TV doubleheader against Army on Feb. 15. CBS Sports Network will broadcast the women's game at Bucknell at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at Army at 4 p.m.
The conference slate includes two games against all nine opponents. The Bison wrap up the regular season at American on Feb. 28. The Patriot League Tournament begins with the opening round on March 4, and concludes March 14 with the championship game, which will air live on CBS Sports Network.
