Friday, March 22
Charlotte, N.C.
4 p.m.
Bucknell University
28-6
67
vs
70
Florida State
24-8
1
2
3
4
F
Bucknell
19
11
20
17
67
Florida State
18
14
22
16
70
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Women's Basketball Falls Just Short in NCAA First Round as Florida State Prevails 70-67
3/22/2019 6:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Pair of 3-point attempts in final seconds won't go as Bison finish championship season 28-6
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Bucknell women's basketball team demonstrated its championship mettle on a national stage on Friday, but the 12th-seeded Bison fell one bucket short in a 70-67 loss to No. 5 Florida State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Halton Arena. In the final seconds of a back-and-forth affair that featured 10 lead changes and 12 ties, Bucknell had two good looks at potential game-tying 3-pointers, but neither dropped and the Seminoles advanced to play No. 4 South Carolina on Sunday.
Kate Walker, one of five members of the winningest senior class in Bucknell and Patriot League history, was sensational on her 22nd birthday with a game-high 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting to go with four rebounds and four drawn charges. Senior Kaitlyn Slagus added 13 points, and junior Ellie Mack had 12 for the Bison, who finish the season 28-6.
" I thought that it was a really good basketball game," said head coach Aaron Roussell. "I couldn't be more proud of the way we started out. Five for our first five coming from five different players – that is something we talk about as a program, about our balance and being unselfish. Pretty cool way to start the game. I was proud of the way we came out. We have talked about it for awhile that we were built for this. None of these moments would be too big for us. Unfortunately for us we did not quite have enough."
Kiah Gillespie paced Florida State (24-8) with 17 points, while Nicki Ekhomu, Nausia Woolfolk and Valencia Myers scored 15 apiece.
The Bison held the Seminoles to 41.3 percent shooting, but the difference in the game was rebounding. Florida State piled up a 44-23 edge on the glass, and some big second-chance points down the stretch were pivotal.
Making its second NCAA Tournament berth in the last three years and the fourth in program history, the Bison trailed 32-30 at the half and 54-50 at the start of the fourth quarter. But Slagus drained a 3-pointer on Bucknell's first possession of the final period, kick-starting an 8-0 that gave the Bison a 58-54 lead. Slagus followed her trey with a couple of free throws, and then Abby Kapp knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a feed from Kyi English.
The Bison had four possessions with that four-point lead but could not expand the margin. The Seminoles responded with four straight points to tie it, but Bucknell regained a 60-58 lead on a pretty drive and dish from Mack to Walker for a layup. Myers knotted the game once again with a layup, and then she blocked a shot at the other end, which led to a 3-point play from Ekhomu that gave Florida State the lead for good with 3:55 to play.
Slagus split two free throws, and then one of the Seminoles' biggest shots of the game was a Gillespie 3-pointer from the left corner that made it 66-61 with 3:27 left. Autumn Ceppi, who gave the Bison some key minutes off the bench, drove hard for a layup to make it a 3-point game with 3:08 left. Kapp came up with a steal, but then Bucknell could not get a shot off before the shot clock expired.
At the other end, Woolfolk capped off a 40-second possession with a third-chance putback. Walker made two free throws to bring the Bison within 68-65, and they looked for a defensive stop as the clocked flipped under one minute. The Bison forced two misses, but Florida State got the rebound both times, and Bucknell was forced to foul Gillespie with 24 seconds left. Gillespie made 1 of 2, and then Kapp finished a lefty layup to make it a 69-67 game with 17 ticks left.
Florida State called timeout to advance the ball, and the Bison put Ekhomu on the foul line. She missed the first attempt but made the second, leaving it a one-possession game as Bucknell used its final timeout to move the ball into the frontcourt with 14.8 seconds to go. Slagus was short on a 3-point attempt from the left wing, but Mack grabbed the rebound and found English in the left corner, but her would-be tying attempt rimmed out as time expired.
"I thought we got two good looks at the end, but were not able to knock one down," said Roussell. "I talked to our team in the locker room as a positive to go minus 21 on the boards, that is something that you don't ever feel good about it, but to be in the game with a chance to extend it to overtime with those numbers is impressive. I couldn't be more proud of the effort that we gave. We ask these guys to be coached hard and thought they were able push through that and it was for moments like today. Florida State was able to extend a few possessions with rebounds and their size and athleticism. I thought that wore us down at the end."
"Well, just credit Bucknell," said Florida State head coach Sue Semrau. "I mean, what a great game plan they had and they just played like the champions of the Patriot League. I was really, really impressed and have a lot of respect for them."
After winning the Patriot League championship on its home floor last Sunday, Bucknell was trying to claim an NCAA Tournament win for the first time in team history. The Bison drew a No. 12 seed -- the highest for any Patriot League team since the field expanded to 64 teams -- and drew a young Florida State team that came in ranked No. 22 in the national Coaches' Poll and No. 25 in the Associated Press Poll.
The veteran Bison showed no signs of jitters in the early going, They made their first six shots of the day, with the first five coming from five different players, and took a quick 15-6. lead. The nine-point margin would be the largest of the day for either side, as the Seminoles responded with six straight points and climbed within 19-18 by the end of the first quarter.
Bucknell went 8-for-23 from the 3-point arc and shot 43.1 percent for the game. The Bison had 14 assists on 22 made field goals and went 15-for-17 from the foul line. Defensively, Bucknell forced 16 turnovers and held the Seminoles to 3-for-14 shooting from long distance, but the rebounding disparity proved too much to overcome.
The senior class of Slagus, Walker, English, Rachel Dumiak and Maegan Mikkelsen concluded their careers with 102 victories, the most by any Patriot League class in its 29-year history.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
Kate Walker, one of five members of the winningest senior class in Bucknell and Patriot League history, was sensational on her 22nd birthday with a game-high 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting to go with four rebounds and four drawn charges. Senior Kaitlyn Slagus added 13 points, and junior Ellie Mack had 12 for the Bison, who finish the season 28-6.
" I thought that it was a really good basketball game," said head coach Aaron Roussell. "I couldn't be more proud of the way we started out. Five for our first five coming from five different players – that is something we talk about as a program, about our balance and being unselfish. Pretty cool way to start the game. I was proud of the way we came out. We have talked about it for awhile that we were built for this. None of these moments would be too big for us. Unfortunately for us we did not quite have enough."
Kiah Gillespie paced Florida State (24-8) with 17 points, while Nicki Ekhomu, Nausia Woolfolk and Valencia Myers scored 15 apiece.
The Bison held the Seminoles to 41.3 percent shooting, but the difference in the game was rebounding. Florida State piled up a 44-23 edge on the glass, and some big second-chance points down the stretch were pivotal.
Making its second NCAA Tournament berth in the last three years and the fourth in program history, the Bison trailed 32-30 at the half and 54-50 at the start of the fourth quarter. But Slagus drained a 3-pointer on Bucknell's first possession of the final period, kick-starting an 8-0 that gave the Bison a 58-54 lead. Slagus followed her trey with a couple of free throws, and then Abby Kapp knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a feed from Kyi English.
The Bison had four possessions with that four-point lead but could not expand the margin. The Seminoles responded with four straight points to tie it, but Bucknell regained a 60-58 lead on a pretty drive and dish from Mack to Walker for a layup. Myers knotted the game once again with a layup, and then she blocked a shot at the other end, which led to a 3-point play from Ekhomu that gave Florida State the lead for good with 3:55 to play.
Slagus split two free throws, and then one of the Seminoles' biggest shots of the game was a Gillespie 3-pointer from the left corner that made it 66-61 with 3:27 left. Autumn Ceppi, who gave the Bison some key minutes off the bench, drove hard for a layup to make it a 3-point game with 3:08 left. Kapp came up with a steal, but then Bucknell could not get a shot off before the shot clock expired.
At the other end, Woolfolk capped off a 40-second possession with a third-chance putback. Walker made two free throws to bring the Bison within 68-65, and they looked for a defensive stop as the clocked flipped under one minute. The Bison forced two misses, but Florida State got the rebound both times, and Bucknell was forced to foul Gillespie with 24 seconds left. Gillespie made 1 of 2, and then Kapp finished a lefty layup to make it a 69-67 game with 17 ticks left.
Florida State called timeout to advance the ball, and the Bison put Ekhomu on the foul line. She missed the first attempt but made the second, leaving it a one-possession game as Bucknell used its final timeout to move the ball into the frontcourt with 14.8 seconds to go. Slagus was short on a 3-point attempt from the left wing, but Mack grabbed the rebound and found English in the left corner, but her would-be tying attempt rimmed out as time expired.
"I thought we got two good looks at the end, but were not able to knock one down," said Roussell. "I talked to our team in the locker room as a positive to go minus 21 on the boards, that is something that you don't ever feel good about it, but to be in the game with a chance to extend it to overtime with those numbers is impressive. I couldn't be more proud of the effort that we gave. We ask these guys to be coached hard and thought they were able push through that and it was for moments like today. Florida State was able to extend a few possessions with rebounds and their size and athleticism. I thought that wore us down at the end."
"Well, just credit Bucknell," said Florida State head coach Sue Semrau. "I mean, what a great game plan they had and they just played like the champions of the Patriot League. I was really, really impressed and have a lot of respect for them."
After winning the Patriot League championship on its home floor last Sunday, Bucknell was trying to claim an NCAA Tournament win for the first time in team history. The Bison drew a No. 12 seed -- the highest for any Patriot League team since the field expanded to 64 teams -- and drew a young Florida State team that came in ranked No. 22 in the national Coaches' Poll and No. 25 in the Associated Press Poll.
The veteran Bison showed no signs of jitters in the early going, They made their first six shots of the day, with the first five coming from five different players, and took a quick 15-6. lead. The nine-point margin would be the largest of the day for either side, as the Seminoles responded with six straight points and climbed within 19-18 by the end of the first quarter.
Bucknell went 8-for-23 from the 3-point arc and shot 43.1 percent for the game. The Bison had 14 assists on 22 made field goals and went 15-for-17 from the foul line. Defensively, Bucknell forced 16 turnovers and held the Seminoles to 3-for-14 shooting from long distance, but the rebounding disparity proved too much to overcome.
The senior class of Slagus, Walker, English, Rachel Dumiak and Maegan Mikkelsen concluded their careers with 102 victories, the most by any Patriot League class in its 29-year history.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
FS
FG%
.431
.413
3FG%
.348
.214
FT%
.882
.750
RB
23
44
TO
13
16
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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