Bucknell University
2-3,0-0Patriot
Iona
2-3,0-0MAAC
Women's Basketball Posts 55-52 Win Over Iona on Education Day at Sojka Pavilion
11/22/2022 12:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. -Â A crowd of more than 1,000 -- including approximately 750 students from local schools -- were treated to a 55-52 Bucknell women's basketball victory over Iona Tuesday at Sojka Pavilion. It was a close game that featured 13 lead changes and seven ties with the largest lead for either team being just five points. The Bison outscored the Gaels 16-11 in the final period after trailing at the conclusion of each of the first three quarters.
Remi Sisselman led Bucknell (2-3) with a career-high 16 points and six rebounds, including a key board in traffic with just under 20 seconds to play and the Bison leading 53-52. Emma Shaffer and Cecelia Collins made free throws in the final seconds to extend Bucknell's final margin to three. Collins made 1 of 2 free throws with five seconds left, and Iona had a last-second chance at a 3-pointer, but came up short.
Shaffer totaled 13 points on 6-for-13 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Collins finished with 10 points, four rebounds and a team-high six assists.Â
Ketsia Athias led Iona (2-3) with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
"I'm happy. Obviously, winning is hard. Our biggest point of emphasis with the team since the challenging start, and really since that FDU game, has just been that we have to compete harder," said head coach Trevor Woodruff. "I thought today there was some good stuff and some bad stuff, like always, but we competed for the entire game."
Coming off a 15-point game at Cornell just three days earlier, Sisselman started the game hot by scoring six of Bucknell's 10 points in the first quarter and ending the half 4-for-4 with a pair of 3-pointers. The Bison were 4-for-5 from beyond the arc over in the second quarter and shot 54.5 percent from the field.
The Gaels were also strong offensively in the second, shooting 58.3 percent. Eight of the game's 13 lead changes occurred over the first 20 minutes, and neither team saw runs of more than five straight points. Still, Iona remained in front most of the way and ended up leading for over 21 minutes of the contest while the Bison were in front for less than 12 minutes.
Iona held a 27-23 lead with under 10 seconds to play in the first half before Blake Matthews swished a 3-pointer, the first of her career, at the end of the shot clock to cut the deficit to a single point heading into the locker rooms.
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Blake Matthews at the end of the half to make this a 1-point game at the break! @ESPN | @PatriotLeagueTV
— Bucknell WBB (@Bucknell_WBB) November 22, 2022
Watch: https://t.co/wlAJIg4oer pic.twitter.com/Zl6rpiwJRK
Bucknell never led during the third quarter, but it tied the game on three separate occasions and allowed Iona to go up by five just once at the 4:59 mark with a Kate Mager three. Sisselman responded on the following possession with a triple of her own, and Bucknell entered the final quarter trailing 41-39.
With 8:50 to play, Collins sank her second three of the game to give Bucknell its first lead since the 6:59 mark in the second. It turned into a 10-2 run Bison run, but again the Gaels responded by going up one last time at 50-49.
Shaffer came up big at the end of the fourth, scoring five of the team's last seven points with a pair of baskets and a free throw, and the Gaels went 1-for-7 over the final five minutes of the game.
"Outside of Virginia Tech, where we were overmatched to a large extend, this was the best we've competed, and right now that's where my head is. Let's compete and figure out some of the detailed things as we go through," said Woodruff.
The Bison hit the road Thanksgiving morning to travel to Syracuse for a 7 p.m. game against the 4-1 Orange on Friday, Nov. 25.
