No. 24 Women's Water Polo Set for Four Games at Harvard Invite

Saturday, March 2

Cambridge, Mass.

9:15 a.m.

Bucknell University

Iona

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

No. 24 Women's Water Polo Set for Four Games at Harvard Invite

2/25/2019 2:55:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

LEWISBURG, Pa.-- After a week off, the No. 22 Bucknell University women's water polo team will head to Cambridge, Mass. for the Harvard Invitational for four games. The Bison will take on Iona, Gannon, The University of Toronto, and home standing Harvard for the weekend's matches.

SETTING THE SCENE:
What: Harvard Invitational
When: Saturday, March 2.-Sunday, March 3.
Where: Blodgett Pool on the Campus of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Watch: ESPN + ($)

Game One: No. 24 Bucknell (10-2, 0-0 CWPA) vs. Iona (5-9, 0-0 MAAC)
When: Saturday, March 2, 9:15 a.m.

Game Two: No. 24 Bucknell (10-2, 0-0 CWPA) vs. Gannon (4-8, 2-0 WWPA)
When: Saturday, March 2, 3:30 p.m.

Game Three: No. 24 Bucknell (10-2, 0-0 CWPA) vs. University of Toronto (19-16)
When: Sunday, March 3, 8:00 a.m.

Game Four: No. 24 Bucknell (10-2, 0-0 CWPA) at No. 16 Harvard (9-0, 0-0 CWPA)
When: Sunday, March 4, 2:15 p.m.

Bison Notes

Bucknell is 10-2 and winners of five straight after a 4-0 weekend at the Mercyhurst Invite on Feb. 16 – 17.
Bucknell's 10-2 start is the best 12-game start for the women's water polo program since the 2008 season.
The Bison have outscored their opponents 90-31 over the win streak, and have held their opponents to six goals or less in four of those five games.
A big part of the success of the Bison squad defensively has been the play of freshman goalkeeper Georgia Lewis, who won her second CWPA Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 17. She was also named Rookie of the Week.
Lewis has compiled 84 saves so far this season, with a .592 save percentage. The highest ever save percentage record in a single season for a Bucknell player is .611 by Mandy Bynum in 2005.
The Bison defensively have allowed six or fewer goals in eight of the team's 12 games this season, three of four games in which the Bison have allowed seven or more goals have come to ranked opponents.
Along with Lewis, senior attacker Emily Konishi earned her first CWPA Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season after scoring 17 goals, notching 11 assists, and adding 16 steals as she earned Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.
In the game against McKendree, Konishi tied her own school record of points in a game with 10 on six goals and four assists. She also earned at least four points in each contest.
Konishi has also gone two-for-two in sprints in five out of her last six appearances.
In the record books, Konishi has now moved from ninth at the beginning of the season to fifth with 316 career points to date.
Ally Furano leads the team in goals and assists with 45 and 21, respectively. She needs just eight more goals to reach 100 for her career.
Bucknell has had nine players register ten or more points overall this season.
The Bison have scored 11 or more goals in a game in ten of their 12 games this season.
The 21 goals scored by the Bison against Mercyhurst were the second highest total for a single game in program history. The only other time the Bison have managed to reach the 20-goal mark was a 26-6 victory over Gannon on April 16, 2011.

About Iona/Series History

The Gaels are 5-9 overall this season and have lost two straight.
Bucknell is 8-6 all-time against Iona.
The two teams last met on March 3^,2018 at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Bucknell took a narrow 6-5 victory over Iona that day, with Konishi providing the game-winning assist to Shyla Lintz with 4:26 left in the game. Six different Bison players registered a goal in the game, including current players Nina Benson, Konishi, and Sarah Mooney.

About Gannon/Series History

Bucknell will have a rematch with the Golden Knights after defeating Gannon 17-6 to close out the Mercyhurst Invite on Feb. 17.
A. Furano netted five times for the Bison while adding three assists. Eliza Romeyn and Konishi also tallied three helpers.
Bucknell is 15-0 all-time against the Golden Knights including this season.

About Toronto/Series History

Sunday's matchup will be the first ever meeting between Bucknell and Toronto.
The Varsity Blues are 2-11 in games played in 2019, and have lost seven straight.
The Varsity Blues have played all 13 of their games to date in the state of California.

About Harvard/Series History

The Crimson were ranked 16^th in the most recent CWPA Varsity Poll for the week of Feb. 20.
Bucknell defeated Harvard twice last season, with a 10-5 win in the CWPA Championships and a narrow 9-8 win to secure its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2016. The Crimson were ranked No. 19 at the time.
In the 10-5 win in Lewisburg on April 28, The Bison scored six of the last seven goals to defeat Harvard, with three of the goals coming from Benson during the stretch.

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