Bucknell University
Buffalo
Women's Basketball Entertains Buffalo for Final Non-Conference Game Monday
12/19/2021 2:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SPECTATOR POLICY:  Bison Athletics and the Bucknell women's basketball team are pleased to welcome fans back to Sojka Pavilion this season. Please note that per University policy, masks are required for all individuals inside all public and academic indoor campus spaces, regardless of social distancing or vaccination status.
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell is back at Sojka Pavilion on Monday after just one day off to host Buffalo for its final non-conference game. It's a matchup between two College Insider's top Mid-Major programs in the country.
Bucknell is fresh of a 77-67 win over George Mason on Saturday, while the Bulls suffered their first loss since Nov. 21 on Tuesday. Bucknell and Buffalo will meet for the first time since 2012 when the Bison captured a 78-71 win at home, but the Bulls lead the all-time series 7-5. With a victory on Monday, Bucknell will enter Patriot League play winners of eight in a row and with nine non-conference wins for just the second time since 2013.
• Game Notes
• Digital Program
• 2021-22 Media Guide
What: Bucknell (8-2, 0-0 PL) vs. Buffalo (6-3, 0-0 MAC)
When: Monday, Dec. 20 at 5 p.m.
Where: Sojka Pavilion – Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming:Â ESPN+
Radio:Â 90.5 WVBU
Live Statistics:Â BucknellBison.com
Last Game's Starters
Sr./G: Marly Walls (7.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.9 apg)
Sr./G: Taylor O'Brien (18.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.2 spg)
Jr./G: Tai Johnson (2.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.9 apg)
Fr./G: Cecelia Collins (11.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)
Jr./F: Emma Shaffer (3.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.4 apg)
With a win over Buffalo, Bucknell would...
• ... improve to 9-2 overall this season.
• ... win an eighth consecutive game.
• ... improve to 4-0 in home games this season.
• ... move to 22-2 in home games under Woodruff.
• ... improve to 42-9 overall under Woodruff.
• ... move to 6-7 all-time against the Bulls, winning a second consecutive game in the series.
• ... collect nine non-conference wins for the second time in four years.
Headlines
• Bucknell hosts Buffalo at Sojka Pavilion for its final non-conference game on Monday. It's the first meeting between the two programs since 2012, and it's the second of three straight home games for the Bison.
• Bucknell improved to 8-2 on the season with a 77-67 victory over George Mason on Saturday, giving the Bison seven consecutive wins. Bucknell shot 51.7 percent, made a season-high 11 3-pointers and posted a season-high 21 assists. Bucknell led wire-to-wire and was up by as many as 18 in the game. The Bison have now won five straight games by a double-digit margin.
• Bucknell had five players in double figures on Saturday, led by Taylor O'Brien's 16. It was the first time since February 2019 that the team had accomplished that feat.
• O'Brien has scored in double figures in 17 consecutive games, and she ranks second in the Patriot League in scoring this season (18.4). The senior also leads the league in field goal percentage (.500) and is first on the roster with her .667 3FG percentage (14-of-21). O'Brien grabbed four more steals against George Mason on Saturday and is fourth in the league in the category with 2.2 per game.
• O'Brien was honored last week by her high school, Plymouth Whitemarsh, where she graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer. O'Brien totaled 2,040 points for the Plymouth Whitemarsh girl's basketball team and was a standout in both volleyball and track & field as well.
• Freshman Remi Sisselman racked up a career-high 13 points off the bench last time out, going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 5-of-9 from the field against George Mason. She was joined in double figures by fellow rookie Cecelia Collins, who averages 11 points per game after scoring in double figures in three straight outings. Collins also posted a career-high five assists on Saturday.
• Senior Marly Walls is coming off back-to-back 12-point games, and she tied her career high with eight assists on Saturday as well. She leads the team with 2.9 assists per game. Walls also knocked down two from beyond the arc on Saturday for just the second time in her career.
• Junior Carly Krsul was the fifth Bison to score in double figures on Saturday, pouring in 11. She's scored 10 or more off the bench in six consecutive games. Krsul also posted three blocks in the George Mason win, and she leads the Patriot League in the category with 2.2 per game.
• Bucknell currently ranks first in the Patriot League in scoring defense (55.0), second in field goal percentage defense (.373), second in 3-point field goal percentage (.371), and second in turnover margin (+2.5).
• Bucknell is once against sitting atop the Patriot League standings. American and Lehigh sit second and third at 7-3.
• Bucknell opened the season with six consecutive road games, which were the most to start a season in program history. Bucknell went 4-2 over that stretch and is 5-2 away from Sojka for the season.
• The Bison moved up one spot in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll from 19 to 18.
• Bucknell has seen some of its most successful seasons in program history over recent years, including five first-place regular season finishes and two Patriot League Championship titles in the last seven seasons. Bucknell has finished atop the conference in the regular season in each of the last three, going 61-14 overall during that stretch.
• Bison head coach Trevor Woodruff is in his third season with the team, and he was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in each of his first two. Bucknell has gone 24-2 in Patriot League play under his direction and 41-9 overall. Saturday was the 50th game that Woodruff has coached for the Orange & Blue.
• Bucknell opens Patriot League play with a home game against Boston U. on Wednesday, Dec. 29. The Terriers are one of two teams picked ahead of Bucknell in the Patriot League preseason poll.
Scouting Buffalo/Series History
• Buffalo, one of the top Mid-Major programs over the last decade, is off to a 6-3 start to the 2021-22 season. The Bulls were picked to finish third in the MAC preseason poll, and the team is currently ranked 12th in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25.
• The Bulls went 15-9 overall last season and reached the MAC semifinals before falling to top-seeded Bowling Green.
• Buffalo suffered a 79-77 overtime loss at Princeton in its most recent game on Tuesday, Dec. 14. Before that, the Bulls were winners of five straight, including victories over VCU and Syracuse.
• All-MAC junior guard Dyaisha Fair paces the Bulls with 21.4 points per contest. She's eclipsed 20 points in six games this season and has scored 30+ twice. Teammate Summer Hemphill, a redshirt-senior, is averaging 14.3 points and 8.1 boards per game.
• Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack is in her 10th season with the team and sports a 183-110 overall record. She's 324-273 over her career, having made previous stops at Indiana and Hofstra.
• Buffalo and Bucknell have matched up 12 times over the past 30 years, and the Bulls hold a 7-5 lead in the series. Both teams have held three-game winning streaks in the series.
• The Bison are 3-3 when hosting the Bulls, and they're 2-2 in games played at Sojka Pavilion. The two teams haven't played each other in nine years. Bucknell won the most recent meeting, which was played in Davis Gym in 2012 due to Sojka Pavilion hosting the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships, 78-71.
• Bucknell shot 55.1 percent in the 2012 matchup, including going 13-of-21 (61.9%) in the second half. Five Bison scored in double figures in the win, led by Shelby Romine's 20 points. Bucknell also posted 18 assists in the victory.
• Bucknell is 13-15 in all-time meetings with current MAC teams.
Series Record: 5-7
Record at Home: 3-3
Record at Buffalo: 1-4
Neutral Site Record: 1-0
Trevor Woodruff Record: 0-0
Current Streak: 1 win
Longest Winning Streak: 3
New Notable Career Highs
• Remi Sisselman - 13 points, 5 FGM, 3 3FGM vs. George Mason
• Cecelia Collins - 5 assists vs. George Mason
• Tai Johnson - 2 3FGM vs. George Mason
Double-Digit Victories
• 33 of Bucknell's last 41 wins have been by double digits. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, 55 of the team's 66 wins have been by a double-digit margin.
• Bucknell's largest margin of victory in program history was 47 vs. Coppin State in 1985.
• The Bison have six double-digit victories this season, including a 37-point win over Saint Francis.
Success at Sojka Pavilion
• The Bison are an incredible 78-8 at Sojka Pavilion since the start of the 2015-16 season. Bucknell has lost just one game at home in each of the last three seasons.
• Now in its 20th season playing at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell is 174-75 (.696) on its home court.
• Bucknell finished a perfect 16-0 at Sojka Pavilion in 2016-17.Â
• The Bison are currently 3-0 in Sojka this season.
Up Next
Bucknell begins Patriot League play with a home game against the Boston University Terriers. Bucknell hasn't seen the Terriers since Feb. 29, 2020 due to the abbreviated season last year. Boston U. will visit Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday, Dec. 29 for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
