Wednesday, January 30
Annapolis, Md.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
17-4, 8-1PL
77
at
43
Navy
8-11, 3-6PL
1
2
3
4
F
BUCKNELL
27
16
17
17
77
NAVY
18
8
8
9
43
League's Top-Ranked Defense Can't Slow Down Bucknell in 77-43 Win at Navy
1/30/2019 9:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Bucknell's top-ranked offense wasn't slowed down by Navy's top-ranked defense as the Bison cruised to a 77-43 win in Patriot League women's basketball action Wednesday night at Alumni Hall. Eleven players scored to help Bucknell improve to 17-4 overall and 8-1 in the conference with a seventh-straight win.
Navy, which dropped to 8-11 overall and 3-6 in the conference, entered with the Patriot League's best defense and the ninth-best defense in the nation, allowing 54.7 points per game. The Mids didn't allow an opponent to score more than 58 points in their first eight league games. Led by 17 points from junior Ellie Mack, Bucknell easily eclipsed that total, doing so with 60 points through the first three quarters alone.
Kaitlyn Slagus scored 13 points and Abby Kapp had 10 to join Mack in double-figures. Mack also registered a team-high four assists, while Slagus led Bucknell with six rebounds. The Bison shot 53 percent (28-53) from the field and 53 percent (9-17) from beyond the arc.
"I'm very happy with how we played overall," Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell said. "We were not happy with our defense in the first quarter, but we held them to single-digits in every quarter after that and held them to 16 percent shooting during that stretch."
Bucknell's offense was rolling early as the Bison took a 27-18 lead after one quarter and 43-26 lead into the break. Mack had 13 points in the first half, while Slagus added eight. The two combined to go 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 on 3-pointers through the first two quarters.
Mack finished the game with a 6-of-8 mark from the field and hit both of her attempts from long range. Kapp and Slagus each went 4-of-7 from the field.
Kyi English tallied eight points for the Bison, while Kate Walker, Taylor O'Brien, and Autumn Ceppi scored six apiece. Maegan Mikkelsen hit both of her shot attempts and finished with five.
Rebounding was the only glaring negative for Bucknell statistically as Navy posted a 43-36 advantage on the boards. The Mids turned 13 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
Everything else finished up in Bucknell's favor, including points off turnovers (19-2), bench points (23-2), points in the paint (30-16), fast-break points (8-2), steals (10-9), and assists (18-9).
"We still need to clean some things up in a few areas, but our spacing and transition allowed us to put points on the board, which was great to see," Roussell said.
Bucknell won at Alumni Hall for the fifth-straight game and the current senior class improved to 8-1 overall against the Mids during its career.
The offense has been solid for Bucknell all year, but has been especially strong over the last five games. The Bison are averaging 77.6 points in wins over Lehigh, Colgate, Loyola (Md.), Holy Cross and Navy.
Bucknell is tied with American for first place at the halfway point of the league schedule, but hold a win over the Eagles in the first matchup between the teams. The Bison now turn their attention to a road game at Boston University on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Terriers are 10-9 overall and 6-3 in the Patriot League after back-to-back wins over Navy (49-35) and Lafayette (47-44).
Navy, which dropped to 8-11 overall and 3-6 in the conference, entered with the Patriot League's best defense and the ninth-best defense in the nation, allowing 54.7 points per game. The Mids didn't allow an opponent to score more than 58 points in their first eight league games. Led by 17 points from junior Ellie Mack, Bucknell easily eclipsed that total, doing so with 60 points through the first three quarters alone.
Kaitlyn Slagus scored 13 points and Abby Kapp had 10 to join Mack in double-figures. Mack also registered a team-high four assists, while Slagus led Bucknell with six rebounds. The Bison shot 53 percent (28-53) from the field and 53 percent (9-17) from beyond the arc.
"I'm very happy with how we played overall," Bucknell head coach Aaron Roussell said. "We were not happy with our defense in the first quarter, but we held them to single-digits in every quarter after that and held them to 16 percent shooting during that stretch."
Bucknell's offense was rolling early as the Bison took a 27-18 lead after one quarter and 43-26 lead into the break. Mack had 13 points in the first half, while Slagus added eight. The two combined to go 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 on 3-pointers through the first two quarters.
Mack finished the game with a 6-of-8 mark from the field and hit both of her attempts from long range. Kapp and Slagus each went 4-of-7 from the field.
Kyi English tallied eight points for the Bison, while Kate Walker, Taylor O'Brien, and Autumn Ceppi scored six apiece. Maegan Mikkelsen hit both of her shot attempts and finished with five.
Rebounding was the only glaring negative for Bucknell statistically as Navy posted a 43-36 advantage on the boards. The Mids turned 13 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
Everything else finished up in Bucknell's favor, including points off turnovers (19-2), bench points (23-2), points in the paint (30-16), fast-break points (8-2), steals (10-9), and assists (18-9).
"We still need to clean some things up in a few areas, but our spacing and transition allowed us to put points on the board, which was great to see," Roussell said.
Bucknell won at Alumni Hall for the fifth-straight game and the current senior class improved to 8-1 overall against the Mids during its career.
The offense has been solid for Bucknell all year, but has been especially strong over the last five games. The Bison are averaging 77.6 points in wins over Lehigh, Colgate, Loyola (Md.), Holy Cross and Navy.
Bucknell is tied with American for first place at the halfway point of the league schedule, but hold a win over the Eagles in the first matchup between the teams. The Bison now turn their attention to a road game at Boston University on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Terriers are 10-9 overall and 6-3 in the Patriot League after back-to-back wins over Navy (49-35) and Lafayette (47-44).
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
NAVY
FG%
.528
.213
3FG%
.529
.238
FT%
.667
.632
RB
36
43
TO
16
21
STL
10
9
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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