Bucknell Women's Basketball to Host Army at Sojka Pavilion Monday for Patriot League Quarterfinal

Monday, March 9

LEWISBURG, PA.

6 p.m.

Bucknell University

Army

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Bucknell Women's Basketball to Host Army at Sojka Pavilion Monday for Patriot League Quarterfinal

3/8/2020 1:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

No. 1 seed Bucknell women's basketball will host No. 9 seed Army West Point at Sojka Pavilion Monday evening in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament. It will be the third matchup of the season between the two squads, with Bucknell having come out on top in the previous two. The winner of Monday's game will go up against the winner of Lafayette and Holy Cross in the semifinals.

The Bison have been on a roll lately with eight consecutive victories. Much of Bucknell's success in league play can be credited to Patriot League Player of the Year Ellie Mack, who's scored in double figures in each of the last 15 games. Mack has been especially dangerous against Army in her career, as she averages 18.8 points per game over the last four meetings.

Army will be looking for its second upset of the tournament after knocking off No. 8 seed Loyola (Md.) in the first round. The Black Knights have proven to be one of the better shooting teams from beyond the arc this season and have posted double-digit threes in seven games. Patriot League Coach of the Year Trevor Woodruff will rely on his top-notch defense to slow down the Black Knights and collect his first tournament win as head coach of the Bison. A Bucknell win on Monday would also be the 600th in the history of the program.

What: No. 9 Army (9-21, 4-14 PL) at No. 1 Bucknell (23-6, 16-2 PL)
When: Monday, March 9 at 6 p.m.
Where: Sojka Pavilion - Lewisburg, Pa.
Live Video: Patriot League Network
Radio: 90.5 WVBU
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Tickets: Bucknell.UniversityTickets.com
Game Notes

• Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Ally Johnson (8.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.2 apg)
G: Taylor O'Brien (8.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G: Abby Kapp (10.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)
F: Tessa Brugler (9.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.1 apg)
F: Ellie Mack (15.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.3 apg)

With a win over Army, Bucknell would...
• advance to the semifinal round for a fifth consecutive season.
• improve to 24-6 overall and 17-2 in the Patriot League.
• win its ninth straight game.
• collect its longest winning streak of the season.
• improve to 13-1 in Sojka Pavilion this season.
• improve to 42-25 in all-time meetings with the Black Knights.
• win its ninth consecutive game over the Black Knights.
• collect its 600th win in program history.
• host the winner of Lafayette/Holy Cross on Thursday, March 12.

About Bucknell
• For a third time in four seasons, Bucknell is the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison won the regular season by four games with a 23-6 overall record and a 16-2 mark in the Patriot League.
• It was announced on Friday that senior forward Ellie Mack was voted the Patriot League Player of the Year. She became the fourth Bison in program history to win the award. Mack finished the regular season third in scoring (15.2 pg), second in 3-point percentage (.427), fourth in field goal percentage (.509), and fourth in defensive rebounds (6.4) pg). She scored in double figures 26 times, including each of the last 15 games.
• Trevor Woodruff was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm. Woodruff led Bucknell to 19 double-digit victories, and the team posted a league-best +10.3 scoring margin.
• Junior Abby Kapp was selected to the All-Patriot League Second Team. Kapp led the league with 2.6 3-pointers per game, hitting 74 during the regular season. She's now third in program history with 172 made triples in her career. Kapp is also coming off of a standout performance against Lafayette where she grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds and provided six assists.
• Junior Tessa Brugler made the All-Patriot League Third Team for the Bison after leading Bucknell in scoring five times and in rebounds 11 times. Brugler's .495 field goal percentage ranks fifth in the league, and she's third in offensive rebounds per game.
• Junior Ally Johnson has made a 3-pointer in 15 consecutive games and is fourth in the league in 3-point percentage (.405).
• Taylor O'Brien posted her 11th double-digit scoring effort of the season against Lafayette on Wednesday. O'Brien also leads the Bison with 1.4 steals per game.
• Bucknell's scoring defense ranks eighth in the country (53.3) and its 3-point percentage is ninth (.384). The Bison allowed only two Patriot League teams to score more than 60 points this season and won both of those games.
• Bucknell is averaging 4.3 blocks per game over the last six. The Bison blocked a combined 12 shots in the last two outings.

About Army
• The Black Knights pulled off the upset over No. 8 Loyola (Md.) on Saturday by defeating the Greyhounds 72-65 on the road to advance to the Patriot League quarterfinal round.
• Army shot 45.3 percent in the win over the Greyhounds, and four Black Knights scored in double figures. Army also committed 21 turnovers in the win.
• Army is just 3-13 when playing away from Christl Arena this season.
• Army is just 9-21 (5-14 PL) this season, but has won four of its last six games. That includes an 81-67 win over third-seeded Colgate on Feb. 29.
• Army set a program record with 14 made threes in the Colgate win. Sarah Bohn and Natalie Stralkus combined for 13 of them.
• Army sophomore Alisa Fallon was named to the All-Patriot League Third Team on Friday after leading the Black Knights in both scoring and assists this season. She averaged 8.5 points in two meetings with Bucknell.
• Freshman Hope Brown was named to the All-Rookie Team. Brown has scored in double figures in three stright games, including 11 points against Loyola on Saturday.
• Bohn ranks third in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage (.424). She was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the first meeting with Bucknell.
• As a team, the Black Knights lead the league in defensive rebounding (28.5 pg) and are first in 3-point field goals made per game (7.6).

Series History with Army
• Bucknell is 41-25 in all-time meetings with the Black Knights.
• Bucknell has won eight in a row against Army, dating back to Jan. 2, 2017.
• The Bison are 24-8 in the series at home.
• Bucknell is 4-1 when facing Army in the Patriot League Tournament.
• Bucknell defeated Army twice by double digits during the regular season.
• Ellie Mack led the Bison in scoring in both meetings this season.

Bucknell in the Patriot League Tournament
• Bucknell is 23-25 all-time in the Patriot League Tournament and has reached the title game five times.
• Bucknell is 4-1 against the Black Knights in the PL Tournament and 3-1 when facing them in the quarterfinal round.
• Bucknell is 9-3 at home in the PL Tournament.
• Bucknell is 6-2 in the PL Tournament when playing as the No. 1 seed.
• Ellie Mack was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team last season. She averaged 13.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in three tournament games in 2019.

Patriot League Tournament by Opponent
American 5-0
Army 4-1
Colgate 2-4
Fordham 0-2
Holy Cross 5-6
Lafayette 0-2
Lehigh 1-4
Loyola (Md.) 2-1
Navy 4-5

Bucknell Success in Sojka Pavilion
• The Bison are an incredible 69-7 at Sojka Pavilion dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season.
• Now in its 17th season playing at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell is 165-74 (.689) on its home court.
• Bucknell finished a perfect 16-0 at Sojka Pavilion in 2016-17, including a 12-0 record against PL opponents. Bucknell was 15-1 in Sojka in 2018-19.
• Bucknell finished the regular season 12-1 in Sojka Pavilion this year.

Last Time Out
• Bucknell concluded its regular season with a 57-47 win at Lafayette. It was Bucknell's eighth straight victory.
• Bucknell led wire-to-wire and had the lead up to 16 in the fourth quarter.
• The Bison limited Lafayette to 27.1 percent shooting and 4-for-15 from beyond the arc.
• Bucknell made 9-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc and posted 12 assists.
• Three Bison scored in double figures, including a team-high 16 by Taylor O'Brien.
• Ally Johnson scored 11 and Ellie Mack chipped in 10.
• Abby Kapp hauled in 11 rebounds, provided six assists, and blocked two shots.

Up Next
With a win, the Bison will host the winner of Lafayette and Holy Cross at Sojka Pavilion on Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m.