Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Opens Women's Basketball Season Friday at Cleveland State
11/12/2015 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
What: Bucknell (0-0, 0-0 PL) at Cleveland State (0-0, 0-0 Horizon)
Where: Wolstein Center (8,500) – Cleveland, Ohio
When: Friday, Nov. 13 – 7 p.m.
Webcast: ESPN3
Radio: WVBU-FM 90.5
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: CSUVikings.com
Storylines
• Bucknell opens its 43rd season and the fourth under the direction of Aaron Roussell when it travels to play Cleveland State on Friday at 7 p.m.
• The Vikings, a WNIT participant last season, are one of five teams on Bucknell's schedule that competed in postseason tournaments last year.
• Roussell seeks his 50th win as head coach of the Bison. He has 210 during his coaching career, including 161 at the University of Chicago.
With a Victory Over Cleveland State, Bucknell Would...
• Improve to 50-42 in Aaron Roussell's four years as head coach.
• Improve to 19-24 all-time in season-opening games.
• Improve to 2-2 in season-opening games with Roussell.
• Improve to 2-1 in the all-time series with Cleveland State.
• Improve to 4-9 against current members of the Horizon League.
• Improve to 23-15 against non-conference opponents with Roussell
How to Get the Game
• Friday night's game can be seen on ESPN3 by logging on to watchespn.com.
• The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on BVUB-FM 90.5 and online via BucknellBison.com, with Justin Antweil calling the action. The pregame show begins 15 minutes before tip-off.
• Live stats can be accessed at CSUVikings.com.
Series Notes
• Bucknell and Cleveland State have played just twice in program history.
• The Vikings won the first meeting 66-64 in 1999.
• The teams haven't played since 2001, with the Bison winning 82-74 in the most recent meeting
Bison Picked Fourth in Patriot League Preseason Poll
• Bucknell received one first-place vote and was picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League in a preseason vote of the conference's coaches and sports information directors.
• Army West Point, led by two-time Patriot League Player of the Year Kelsey Minato, picked up 13 first-place votes and was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the league title.
• Five teams earned at least one first-place vote.
• Defending champion American was tabbed fifth.
DeBoer Voted to Preseason All-Patriot League Team
• Junior forward Claire DeBoer was voted to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, giving the Bison a preseason honor for the second straight season. Audrey Dotson, now graduated, was picked to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team last year.
• DeBoer has 633 points (10.6 ppg) and 429 rebounds (7.2 rpg) through her first two seasons. She has added 122 assists, 53 steals and 21 blocks, while shooting 71 percent from the foul line. She garnered Second Team All-Patriot League honors as a sophomore.
• DeBoer is capable of posting a double-double on any given night. She has nine during her career.
• Joining DeBoer on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team were Army West Point's Kelsey Minato, Holy Cross's Raquel Scott, Lehigh's Lexi Martins, and Loyola's Colleen Marshall.
• Minato was voted the Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year.
Streaks of Note
• Claire DeBoer - 13 straight games with an assist
• Sheaira Jones - Has made 10 straight free throws dating back to last season
• Jacquie Klotz - Eight straight games with at least five rebounds
• Megan McGurk - 60 straight starts
Bucknell History vs. the Horizon League
• Bucknell is 3-9 against current members of the Horizon League.
• The Bison have played just three teams from the conference, including Cleveland State. They have also played nine games against Youngstown State, which they will play again later this season, and one game against UIC.
Bucknell vs. Current Horizon League Members
Team Record Last Meeting
Cleveland State 1-1 1/3/01 (Bucknell, 82-74)
UIC 0-1 12/28/07 (UIC, 70-62)
Youngstown State 2-7 11/25/14 (Youngstown State, 69-54)
Up Next
• Bucknell follows the season-opening game at Cleveland State with its most challenging opponent of the season as it travels to Indiana to play No. 3 Notre Dame on Sunday.
Bucknell has thrived on its proven ability to bring in and develop talented young players during the Aaron Roussell coaching era. The Bison will have three players that have combined to win the past two Patriot League Rookie of the Year awards and three All-Rookie honors, as well as yet another highly decorated recruiting class as they set their sights on the 2015-16 season.
The aforementioned group of players will combine with a three-player senior class — Tyler Craig, Sheaira Jones, and Claire Maree O'Bryan — that boasts three years of significant regular season and postseason experience. The trio will serve as team captains this season, hoping to lead the Bison to a run through a challenging Patriot League Tournament.
“We've been building this program for the past three years and we've continued to get better,” Roussell said. “We have a good balance among the classes and are poised and prepared to make a run at the Patriot League title, but there are a lot of good teams in the league. I think you're going to see some good teams that may not have a good year as far as their record because of the strength of the competition.
“I think the breakdown of the voting in our preseason poll says a lot,” Roussell continued. “A lot of teams received votes in the top half of the standings, five teams had at least one first-place vote, and the defending champion in our league was picked fifth. That's not a negative about American — they could easily win it again — but more of a positive about our league.”
Junior Claire DeBoer and sophomore Jacquie Klotz have won the past two Patriot League Rookie of the Year awards for Bucknell. DeBoer added Second Team All-Patriot League honors last season and was voted to the Preseason All-League team entering this season. DeBoer, a post player with a variety of moves in the paint, is well on her way to a 1,000-point career and could very well reach the milestone in rebounds. Through two seasons, she has scored 633 points and pulled down 429 rebounds, posting averages of 10.6 and 7.2, respectively.
After missing a chunk of the preseason and the first four games, it took some time to meld Klotz into the lineup, but once everything clicked, she became the team's top offensive threat. She played 30-plus minutes in each of the final seven games, averaging 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds during that stretch. She reached double-figures in scoring eight times and showed her versatility as a 6-0 guard with four games with double-digit rebounds and three double-doubles. She finished the year averaging 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, while earning four Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors and one Player of the Week nod.
“Claire and Jacquie certainly took advantage of their opportunities,” Roussell said. “We are excited again about our freshman class. We aren't going to rely on them, but with 14 players and five of them being freshmen, they are going to have to contribute.”
Megan McGurk is another one of the players who immediately stepped in with contributions. Now in her junior season, she was voted to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team in her first year, and was on the floor more than any player on the team last year as a sophomore. The point guard was relied on in nearly every part of the game, but was particularly valued for her ability to get the ball up the floor.
“We struggled in transition a little last year, especially when Ty got hurt,” Roussell said. “Megan had to play a lot of minutes, which probably was a detriment to her. I think she can be one of the top point guards in this league, and we are hoping freshman Kyi English can take some of the pressure off of her. Kyi is a player who can come off the bench and help wear down the other team's defense.”
Despite all three of the returning seniors either missing time or playing through injuries last year, Bucknell still managed to finish 18-12 overall and 10-8 in the Patriot League, good enough for fourth place and a home game in the quarterfinal round of the league tournament. All three have the ability to help the Bison find success in their final season.
Jones, a guard, is one of the team's top defenders. She averaged 5.3 points and 2.2 rebounds and hit 16 of the team's program record 151 3-pointers. Jones shot 71 percent from the foul line, including a streak of 10 straight to end the season.
Craig started in 17 of the 19 games she played, missing the other 11 contests due to an injury. As Roussell mentioned, her absence was felt in a variety of ways. A leader on the floor, she averaged 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds, including a career-high 14 points in an overtime win at Fairleigh Dickinson.
O'Bryan was a big factor in the team's record-setting season from long range. She hit 33 of the team's 3-pointers, the 13th most in the Patriot League, and scored in double figures 10 times. She closed her junior season with averages of 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds.
Roussell said the team will need to shoot well from beyond the arc this season to prevent teams from clogging the paint around DeBoer. Over the past two seasons she has had the luxury of playing alongside 1,000-point scorer Audrey Dotson, giving the Bison a dual threat inside. With Dotson's graduation, Roussell will look to veteran Sune Swart, sophomore Catherine Romaine, and two freshmen, including Kaitlyn Slagus, to step up. Swart provided the Bison with a spark on defense when she would come off the bench last year, but has the ability to do more after a strong offseason working with assistant coach Mike Lane.
Romaine, as well as Carly Richardson, will look to make strides after solid rookie seasons. Richardson showed signs of her offensive ability last year, including 10 points in a win at Bowling Green in her collegiate debut.
Bucknell will prepare for its league schedule with a tough non-conference slate, including a season-opening road trip to returning WNIT qualifier Cleveland State on Nov. 13, and national power Notre Dame on Nov. 15. Also included on the schedule is a home game against WNIT qualifier Youngstown State and a women's and men's doubleheader at Manhattan.
“We've tried to put together a challenging non-conference schedule and wanted to go on the road to some tough environments to get that experience,” said Roussell, who also made note of the game at Canisius on Nov. 29. “We want to be prepared for our conference opponents and we think we have scheduled schools that will parallel the Patriot League teams.”
Following the two road games to open the season, Bucknell will host Binghamton in its home opener at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
