Women's Basketball Knocks Off Top-Ranked Mid-Major Quinnipiac, 75-58

Sunday, November 11

Lewisburg, Pa.

4 p.m.

Bucknell University

Quinnipiac

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Quinnipiac	21	16	6	15	58
Bucknell	21	17	25	12	75

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Women's Basketball Knocks Off Top-Ranked Mid-Major Quinnipiac, 75-58

11/11/2018 6:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Kyi English Had a Career-High Eight Assists in the Win

LEWISBURG, Pa – A 22-0 run sandwiched around halftime catapulted the Bucknell women's basketball team to a 75-58 win over Quinnipiac, the top-ranked mid-major program in the country, on Sunday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison outscored the Bobcats 25-6 in the third quarter and led by as many as 23 points early in the fourth quarter. The senior trio of Kaitlyn Slagus, Kate Walker and Kyi English combined for 40 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists and six steals in the victory.

"This was a great mid-major basketball game," Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell said. "I think I would say that no matter how the game ended up today. We thought these were two evenly matched teams, with all due respect to everything they have done. Because they've done things at a completely different level than any other mid-major school over the last few years."

The Bison entered the season ranked 16^th in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 and solid all-around play helped them to the victory over the top-ranked Bobcats. Bucknell's defense held Quinnipiac to 34.4 percent shooting in the contest, including just 28 percent (14-for-50) after the first quarter and 1-for-13 in the third stanza. The Bison offense shot a solid 43.1 percent (22-for-51), despite making only one field goal in the fourth quarter. Bucknell shared the ball well, recording 14 assists on 22 field goals, and took care of business at the foul line, sinking 22 out of 26 free throws (84.6%). The Orange and Blue also played well in transition, scoring 11 fast-break points while the Bobcats were held scoreless.

Slagus notched her second straight double-double to start the season, scoring 15 points and adding 14 rebounds. English had 12 points and career-highs with eight assists and four steals. English had five assists in the third quarter, helping to facilitate the Orange and Blue's best offensive stretch of the contest. Walker added 13 points, three assists and two steals, while Ellie Mack had 11 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Freshman Marly Walls provided a couple of highlight drives to close out the first quarter and helped give the Bison a 38-37 lead at halftime. Walls completed back-to-back three-point plays on strong drives to the bucket. She finished with 10 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Abby Kapp spent much of the game in a battle on the defensive end with Quinnipiac's Aryn McClure, the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year. McClure scored 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists, but had few easy looks. Kapp had three steals to go along with eight points and three rebounds before fouling out late in the contest.

"Kyi really set the tone for this game," Roussell said. "That was the best two days of practice before this game that she has had in her four years here. She carried that over into the game and was able to get them on their heels. Then Marly came in and was able to continue that."

Quinnipiac led 37-30 just prior to Bucknell's big run. That followed an exciting and well-played first quarter by both teams that ended in a 21-21 tie. Walker. The Bobcats' seven-point in the second quarter lasted until Kate Walker scored on a layup. Walls then followed with her two big offensive plays to give the Bison the lead going into the break.

"When they went up seven that could have gone a couple different ways," Roussell said. "But basketball is a game of runs and we felt good enough about our offense that we were going to make some runs. We've really put a lot of time and work into our shots and that showed today."

Bucknell scored the first 14 points of the third quarter starting with a free throw by English and a bucket by Mack. That was the beginning of a stretch where the Bison scored on six straight possessions. Slagus hit a 3-pointer to put her team up seven, Walker followed with a trey to make it a double-digit lead, and Slagus drained another shot from long range to make it 13. English closed the huge run with a jumper in the paint.

One game after totaling 15 steals in a 70-32 win over Monmouth, Bucknell tallied 10 against Quinnipiac. Walker has seven steals through the first two games of the season.

The Bobcats, who have won three NCAA Tournament games over the past two seasons, entered the game with a 20-game regular season winning streak. They were receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Bucknell's next game is against another tough mid-major opponent as the Bison go on the road to play Drexel on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Dragons are ranked 15^th – one spot ahead of Bucknell – in the Mid-Major Top 25 and are 1-1 with a 56-52 loss to Quinnipiac and a 51-34 win over Saint Joseph's.